James Morrow Satirizes Hollywood, Secret Goverment Projects And Godzilla In Shambling Towards Hiroshima

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: Tachyon Publications

Godzilla movie fans ought to get a real hoot out of James Morrow's latest book entitled "Shambling Towards Hiroshima." The novel tells the story of a covert government project during World War II designed to bring the Japanese army to it's knees. Was our government making some new kind of bomb? Were they developing some deadly disease that could have been dropped from airplanes? No, they were breading giant lizards to release on the Japanese mainland. Not just any giant lizards, giant fire-breathing mutant iguanas.

Before the US military could release the titanic terrors on the populous, the Japanese leaders had to be convinced that surrender would be more acceptable than the fate that could be unleashed at a moments notice.

That's where Hollywood B movie actor Syms Thorley comes into the picture. Thorley is recruited to done a rubber monster suite for a movie that depicts the fictitious destruction of a Japanese city. If all goes well, the Japanese will lay down their arms after seeing Thorley's performance. If not, then the real deal will have to be set loose on Japan. Thorley will have to put forth the best performance of his life, or thousands may perish.

Does Thorley succeed or does kaiju craziness get unleashed on "The Land of the Rising Sun?"

Read the book.....I'm not going to give away the ending!



Official synopsis:

It is the early summer of 1945, and war reigns in the Pacific Rim with no end in sight. Back in the States, Hollywood B-movie star Syms Thorley lives in a very different world, starring as the Frankenstein-like Corpuscula and Kha-Ton-Ra, the living mummy. But the U.S. Navy has a new role waiting for Thorley, the role of a lifetime that he could never have imagined.

The top secret Knickerbocker Project is putting the finishing touches on the ultimate biological weapon: a breed of gigantic, fire-breathing, mutant iguanas engineered to stomp and burn cities on the Japanese mainland. The Navy calls upon Thorley to don a rubber suit and become the merciless Gorgantis, and to star in a film that simulates the destruction of a miniature Japanese metropolis. If the demonstration succeeds, the Japanese will surrender and many thousands of lives will be spared; if it fails, the horrible mutant lizards will be unleashed. One thing is certain: Syms Thorley must now give the most terrifyingly convincing performance of his life. Godzilla devotees and history buffs alike will be fascinated by this conspiratorial secret history of a war, a weapon, and a highly unlikely hero.

In the dual traditions of Godzilla as a playful monster and a symbol of the dawn of the nuclear era, Shambling Towards Hiroshima blends the destruction of World War II with the halcyon pleasure of monster movies. You've never read anything quite like it.