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The Last Saboteur: A WWII Spy Novel
Germany, 1944.
The Nazi empire is nearly finished. The Allies push closer to the Fatherland each day. Berlin lays in smoldering ruins. Still, the Germans continue to fight, hoping for a chance at a negotiated peace.
But now the chief of German foreign intelligence has learned the Allies are working on a new weapon so powerful, it would leave the Nazis with no choice but to unconditionally surrender.
Only one agent stands in the way of the Allies building their weapon. He is the only man capable of carrying out an audacious mission to sabotage the Allies’ “wunderwaffe” program from within. Disguised as a British agent, he will infiltrate the United States and attack the project’s only vulnerability—its director, Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer.
He is Germany’s last chance.
He is ... The Last Saboteur.
The Nazi empire is nearly finished. The Allies push closer to the Fatherland each day. Berlin lays in smoldering ruins. Still, the Germans continue to fight, hoping for a chance at a negotiated peace.
But now the chief of German foreign intelligence has learned the Allies are working on a new weapon so powerful, it would leave the Nazis with no choice but to unconditionally surrender.
Only one agent stands in the way of the Allies building their weapon. He is the only man capable of carrying out an audacious mission to sabotage the Allies’ “wunderwaffe” program from within. Disguised as a British agent, he will infiltrate the United States and attack the project’s only vulnerability—its director, Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer.
He is Germany’s last chance.
He is ... The Last Saboteur.
289 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 15, 2026
About the author
Martin Roy Hill
33 books88 followersMartin Roy Hill has led an eclectic life. Soldier, sailor, journalist . . . well, not a spy, but he has written about them.
Martin joined the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve when he was 19, the same year he sold his first published piece to Reader's Digest. He spent a total of 13 years as a Coastguardsman, in two tours, involved in small boat search and rescue, emergency medical response, port security, and maritime law enforcement.
In between those tours, he served in a counter-insurgency unit in the U.S. Navy Reserve. After a final stint of Coast Guard active duty following the 9/11 attacks, Martin was offered a commission as a medical service corps officer in a component of the California National Guard, where he trained combat medics for Iraq and Afghanistan. Later, Martin converted to the military police, retiring in 2016 as a major and executive officer of an MP unit.
Martin also served as a wilderness medic and operations sergeant with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department Wilderness Search and Rescue Detail, where he was cross trained as a tactical (SWAT) medic. Martin also spent several years as a medic and security specialist with a federal Disaster Medical Assistance Team.
Martin received a bachelor's degree in journalism from CSU Dominguez Hills, and spent more than 20 years as a writer and editor for newspapers and magazines. His investigative reporting earned him numerous journalism honors, including two William Allen White Awards. His stories were included in three of the Investigative Reporters and Editors' annual compilations of the best investigative reporting. He also worked as a freelance correspondent for LIFE and Newsweek.
After serving on active duty following the 9/11 attacks, Martin switched careers, becoming a U.S. Navy analyst in combat casualty care. He left that position after 16 years and became a full-time writer and freelance editor.
Between his military, public safety, and journalism careers, Martin experienced many adventures. In the Coast Guard, he participated in dozens of rescues, chased Russian spy ships and smugglers, protected dignitaries, and once was nearly lost at sea in a storm. In the Navy, he was assigned to liaison with a USCG patrol boat during war games, and ended up participating in what at the time was the largest drug bust in U.S. history.
He's been known to jump out of a perfectly good airplane, and once followed a migrant trail from the U.S. into Mexico (at that country's request) to locate the remains of a woman who died along the trail so the smuggler leading her group could be prosecuted for her death. As a journalist, he covered disasters, air crashes, wild fires, as well as national and international leaders.
