Family of spies A World War II story of Nazi espionage, betrayal, and the secret history behind Pearl Harbor

In 1994, journalist Kuehn was living in suburban Maryland, raising a family, and working for a local radio station when she learned that her father's long-dead German parents and his sister had been spies for the Japanese in Hawaii in the years leading up to Pearl Harbor. Through research, including extensive FBI files tracking the family's life in Hawaii, she was able to flesh out the family secret. Not only were they spies, but Kuehn's grandparents and aunt, as well as an uncle who remained in Germany, were ardent Nazis. Kuehn's father, who was nine when the family came to Hawaii, was neither a Nazi nor a spy but a patriotic young man who enlisted in the U.S. Army and earned a Bronze Star fighting on Okinawa. Kuehn writes with empathy about her father's life. While she works to uncover the past, he receives a dementia diagnosis, losing what memories he might have shared. The FBI files, Kuehn shows, also provide insight into the intelligence mistakes that led to the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor. A fascinating addition to WWII literature.

An ordinary woman in suburban Maryland unearths the horrifying secret of her family's impact on the events of WWII in this page-turning debut memoir. Kuehn recalls receiving an inquiry in 1994 from a screenwriter about her German American immigrant family's role as spies for the Axis powers in Oahu ahead of WWII, a bombshell revelation that sent her on a decades-long investigation into her family's secrets. Not only did she discover that her grandfather Otto was an SS officer turned covert agent, but that Otto's daughter Ruth (the author's aunt) had been a mistress of Joseph Goebbels, and that part of the reason the family was stationed in Hawaii was that Ruth, the child of a previous relationship of Otto's wife Friedel, was half Jewish, and Goebbels wanted to avoid that truth from being exposed. During the family's six-year stay in Oahu, which began in 1935, they were paid by the Japanese government to throw lavish parties, infiltrating Hawaii's "upper crust" and gathering intel about ship movements ahead of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Kuehn weaves this sensational story--which includes the FBI's cat-and-mouse attempts to uncover the spy ring--with her own personal journey from disbelief to reckoning with her family's Nazi past. It's a propulsive and disturbing tale. (Dec.)

Kuehn debuts with a fast-paced account of the role her German family played as spies for the Axis powers during World War II. The author was raised knowing nothing about her family's involvement in the war; she only found out when she was contacted by a screenwriter who asked about their story. From there, Kuehn questioned her 70-year-old father, who tearfully shared what he knew. Kuehn learned that her Aunt Ruth, who was half-Jewish, became romantically involved with Nazi leader Joseph Goebbels. When Goebbels discovered her heritage, he sent the entire family to Hawai'i, where they supplied information that facilitated Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. Kuehn's meticulously researched and well-written account is personal and deeply suspenseful, blending family memoir with World War II espionage intrigue. Her account is enhanced with illustrations, family trees, period photos, maps, and archival photographs, which are primarily sourced from the Kuehn family archives. The supplemental materials are thoughtfully integrated into the text, enhancing the book's dynamic story without overwhelming it. VERDICT This book is compelling for anyone intrigued by family dynamics, true stories of espionage, or the hidden truths behind major historical events.--Lawrence Mello

A spy's granddaughter tells her story. The is the first book by journalist Kuehn, born and raised in the U.S., who only learned the story in 1994 when a screenwriter, researching a World War II script, wrote to ask help in locating her father, Eberhard Kuehn. Shocked, she hurried to a local bookstore, where several histories revealed that Eberhard's father, Otto, was a Nazi intelligence agent sent with his family to Honolulu to spy in 1935. Paid generously by the Japanese, he rented a house overlooking Pearl Harbor and gathered information on the ships and defenses. The author's father, born in 1926, was a boy during this time. No professional, Otto spent money wildly despite having no obvious source of income, visiting Japan and the local Japanese consulate regularly (often when his money failed to arrive). His wife and daughter spied with more good sense. All this quickly caught the attention of neighbors as well as the FBI, who, aided by a small army of informers, kept a close watch on them. Otto was arrested and sentenced to death after the attack of Dec. 7, 1941; the sentence was commuted, and he was deported after the war. His wife and daughter were never tried but interned and then deported. Eberhard, now of college age, refused to join them and concealed his family history until pressed by his daughter. Japanese from the local consulate also spied, and scholars still debate the value of all this intelligence, although fringe writers happily describe light signals from the Kuehns' dormer window directing Japanese planes to their Pearl Harbor targets. Despite the impression given by Hollywood, Nazi spies were largely ineffective, and their efforts in Hawaii do not contravene this. Absorbing niche history about a grandfather's secret Nazi identity. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.