A novel of love and war, set in Japan during the final days of World War II, with a historical premise: three atomic bombs were actually delivered to the Pacific—not two—and when one of them falls into the hands of the Japanese, the fate of a couple that has been separated from one another becomes entangled with the fate of this terrifying new device.
Absorbing ... [Hawley] is a fluent explainer of complex subjects ... The story barrels ahead urgently ... Duty, anger, sorrow, conscience and even hope mix together to form the novel’s bracingly intimate ending.
Engrossing and thought-provoking ... The plot feels entirely plausible, and none of the characters fit any obvious stereotypes ... 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.
