Not what I was expecting but an informative book about WWII, subs etc.
I did not finish the ARC but hope to in the near future.

"The Second Sun" is the latest novel by P.T. Deutermann, prolific and well informed writer on naval matters and warfare and a personal favorite of mine. My experience of the text comes through an ARC provided to me by St. Martin's Press. In this thoughtful and thought-provoking examination of the possibility of the Japanese having a successful nuclear program in the closing months of World War II, Deutermann once more goes into speculative alternative history but stays very close to the realities of the situation as the curtain came down on World War II in the Pacific. He does a superb job. It is all predicated on the possibility that the Allies, with their fixation on German technological advances, might have missed a corresponding weapons program in Japan. This is fascinating on many levels. For example, how could one explain it without reference to race? Worse, given that everyone understood the kind of implications a nuclear weapon might have, how could the Japanese have been so underestimated as to have developed a weapon without anyone being the wiser? These questions and many more, leap from the pages of this thoroughly intriguing and fast paced tale. It is characterized by Deutermann's expected understanding of inside politics and strategic policy development in the context of world war. The fictional characters are well drawn and are the major explicators of how things get done in the halls of power and what the respective branches of the services have to do with it. You can easily imagine how complicated something like this can get, especially when you throw in the Manhattan Project and the looming invasion of the Japanese home islands. This was so far from anything I had ever seriously contemplated that I immediately began to see the enormous implications for the end of the war and the future Cold War. It is, to put it mildly, a tour de force by an author at the peak of his powers. I recommend it for all collections.

A thoughtful look at the decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan during WWII. Captain Wolfe Bowen, as the main protagonist, is well drawn and you, like me, might find yourself looking for more info on some of the real people who play roles in this novel. Deutermann provides a good amount of technical data but more importantly, puts a strong focus on ethics, Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For Deutermann's fans and those who enjoy historical fiction.

Wow, I am most impressed with this story. It gives a whole new view on the nuclear bombs that were dropped at the end of WWII. I have read a couple books on the building and transporting the bombs to Japan, but none of them have described the destruction and the aftermath of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in such detail. I had to stop and re-read and pay attention during these descriptions. They were vivid and disturbing but truthful.
Even though the book is fictional accounting, the research and the descriptions were so spot on. This is my first book by this author, and I will certainly be looking for more. Most usually, the descriptions of the books glorify the story, and you can’t trust them, but not this one, it describes just like it is, this is a masterful historical thriller, brilliantly imagined and deeply informed. Well done, high 5 stars.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Those who enjoy novels set during WWII or that have to do with the Manhattan Project and President Truman’s decision to employ the Atomic Bomb against Japan are in for a treat. P. T. Deutermann’s newest novel “The Second Sun” deals with all that and more.

The year is 1945. Germany has surrendered. Japan fights on, inflicting thousands upon thousands of casualties as American forces invade the home islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The battle for the rest of Japan promises to be even more bloody, costing perhaps one-half-million American lives.

U.S. Navy Captain Wolfe Bowen spent the first half of the war commanding destroyers and cruisers. Now, he works as a staffer for the Chief of Naval Operations, Ernest J. King. When he’s assigned to inspect a captured German submarine just towed into Portsmouth, N.H., he discovers something he has no business knowing—something that could send him far away to spend the rest of the war incommunicado. Instead, he finds himself dragooned into the Manhattan Project and given duties that send him and the devastatingly attractive Lieutenant Commander Janet Waring of Naval Intelligence across the country, and then the Pacific, as the U.S. comes to grips with the dawn of the Atomic Age, the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and how it now might remold Japan to become a crucial ally in the region.

Along the way, they interact with a variety of historical figures, including President Harry S. Truman, Admirals William D. Leahy, Ernest J. King, and Chester W. Nimitz, General Douglas MacArthur, General Leslie Groves, and William Oppenheimer. The first part of their assignment is to determine how close Japan might be to developing an atomic weapon capable of destroying the 1,000-ship invasion fleet being assembled. The second part is to go to Japan to survey the destruction, not just to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but also to Tokyo, which was the target of massive fire-bombing.

Author P. T. Deutermann is a masterful storyteller who has excellent command of the period and figures about which he writes. In many ways, I found his work reminiscent of Herman Wouk’s “Winds of War” and “War and Remembrance.” Like Wouk, Mr. Deutermann succeeded in transporting me back to the final stages of the war and its aftermath and had me thoroughly caught up in his story and its characters.

