Review by Booklist Review
What if a third U.S. atomic bomb, intended for a third Japanese city, had found its way into enemy hands in 1945? When a B-29 crashes on Honshu Island, it isn't long before army scientist Keizo Kan figures out that the unexploded bomb aboard is a uranium megaweapon like the one he and his colleagues failed to build. For methamphetamine-popping Lieutenant Colonel Shingen Sagara of the Ordnance Bureau, the "big black daikon radish" might be just what Japan needs to discredit the would-be Japanese capitulators and turn the tide of the war. With Kan's reluctant assistance and that of Petty Officer Kagi, a mechanic of Korean origin, Sagara plans an audacious attack on the U.S. mainland. But Kan thinks only of his wife, Noriko, a radio broadcaster imprisoned for subversion, and the dwindling likelihood that they will ever see each other again. Despite its counterfactual premise, historian Hawley's (Ultimate Speed, 2018) first novel draws upon real-life figures, extensive research, and the author's years living in Japan to present a realistic and tightly plotted narrative told through Japanese eyes. And if his prose often focuses upon the nuts and bolts of bomb specifications and airplane design, his story is propelled by the tensions between hard-liners and those open to surrender.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this thrilling what-if scenario from historian Hawley (The Imjin War), the U.S. sends three--not two--atomic bombs to Japan during WWII, and one falls into enemy hands. In August 1945, the B-29 Wicked Intent sets off from Tinian Island with the U.S.'s first atomic payload, destined for Hiroshima. But the plane is shot down and the crew killed before the bomb can be dropped. The bomb is then discovered intact by Japanese petty officer Ryohei Yagi, but nobody knows what kind of weapon it is. Once it's ascertained that the bomb contains uranium, Lt. Col. Shingen Sagara of the War Ministry asks Keizo Kan, a civilian scientist, to investigate the device. Kan is shocked to discover that he is staring at a working atomic warhead. Five days after its capture, Hiroshima is destroyed in a second bombing mission, and Sagara orders Kan to get the captured bomb ready to be used against the Americans before they can launch another strike. Kan proceeds, despite knowing Japan's surrender is inevitable. Meanwhile, Sagara plans to launch one last desperate act to alter the outcome of the war, setting the two men on a collision course that builds to a pulse-pounding climax. The result is the most imaginative take on Hiroshima since Edwin Corley's The Jesus Factor. Agent: Warren Frazier, John Hawkins & Assoc. (July)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
As Japan teeters on the abyss of doom, a strange American bomb falls into its hands. In 1945, B-29s turn Japanese cities into fiery hellscapes, but Japan fights on in a hopeless cause. A U.S. bomber nicknamedWicked Intent crashes and kills its crew. Japanese civilians who discover the wreckage don't know what to make of the puzzling object that had been inside and is buried in the dirt nearby, looking "like a big black daikon radish." They conclude it's the biggest bomb anyone has ever seen. Inside the device are rings of metal no one recognizes, but a simple chemistry lab test shows it to be uranium. Army Lt. Col. Shingen Sagara understands the significance. He knows about Japan's own unsuccessful efforts to enrich uranium. To figure out how to make the stray bomb workable to unleash horror on enemy forces or even on America itself, he recruits the U.S.-educated physicist Keizo Kan, who has been working in his garden. The scientist despises war, and he desperately wants to find his beloved American-born wife, Noriko, who has been arrested and detained for unknown reasons. Having lived in the San Francisco Bay area, they share a deep fondness for U.S. movies: "Taylor loves Garbo," he tells her before the war. "Garbo loves Taylor," she responds with a kiss. From a distance Sagara witnesses the fireball over Hiroshima, and he knows what it is. He will do everything in his power to have the discovered bomb loaded onto a plane to smite America. Nagasaki soon follows, as history confirms. But the fictional third atomic bomb might still deliver a devastating blow. Meanwhile, there is talk of a coup to overthrow the "defeatists" who want to surrender. The plot feels entirely plausible, and none of the characters fit any obvious stereotypes. Sagara, the antagonist, is addicted to Philopon, a methamphetamine that drives his relentless work. (This was a real product considered so dangerous that Japan banned it after the war.) Were it up to him, every Japanese citizen would "eat stones"--fight to the death. The author's research is impressive as he describes how the bomb is designed to work, the tensions within the Japanese power structure, and details of Japanese culture. An engrossing and thought-provoking novel. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.