Martin's freelance credits include Reader's Digest, LIFE, Newsweek, Omni, American History, Writer’s Digest, Coast Guard Magazine, Retired Officer Magazine, The Compass, Aviation History, Mother Jones, the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times Sunday Opinion, and Travel sections, and many more. He was a lead contributor to the 1995 WWII anthology, "From Pearl Harbor to Nagasaki: America at War," published by the Retired Officer Association, and a contributor to the 2013 American Civil War anthology "Gettysburg: Three Days that Saved the United States," published by I-5 Publishing.
Martin's background plays a significant role in his writing, which many reviewers have noted has a sense of realism not often found in fiction. His first book, DUTY, a collection of short stories centered around national service, was named the 2012 Best Short Story Anthology/Collection by the San Diego Book Awards Association. His Linus Schag, NCIS, thriller, The Butcher's Bill, received the 2017 Best Mystery/Suspense Award from the Best Independent Book Awards, the 2017 Clue Award for Best Suspense Thriller, the 2018 Silver Medal for Thrillers from the Readers Favorite Book Awards, and the 2018 Adult Fiction Award from the California Author Project.
Besides
Martin joined the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve when he was 19, the same year he sold his first published piece to Reader's Digest. He spent a total of 13 years as a Coastguardsman, in two tours, involved in small boat search and rescue, emergency medical response, port security, and maritime law enforcement.
In between those tours, he served in a counter-insurgency unit in the U.S. Navy Reserve. After a final stint of Coast Guard active duty following the 9/11 attacks, Martin was offered a commission as a medical service corps officer in a component of the California National Guard, where he trained combat medics for Iraq and Afghanistan. Later, Martin converted to the military police, retiring in 2016 as a major and executive officer of an MP unit.
Martin also served as a wilderness medic and operations sergeant with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department Wilderness Search and Rescue Detail, where he was cross trained as a tactical (SWAT) medic. Martin also spent several years as a medic and security specialist with a federal Disaster Medical Assistance Team.
Martin received a bachelor's degree in journalism from CSU Dominguez Hills, and spent more than 20 years as a writer and editor for newspapers and magazines. His investigative reporting earned him numerous journalism honors, including two William Allen White Awards. His stories were included in three of the Investigative Reporters and Editors' annual compilations of the best investigative reporting. He also worked as a freelance correspondent for LIFE and Newsweek.
After serving on active duty following the 9/11 attacks, Martin switched careers, becoming a U.S. Navy analyst in combat casualty care. He left that position after 16 years and became a full-time writer and freelance editor.
Between his military, public safety, and journalism careers, Martin experienced many adventures. In the Coast Guard, he participated in dozens of rescues, chased Russian spy ships and smugglers, protected dignitaries, and once was nearly lost at sea in a storm. In the Navy, he was assigned to liaison with a USCG patrol boat during war games, and ended up participating in what at the time was the largest drug bust in U.S. history.
He's been known to jump out of a perfectly good airplane, and once followed a migrant trail from the U.S. into Mexico (at that country's request) to locate the remains of a woman who died along the trail so the smuggler leading her group could be prosecuted for her death. As a journalist, he covered disasters, air crashes, wild fires, as well as national and international leaders.
Martin's freelance credits include Reader's Digest, LIFE, Newsweek, Omni, American History, Writer’s Digest, Coast Guard Magazine, Retired Officer Magazine, The Compass, Aviation History, Mother Jones, the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times Sunday Opinion, and Travel sections, and many more. He was a lead contributor to the 1995 WWII anthology, "From Pearl Harbor to Nagasaki: America at War," published by the Retired Officer Association, and a contributor to the 2013 American Civil War anthology "Gettysburg: Three Days that Saved the United States," published by I-5 Publishing.
Martin's background plays a significant role in his writing, which many reviewers have noted has a sense of realism not often found in fiction. His first book, DUTY, a collection of short stories centered around national service, was named the 2012 Best Short Story Anthology/Collection by the San Diego Book Awards Association. His Linus Schag, NCIS, thriller, The Butcher's Bill, received the 2017 Best Mystery/Suspense Award from the Best Independent Book Awards, the 2017 Clue Award for Best Suspense Thriller, the 2018 Silver Medal for Thrillers from the Readers Favorite Book Awards, and the 2018 Adult Fiction Award from the California Author Project.