My thanks to NetGalley, author P. T. Deutermann, and publisher St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a complimentary ARC. All of the foregoing is my honest and independent opinion.

This is a political thriller set during WWII. It revolves around the nuclear program and the results of the nuclear bombs that ended the war in Japan. Yjankmyounto net galley for an advanced readers copy.

Thank you for the opportunity to preview The Second Sun. I typically don’t read historical books. This is a departure for me. This book takes place back about 60 years during world war 2.
This is a bit complicated with many details.
I did like this book and glad I had a chance to read something different.
This took me some time to get through so I suggest readers take their time as this novel is rich and interesting with powerful characters.
4 stats

Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

Navy Captain Wolfe Bowen, assigned to the office of the Chief of Naval Operations, is alerted to the surrender of a German U-boat at the naval shipyard in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Having a U-boat surrender was not unusual since the surrender of the Germans, but this was particularly noteworthy in that two of the passengers aboard the U-boat are Japanese civilians.

What he learns is something no one had expected: Japan may be developing an atomic weapon.

What does this knowledge mean for the United States and for the war?

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Set in 1945, this riveting historical tale pulls readers into the days of World War II and the threat of atomic weaponry. Well-defined, believable characters and a strong sense of place anchor the narrative as the action keeps readers turning pages as fast as possible.

The dilemma surrounding the use of atomic weapons plays a major role in the unfolding story as the moral issues involved are seriously considered. In the telling of this tale, readers will find rich descriptions, commitment, compassion, and a gripping story that keeps the reader engrossed until the final page has been turned.

Readers who enjoy historical fiction as well as those who enjoy war stories will find much to appreciate in this taut, compelling tale.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley
#TheSecondSun #NetGalley

P.T. Deutermann's World War II books are the most enlightening and entertaining books I have ever read on that subject and I have read every one he has written. As exceptional as those books have been, I think The Second Sun is the most informative and appealing.

I feel that way because the focus of this book is the development of the atomic bomb, a remarkable achievement that surprised the world and that ultimately saved many more lives than it destroyed. And yet because this story is told within the developing and compelling romantic relationship of two naval officers, it brings a human touch that moderates the horrors of war.

I received an ARC for free and gave my honest opinion voluntarily.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this advance reader’s copy, in exchange for an honest review. “The Second Sun” has an expected publication date of March 18, 2025.
And you can check out all my reviews at my Raised on Reading (www.raisedonreading.com) blog site.
Questions have circulated for decades over the United States’ use of an atomic bomb over Japan to end World War II. Was Japan also in the process of developing a nuclear weapon? And if so, how might it have been used?
Those questions and more are examined in P.T. Deutermann’s “The Second Sun,” a suspenseful World War II thriller that is informative, engaging, and doesn’t shy away from the moral issues facing the decision-makers back in 1945.
After a career of commanding destroyers in the Pacific, Captain Wolfe Bowen now works in Washington, DC, in the office of the Chief of Naval Operations. A phone call from the commander of the naval shipyard in Portsmouth, New Hampshire alerts Bowen that a German U-boat (the Germans had recently surrendered) has been captured and brought to port. Not unusual, perhaps, except that two of the passengers are Japanese civilians. And what they tell Bowen sets in motion a race against time to discover whether Japan has the technology to produce an atomic weapon.
Bowen teams with Captain Villem Amherst Van Rensselaer, a leader of the Manhattan Project, and Lieutenant Commander Janet Waring, a naval intelligence officer and skilled translator of Japanese, to address the question few have asked to this point in the war: Does Japan have a nuclear weapons program? All prior attention had been focused on Germany.
Awaiting the answer to that question is Harry Truman, recently ascended to the presidency after Franklin Roosevelt died. There are military issues to be considered, for sure. But Truman also wrestles with the moral dilemma of launching a nuclear attack over cities occupied by thousands of civilians. What Bowen and Waring discover will have a significant impact on the war, and the world going forward.
Deutermann’s writing is vivid. His description of a nuclear detonation is frightening. And the narrative of the devastation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki is bone-chilling. Character development is thorough, with ample backstory to give them depth and dimension. It’s easy to understand the catch-22 felt by career naval officers like Bowen, torn between hatred for the enemy and compassion for the thousands of innocent victims of war.
At 304 pages, “The Second Sun” is a quick and captivating read that I’m happy to highly recommend and give it a full five stars.