The Eagle Scout Picture

One boy.

A perilous Mission.

In the enemy's heartland.

The Eagle Scout Picture is a World War II espionage thriller that dives into themes of a spy pretending to be someone he is not and the consequences on his psyche and identity, his morality and the choices he is forced to make, and the duality of balancing the expectations of his American bosses while working in Hitler's war industry to make weapons to kill his countrymen.

1940: Fred Brown, a young American Eagle Scout, is recruited to be an undercover spy in Nazi Germany. His orders, “fit in…or die.” He accepts the suicide mission to fulfill his “duty to God and country” and to save American lives in a war that hasn’t started.

February 1941; Frederich “Zelly” Zellner, Fred’s new identity, enters the Third Reich. Within ten minutes, he’s ordered to commit an unspeakable act. His choice in this moral dilemma haunts him throughout his mission. Armed only with a quiet courage and will to survive, he must navigate a path between his mission for the US and the jobs given him by Hitler’s henchmen. A suspicious Gestapo agent wants him hanged as a traitor.

Can he maintain his moral compass and do the things required of him? What is the cost of survival?

This riveting World War II Spy thriller is a novel to make you think and a story of conscience under fire. The well-researched thriller will give you the unsettling feeling of being in Germany during history’s darkest hour.

Inspired by real intelligence operations, The Eagle Scout Picture masterfully blends historical accuracy with edge-of-your-seat suspense and the inner turmoil of a spy forced to become what he despises.

Gold medal winner in the 2025 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest for espionage fiction.

What happens to you when you pretend to be someone else?

Find out by joining Zelly on his fast-paced, high-stakes mission. Buy The Eagle Scout Picture today.