Besides
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 8, 2026
*The Last Saboteur* turned out to be one of those WWII thrillers that pulls you in quickly and keeps the tension high all the way through. What I enjoyed most was the way Martin Roy Hill blends historical detail with espionage and psychological pressure without making the story feel overloaded. The setting feels believable and grounded, especially the atmosphere of desperation surrounding Germany in the final phase of the war.
The central premise is incredibly compelling from the start a German operative infiltrating the United States while posing as a British agent, with the mission centered around Oppenheimer and the atomic program. It creates this constant sense of danger because the stakes are enormous, but the story also takes time to explore the human side of espionage: isolation, deception, and the mental strain of living behind a false identity.
I especially appreciated how the novel avoids turning everything into simple good-versus-evil caricatures. The characters feel like people shaped by war rather than just symbols within it. That gave the story more depth and made several scenes more suspenseful because motivations weren’t always predictable.
The pacing was strong throughout, with enough action and intrigue to keep me invested while still allowing the historical context to breathe. The sections involving intelligence operations and infiltration were particularly engaging and felt carefully researched without slowing the momentum.
Overall, this was an immersive and entertaining read that combines historical fiction with spy thriller intensity very effectively. If you enjoy wartime espionage novels with high stakes, believable tension, and a strong historical atmosphere, *The Last Saboteur* is definitely worth picking up.
The central premise is incredibly compelling from the start a German operative infiltrating the United States while posing as a British agent, with the mission centered around Oppenheimer and the atomic program. It creates this constant sense of danger because the stakes are enormous, but the story also takes time to explore the human side of espionage: isolation, deception, and the mental strain of living behind a false identity.
I especially appreciated how the novel avoids turning everything into simple good-versus-evil caricatures. The characters feel like people shaped by war rather than just symbols within it. That gave the story more depth and made several scenes more suspenseful because motivations weren’t always predictable.
The pacing was strong throughout, with enough action and intrigue to keep me invested while still allowing the historical context to breathe. The sections involving intelligence operations and infiltration were particularly engaging and felt carefully researched without slowing the momentum.
Overall, this was an immersive and entertaining read that combines historical fiction with spy thriller intensity very effectively. If you enjoy wartime espionage novels with high stakes, believable tension, and a strong historical atmosphere, *The Last Saboteur* is definitely worth picking up.
April 17, 2026
A Taut WWII Thriller With a Hero You Won't Forget
Every so often you come across a spy thriller that reminds you why the genre exists in the first place. This is one of them.
The setup is irresistible — a Nazi plot aimed at the heart of America's most closely guarded wartime secret — but what makes the book work isn't the premise. It's Carrick. He's the kind of reluctant antihero the genre has been missing: an Irishman with old grudges, a working arrangement with people he doesn't particularly like, and just enough conscience to keep you guessing. His voice crackles off the page. You can practically smell the cigarette smoke.
What really impressed me is the research. The author clearly did the homework — real historical figures move through these pages alongside the fictional ones, and the period details (right down to the brand of cigarettes) feel lived-in rather than Wikipedia'd. I kept reaching for Google to check which details were invented, and most of the time they weren't. That's the hallmark of a writer who respects both the history and the reader.
The dialogue is sharp, the pacing is brisk, and the author has a gift for ending chapters on exactly the right note to make you turn the page. A few exchanges lean a touch expository here and there, but once the story gets moving you stop noticing.
If you liked Ken Follett's Eye of the Needle or Alan Furst's atmospheric wartime novels, this one belongs on your shelf. Highly recommended — I'll be looking for whatever this author writes next.
Every so often you come across a spy thriller that reminds you why the genre exists in the first place. This is one of them.
