Fire Balloon

Fire Balloon (working title) is the fourth book in the Eden Pond Series.

Overview

In late 1944, with the Allies on the offensive, Americans face a new threat from across the Pacific. But a death in blamed on one of Imperial Japan’s infamous fire balloons fire balloons may be more than it seems.

Despite the assurances of U.S. Army officials who investigated the explosion at the small port of Garibaldi, Eden Pond has reason to believe the tensions in the war-weary coastal community have boiled over. The Japanese fire balloons may just be a convenient disguise for murder.

Chronology
The events of the novel take place in March and April, 1945. Fire Balloon follows Hanford Intrigue.

Historical Note
Late in the war, the Japanese launched thousands of “Fu-Go balloons” designed to cross the Pacific on the jet stream and drop payloads of explosives and incendiary devices on mainland United States. Most of these balloons failed to reach North America, landed without detonation, or detonated in remote areas where they caused little damage.

The only deaths caused by the balloons occurred in southern Oregon, where a family of six discovered a downed balloon and accidentally set off the attached anti-personnel bomb. A press blackout had kept citizens in the dark about the threat posed by the balloons, which likely contributed to the accidental detonation.

Major Characters

• Eden Pond
• Merton Pond
• Paul Berenger
• Clifford Stern