Tim Wendel

"(An) historical novel about the paper bombs sent from Japan towards the United States. Well, it takes that historical fact, and from there Wendel creates his own world within our history."
-- Dan Wickett, Emerging Writers


“In Red Rain, Tim Wendel takes a footnote to World War II and masterfully expands it into a novel of dynamic action and human dimension. From bombed-out Tokyo to the arid forests of Arizona, he takes us into the fire and expert guide that he is, never loses his bearings.”
-- Colson Whitehead

“This is a terrific story, jammed with secrets, cross-purposes and revelations, and Tim Wendel has made a fine novel of it.”
-- Oakley Hall

Tim Wendel’s RED RAIN tells the story of the best-kept secret weapon of World War II – the Japanese fire balloons.

Assembled from paper by schoolchildren and women in the waning years of the war, these curious weapons were launched from fields near Tokyo and Kyoto. They often reached the U.S. mainland in just three days and two nights. Armed with incendiary bombs, the balloons’ original goal was to ignite forest fires throughout the western states, which they did at an alarming rate. Wendel’s research at the National Archives and the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., reveals that the balloons touched down in the U.S. more than 300 times from 1944 to 1945.

The balloons proved to be a better weapon than the Imperial Army ever knew. One sailed as far east as Michigan. At one point, the Japanese high command planned to replace the incendiary bombs with nerve and gas warfare. But, thankfully, it never came to that largely because of the U.S. military’s ability to keep a secret.

An op-ed columnist at USA Today, Tim Wendel has appeared on CNN, C-SPAN, MSNBC and NPR. He’s the author of a half-dozen books, including the award-winning historical novel CASTRO’S CURVEBALL.