A simmering rage ★★★★☆

As a mysterious violence-inducing illness tears through an American Japanese internment camp, Meiko and her daughter Aiko are at great risk. Is there a link between the virus and the Japanese folklore which formed the backbone of Meiko’s father’s research?

Meanwhile, journalist Fran hears stories of mysterious airborne objects and minister Archie experiences one of these dangerous “balloons” first hand. Once a close friend of Meiko’s American husband, Archie is now caught up in a wave of anti Japanese sentiment gripping the nation, sharpened by his grief and by the illness which is sweeping his town.

A gripping and unusual horror story which is more alarmingly believable and real-world-based than it first sounds in the blurb. The only things which prevent this from being 5 star are the slightly tidy and anticlimactic ending and, at times, an overly ambitious combination of themes and genres.

I’m a big fan of Alma Katsu’s novels The Hunger (2018) and The Deep (2020) and this new historical fiction horror doesn’t disappoint.

Firstly, many,many thanks to Titan and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

This is another piece of fantastic historical fiction by the wonderful Alma Katsu. This time the story is set in the USA during the latter part of WW2. Following the events at Pearl Harbour America is still very jittery about Japan and a lot of Japanese folk living in the USA have been rounded up and moved to internment camps. At one of the camps in particular a virulent illness begins to sweep through the inhabitants. At first it seems like it may just be the 'flu but then some of the camp residents take a turn for the worse, becoming uncharacteristically violent and then dying. Meanwhile, mysterious parachutes or balloon type objects made of a strange, gritty paper begin causing havoc in western states. There there are explosions and deaths and anyone who so much as touches the mysterious papery debris seems to fall very ill soon afterwards.

This book is blend of actual historic events and Japanese folklore seamlessly woven together in a terrifying and unsettling manner by the author. And although the supernatural elements are extremely creepy it is the actions of the living and breathing characters that are the most disturbing. Human nature can be so much scarier than ghosts or demons.

This is clearly a very personal book for the author in view of her Japanese heritage and I would strongly recommend NOT skipping the Afterword in this book.

A fantastic and extremely thought provoking read.