The Formula 1980

In the final days of World War II, as Soviet forces close in on Berlin, Panzer Korps General General Helmut Kladen is entrusted with secret documents that could influence negotiations with the Allies and maybe spare Germany from the Soviet onslaught. Yet his mission is abruptly redirected when American forces intercept him and hand him over to Army Intelligence, setting a different kind of war into motion that echoes across decades.

In contemporary Los Angeles, Barney Caine is pulled into the murder investigation of his former boss and friend, Tom Neeley, a case that immediately appears tangled with a violent drug deal gone wrong. Neeley’s dying clue—a smear of blood that spells out the word “Gene”—and a map marked with the name Obermann propel Caine into a treacherous maze of secrecy and power. He learns Neeley had ties to the wealthy businessman Adam Steiffel, who used Neeley as a bagman for international operations. When Caine uncovers that Steiffel’s firm sent Neeley overseas, he convinces his superiors to let him travel to Germany to uncover the truth behind the missing pieces.

In Berlin, Paul Obermann explains the central hot topic: Genesis—a Nazi-era synthetic fuel formula that could end the world’s dependence on oil, reshaping global energy politics. Caine pieces together that Neeley was murdered over this formula, but the trail gaps abruptly when Obermann is killed. He is soon joined by Obermann’s cousin or ally, Lisa Spangler, as they chase down the remaining links to the formula, including the enigmatic Professor Siebold. Siebold reveals that Dr. Abraham Esau Dr. Abraham Esau—the original creator of Genesis—may still be alive, but the moment they depart Siebold’s apartment, he is killed as well. As the net tightens, Caine suspects that Lisa is not who she seems and discovers that the true copies of the formula are hidden with the LAPD and a Swiss energy company.

The conspiracy widens as Caine confronts the long-running machinery behind the plot, learning that Steiffel has steered events for decades to keep Genesis out of the public eye. Returning to Los Angeles, Caine faces a dire showdown when Steiffel kidnaps his partner, Louis Yosuta, threatening to use the formula as leverage. A tense exchange follows, and Steiffel lays out the cartel’s grand design and the lengths they’ve gone to safeguard the formula.

In a final twist, Caine reveals that he has already sent Genesis to Swiss businessman Franz Tauber, who agrees to guard the secret for another decade in return for a controlling share of his anthracite interests. The machinations span continents and generations, turning a murder investigation into a saga of power, deception, and fate that questions who truly controls a technology with the potential to rewire the world.