Inside the Lair
Title: Red Rain Author: Tim Wendel
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As the B-29 bombers began to pound Tokyo and most of the other major Japanese cities to rubble, the Japanese military became desperate to find a way to once again instill fear in its enemies. Out of such efforts was born the greatest secret of WWII, the fire balloon. One woman, Yoshi, camouflaging her identity, is sent to uncover these delicate, but deadly, creations.
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"In Red Rain, Wendel takes a footnote to World War II and masterfully expands it into a novel of dynamic action and human dimension. From bombed-out Tokyo to the arid forests of Arizona, he takes us into the fire, and expert guide that he is, never loses his bearings." -Colson Whitehead, author of The Intuitionist, John Henry Days
"In Red Rain, Wendel takes a footnote to World War II and masterfully expands it into a novel of dynamic action and human dimension. From bombed-out Tokyo to the arid forests of Arizona, he takes us into the fire, and expert guide that he is, never loses his bearings."
-Colson Whitehead, author of
The Intuitionist, John Henry Days
book praise
“This is a terrific story, jammed with secrets, cross-purposes and revelations, and Tim Wendel has made a fine novel of it.” -Oakley Hall
“This is a terrific story, jammed with secrets, cross-purposes and revelations, and Tim Wendel has made a fine novel of it.”
-Oakley Hall
Here, beneath the waves, Yoshi Minagi found that any noise, no matter how faint or inconsequential, carried a life of its own. The ripples of whatever happened swept through the submarine, with everyone knowing everybody else’s business. It was so unlike Manzanar, where the high desert winds took away anything of hope and consequence and carried it over the snow-capped mountains. That’s what her brother had once said and Yoshi couldn’t disagree. The jagged line of mountains, the heat in
excerpt
the summer, the cold in the winter—they all combined to separate them from the sea and how life had been before the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. But here, beneath the shimmering blue surface of the Pacific, any sound was precious and often acknowledged. Yoshi had been aboard the submarine for only four days. Her time with them was almost at an end. Still, she couldn’t understand how these men, these American sailors, kept themselves from going crazy.
the summer, the cold in the winter—they all combined to separate them from the sea and how life had been before the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.
But here, beneath the shimmering blue surface of the Pacific, any sound was precious and often acknowledged. Yoshi had been aboard the submarine for only four days. Her time with them was almost at an end. Still, she couldn’t understand how these men, these American sailors, kept themselves from going crazy.
Even though Yoshi had her own small room, a luxury aboard such a small vessel, she often had difficulty falling asleep. And when she did sleep she often awoke with a start, her forehead damp with sweat. She felt the anxiety well up inside her as she inhaled ragged breaths of the damp, stale air. She almost always dreamed of Manzanar and her family that so needed her to succeed. For a few agonizing moments she was uncertain about where her nightmares ended and where her new fortunes began.
Yoshi arose from the steel berth with its thin mattress that folded into the wall. She walked on tiptoe to her doorway and peered out. No wonder they all spoke in hushed tones, like they were in a church or a courtroom. Even from here she could understand much of what was said. It floated like music above the dull throb of the engines and the whir of the periscope going up. Only yesterday they had allowed her to sit with the boy at the sonar table. He was a proud one, trying to act like a man in his creased khakis and white tank
top. She noticed the sheen of perspiration on his forearms as he let her listen for a few moments to his precious headphones. That strange language of pings and clicks belonged to the adverse world that surrounded them. Yoshi gazed at the screen and its revolving bar of light and listened, listened hard, but she could make no sense of it, and too soon the boy asked for his headphones back. She knew he was afraid that he would miss something if he allowed her to listen
for too long. After all they were approaching the coast of Japan. On this day, her last one scheduled aboard the submarine, the crew soon realized that she was awake and watching them. “Don’t be shy,” Butch Allen said as he stepped back from the periscope. “Come take a look at what you’re heading into.”
for too long. After all they were approaching the coast of Japan.
On this day, her last one scheduled aboard the submarine, the crew soon realized that she was awake and watching them.
“Don’t be shy,” Butch Allen said as he stepped back from the periscope. “Come take a look at what you’re heading into.”
Tim Wendel is an award-winning novelist and journalist. His books include Castro's Curveball, The New Face of Baseball , and My Man Stan. His stories have appeared in The Potomac Review and Gargoyle, while his articles have appeared in The New York
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Times, Washington Post, USA Weekend, Esquire, Washingtonian and GQ. His columns appear on the USA Today op-ed page, where he is on the Board of Contributors. Tim teaches fiction and nonfiction writing at Johns Hopkins University. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Magazine Journalism from Syracuse University and a Master's in Writing from Johns Hopkins. He lives in northern Virginia with his wife, Jacqueline, and their two children.
This is video footage of an actual Japanese fire balloon.
This is video footage of an actual
Japanese fire balloon.
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ISBN: 9780975440216 / 270pgs.
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