What if Godzilla was a real threat to Japan- one cooked up by Americans in WWII?
James Morrow’s new novel, Shambling Towards Hiroshima, questions just that.
In the summer of 1945 war is reigning in the Pacific Rim, while in the U.S., Syms Thorley continues his life as a B-movie actor. But the U.S. Navy would like to use Thorley in their top-secret Knickerbocker Project, putting the finishing touches on the ultimate biological weapon: a breed of gigantic, fire-breathing, mutant iguanas. Thorley is to don a rubber suit that will transform him into the merciless Gorgantis and star in a film that simulates the destruction of a miniature Japan—if the demonstration succeeds, the Japanese will surrender, sparing thousands of lives; if it fails, the mutant lizards will be unleashed.
Definitely sounds like a treat for giant monster movie fans.
(Sidebar- the author is perhaps best known for his Godhead trilogy that began with Towing Jehovah, where God was found dead and floating in the Atlantic Sea. The Vatican commissions an oil tanker captain to bring Him to a tomb in the artic, but of course things don’t go as planned.
Yeah, I have to read it, too.)
In any case, the new trailer for Shambling Towards Hiroshima has just hit the net, and here it is-
The book hits stores February via Tachyon Publications.