By Nathan Duke
A Bayside author says his debut book, which chronicles the tale of scientists from the future traveling back in time to defeat the Nazis, is based on a factual story told to him more than a decade ago and not a novel.
Eddie Upnick, who grew up in Little Neck but has lived in Bayside with his wife for years, released his first book, “Time Will Tell,” through Strategic Book Group’s Eloquent Books earlier this month. His novel, originally written as a screenplay several years ago, is available through the Amazon and Barnes & Noble Web sites.
But Upnick, the author’s pen name, said he came across the story during discussions with a man who purported to be a former scientist with Winston Churchill’s MI6, which was the British government’s intelligence service during the World War II era before becoming the Secret Intelligence Service.
“I made a promise that I’d tell his story after he was dead,” Upnick said. “He knew stuff that was never written in history books. So, I picked his brain and wrote this story.”
Upnick met the man, who was Belgian-born, at a nursing home where the author worked in the mid-1990s. According to the book, the story’s hero was among a group of scientists from the year 2133 who had been working on a time travel project for the Nazis, who won World War II and dominated the planet.
The men managed to travel back in time, provided intelligence to the British and therefore helped to bring down the Third Reich, Upnick said. But several members of Adolf Hitler’s SS, or Schutzstaffel guard, chase the scientists back to 1938 Berlin.
Upnick said “Time Will Tell” is written in the style of a novel, but he claims the story to be true.
“Truth is stranger than fiction,” he said. “I want people to decide for themselves. If they believe it, that’s fine, if they don’t believe it, that’s fine, and if they believe half of it, that’s fine.”
Neither Amazon nor Barnes & Noble classify Upnick’s book as “fiction” or a “novel,” but it is listed on SciFan, a Web site dedicated to science fiction and fantasy novels.
The author said he hopes his book will garner attention through word of mouth.
“It’s grassroots,” he said. “Someone will like it and tell their friends about it. I don’t expect anything to happen overnight.”
He said he still believes the 221-page book would work as a film and hopes to one day return it to its original format.
“It’s a fast read, but it’s intense,” he said.
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at nduke@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
