THE TWO TERRORS OF TULELAKE
By WM Gunn
Historical Fiction / Science Fiction / Thriller
Pages: 320
Publication Date: October 15, 2024
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SYNOPSIS
The horrors of World War II shocked the world. Americans believed it could never happen here in our own borders…until it did.
Ichiro Hisakawa and his family were part of the American culture – living the American Dream – until February 19, 1942, when President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 that branded them “the others.” Taken from their homes and stripped of their citizenship due to their ancestry, they endured deplorable conditions in the “relocation camps.” Typhus ran rampant through the camp, and riots were a daily occurrence. And for the first time, America was scornful. Life was difficult, and the Hisakawa family did their best to endure it all.
However, 16-year-old Ichiro wasn’t prepared for the betrayal, murder, and escape that was waiting for him. And how did Bobby King, a sixteen-year-old from 2017, find himself in 1942 and friend to Ichiro?
Read The Two Terrors of Tulelake, a story based upon historical facts that many Americans today are unaware of.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
WM Gunn is a native Texan who spent many years in the pharmaceutical industry in sales, sales management, and training and development. He is active in writing groups and volunteering with non-profit groups. He lives in his hometown in Texas with his high school sweetheart and bride of many years.
To date, he has written dozens of short stories, novellas, and novels. Holmes, Moriarty, and the Monkeys and Chasing the Sun are two novellas released earlier in 2024. Visit his website, wm-gunn.com.
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Giveaway! Three winners will receive signed copies of the book. Ends 2-20-25. U.S. only.
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REVIEW
The greatest strengths of this book include the accurate details of a time in American history that not enough people are aware of – the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII – as well as the fascinating concept of a boy from 2017 slipping into the mind of a boy from 1942. As one reviewer commented, this book would be a great addition to a school library, or at the least in history classes. While we don’t often like to look at the dark moments of our history, it’s important that we do, so perhaps we can learn from the mistakes of the past.
The reader meets Bobby in 2017 as he is bullying and terrorizing classmates and community members, and while the set up goes a bit too long, it does introduce the main aspects of his character that perhaps will change as a result of his experience with Ichiro in the camp. While I was definitely rooting for the change of heart, that resolution was a little too easy. He meets his counterpart in Sgt. Weston, one of the guards, who is as nasty as Bobby was in the beginning of the book, and one day has the realization that they are alike in too many ways.
Ischiro and his family are the characters I enjoyed the most, along with Tommy, a clever young girl who develops a special wheelchair so she can traverse the rough grounds of the camp. Ischiro’s awkwardness around her in light of his growing romantic feelings was sweet and so perfect for a shy boy of that time. The author does a nice job with getting into the mindset of a teenage boy.
There are some craft issues that pulled me away from the story at times: Multiple points of view within a single scene, story structure problems with veering away from main characters to focus on minor characters that only have a cameo role in the story, and characters that lean too far toward stereotypical, such as Sgt. Weston.
For the sake of a fair review, I continued to read and am glad I did. The ending was nicely done and satisfying, and I liked Bobby a little more after that.
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Great review, Maryann. I’m glad the resolution of the story brought it all together for you to enjoy the book. I’m definitely interested in this one — seems like a unique approach to the subject matter.
The premise is really a good one, Kristine, and a great way to look at this part of American History. I just wish some of the execution of the story could’ve been better.
I get that!