The Secret Listener
David Tuch
Type: Beta project
Genre: Historical fiction, thriller, espionage
Word count: 73,000
Based on a true story, in 1939 Cornwall, sixteen-year-old Mary Miller tunes into a strange radio signal. Recruited by the Radio Security Service, she helps orchestrate a deception campaign against the Nazis while keeping her work secret from everyone—even her boyfriend and parents! Torn between duty, secrecy, and love, Mary faces the true cost of serving in silence. Please note: this book is only available in PDF format.
Based on true events, The Secret Listener tells the story of sixteen-year-old Mary Miller, a sharp-eared amateur radio enthusiast living in wartime Cornwall. One evening in 1939 she tunes into a strange signal that changes her life forever. Recruited by the Radio Security Service as a Voluntary Interceptor, Mary secretly logs enemy transmissions from her garden shed, feeding intelligence that will play a crucial role in Britain’s deception campaign against the Nazis.
But there is a catch: Mary cannot tell anyone what she is doing—not her parents, not her friends, not even James, the boy she loves. As the war intensifies, her unique skills draw her deeper into a hidden world of double agents, false reports, and clandestine missions, where the line between truth and lies blurs. Torn between duty, secrecy, and love, Mary must confront the ultimate question: is it worth sacrificing everything for a cause no one will ever know about?
David Tuch is a writer and entrepreneur. His debut book, The Wireless Operator, a true espionage thriller, will be published in autumn 2025. David received his doctorate from MIT and Harvard Medical School. Originally from New York, he has lived in England and France and now makes his home in Brookline, Massachusetts, with his wife and four children.
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