The setup is irresistible — a Nazi plot aimed at the heart of America's most closely guarded wartime secret — but what makes the book work isn't the premise. It's Carrick. He's the kind of reluctant antihero the genre has been missing: an Irishman with old grudges, a working arrangement with people he doesn't particularly like, and just enough conscience to keep you guessing. His voice crackles off the page. You can practically smell the cigarette smoke.
What really impressed me is the research. The author clearly did the homework — real historical figures move through these pages alongside the fictional ones, and the period details (right down to the brand of cigarettes) feel lived-in rather than Wikipedia'd. I kept reaching for Google to check which details were invented, and most of the time they weren't. That's the hallmark of a writer who respects both the history and the reader.
The dialogue is sharp, the pacing is brisk, and the author has a gift for ending chapters on exactly the right note to make you turn the page. A few exchanges lean a touch expository here and there, but once the story gets moving you stop noticing.
If you liked Ken Follett's Eye of the Needle or Alan Furst's atmospheric wartime novels, this one belongs on your shelf. Highly recommended — I'll be looking for whatever this author writes next.
Review of advance copy
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This here book throws you right into Germany in 1944, when everything is going to pieces and folks know it but keep fighting anyway. The whole thing feels heavy and tense, like trouble sitting in the room with you and refusing to leave.
The story is not dressed up or fancy, and that works just fine. One last German spy has to sneak into America, pretending to be somebody else, trying to shut down a secret weapon that could end it all. He is going after the brains running the whole deal, and one wrong move blows everything sky high.
What I liked most is how it does not let up much. You can feel the pressure building page after page, like a fuse burning down. The writing keeps moving and does not get lost in nonsense. It just tells the story straight and lets the danger do the talking.
This is a good, solid war spy tale full of sneaking, lies, and high risk moves. It is not perfect, but it knows what kind of book it is and sticks to it. If you like secret missions and the edge of your seat tension, this one is worth reading.
I give it a 4 outta 5 catfish!
This here book throws you right into Germany in 1944, when everything is going to pieces and folks know it but keep fighting anyway. The whole thing feels heavy and tense, like trouble sitting in the room with you and refusing to leave.
The story is not dressed up or fancy, and that works just fine. One last German spy has to sneak into America, pretending to be somebody else, trying to shut down a secret weapon that could end it all. He is going after the brains running the whole deal, and one wrong move blows everything sky high.
What I liked most is how it does not let up much. You can feel the pressure building page after page, like a fuse burning down. The writing keeps moving and does not get lost in nonsense. It just tells the story straight and lets the danger do the talking.
This is a good, solid war spy tale full of sneaking, lies, and high risk moves. It is not perfect, but it knows what kind of book it is and sticks to it. If you like secret missions and the edge of your seat tension, this one is worth reading.
I give it a 4 outta 5 catfish!
Review of advance copy
This book kind of snuck up on me. At first I was thinking it was okay, but after I got into it (and kept a list of characters so I wasn't confusing them!), I really enjoyed it a lot. I didn't want to put it down, and I ended up loving it. The spies / assassins were not always predictable. They had emotions at times that I didn't expect, and they were not always completely competent. That was a twist I didn't expect and actually added a bit of fun to the story. I don't want to give away any spoilers. Just go read it and enjoy! I did receive an advance review coy at no cost, but this is my honest opinion.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I got an advance reader copy and have previously read a number of Martin Roy Hill's novels. The Last Saboteur tracks the development of the A-Bomb in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and the attempts by the Germans to derail the project.
I found the fictional characters realistic and blended with the real-life ones like Oppenheimer. The story paces well, the ending is appropriate, with just enough of a surprise, but not a stretch at all.
Best of all, the characters have depth, their conversations are convincing, and their interactions realistic.
A worthwhile read.
