I'M A WANTED MAN.That's hardly enough to distinguish me around here, of course, I've heard it said that a percentage of Alaska's population is always fleeing something--the authorities, spouses, children, civilization. By comparison, I have it easy. It's just a couple of old priests hunting me, and I know them both. I could take them if it came to that, and it won't.
I'll be honest up front. They're coming after me for the most mundane of reasons. The only thing slightly extraordinary is that they're coming at all. For a while, I thought they would just forget about me, and that I'd be able to live out my days like most fugitives here: not entirely free from want, but free from those that want you. But no, first one sent a letter and then the other: these initial letters just suggestions, of course. Then a second round, with a request. And the third round, with an order. Come home.
I have to admit that I confused this book with another by David Mitchell with the same title and released the same year. I enjoyed reading it, in spite of it being an over-ambitious first novel. The main character is a young soldier sent to Alaska during WW II to investigate balloon bombs launched by the Japanese. Alaska in the 1940s and the unusual bombs are enough to make for an interesting tale. The author introduces some other characters which weren't believable for me. The book takes off into some mystical directions that weren't woven into the story in a way that worked. Still, many seem to like this book and it is an interesting adventure in an unusual time and place involving a fascinating piece of WW II history.
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