I found the fictional characters realistic and blended with the real-life ones like Oppenheimer. The story paces well, the ending is appropriate, with just enough of a surprise, but not a stretch at all.
Best of all, the characters have depth, their conversations are convincing, and their interactions realistic.
A worthwhile read.
April 16, 2026
A gripping, suspenseful story with interesting, believable characters and lots of action. During the final days of World War II, German Intelligence assigns a ‘sleeper’ agent to derail the Manhattan project, the US construction of an atomic bomb, by murdering the man at its heart-J. Robert Oppenheimer.
The Last Saboteur provides a fascinating window on the convoluted intelligence surrounding that project. It's packed with mystery, suspense, intrigue, and plenty of unexpected twists and turns. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this excellent novel.
The Last Saboteur provides a fascinating window on the convoluted intelligence surrounding that project. It's packed with mystery, suspense, intrigue, and plenty of unexpected twists and turns. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this excellent novel.
May 2, 2026
This novel focused on an aspect of WWII history that is not often written about, espionage at the end of the war. In this case, the emphasis is on the secrecy surrounding the development of the atomic bomb in New Mexico. It started out interesting and built to a stay up late - can't stop reading crescendo of thrills. The novel is based on true events and includes several real historical figures and I found it compelling from the outset. This is the third novel from Martin Roy Hill that I have read and won't be the last.
April 16, 2026
The Last Saboteur: A WWII Spy Novel, my eighth read from author Martin Roy Hill, an suspensful & enjoyable, 289-page World War II historical fiction tale. “I received a complementary Kindle copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review." The gifting of this book did not affect my opinion of it. I look forward to reading more from this author with The Last Refuge (The Peter Brandt Mysteries Book 2) high on my TBR list. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).
Review of advance copy received from Author
Martin Roy Hill has written a suspense filled and brilliantly conceived historical fiction that's main focus is the Manhattan Project lead by Dr Oppenheimer.
In a last bid attempt to save Germany from total annihilation a saboteur is sent to infiltrate the top secret installation in Los Alamos and eliminate the head scientist, Dr Oppenheimer.
Hill mixes fact and fiction to deliver a compelling, suspense filled story that evolved from a conspiracy theory that not all the German spies were caught during this period.
The last Saboteur is a riveting story of villains and heroes, and how a successful sabotage could have reshaped the war's outcome.
A smattering of humour adds to the appeal of this entertaining story.
I was quickly pulled into this story of spies, German sympathizers, coded messages, subterfuge, assassins and cover-ups. If you are a reader of WWII fiction The Last Saboteur will not disappoint.
In a last bid attempt to save Germany from total annihilation a saboteur is sent to infiltrate the top secret installation in Los Alamos and eliminate the head scientist, Dr Oppenheimer.
Hill mixes fact and fiction to deliver a compelling, suspense filled story that evolved from a conspiracy theory that not all the German spies were caught during this period.
The last Saboteur is a riveting story of villains and heroes, and how a successful sabotage could have reshaped the war's outcome.
A smattering of humour adds to the appeal of this entertaining story.
I was quickly pulled into this story of spies, German sympathizers, coded messages, subterfuge, assassins and cover-ups. If you are a reader of WWII fiction The Last Saboteur will not disappoint.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I was given an ARC of this book and though I don't read many stories in this genre, it came across as authentic and researched.
WW2, the Germans are desperate to recovers losses and have news of weapon that will assure the enemy will win, so send in a spy.
The writing style suits the era and the characters, it brings constant tension to this underworld of spying. It also demonstrated the determination within German minds.
Overall, this was a well-written tale, a peek into possibilities and the mind-sets of the times.
WW2, the Germans are desperate to recovers losses and have news of weapon that will assure the enemy will win, so send in a spy.
The writing style suits the era and the characters, it brings constant tension to this underworld of spying. It also demonstrated the determination within German minds.
Overall, this was a well-written tale, a peek into possibilities and the mind-sets of the times.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews