Fallout

A first-class letter--containing a single sheet of paper, on which is a diagram for making a nuclear bomb--is anonymously sent to an editor at theDaily Californian. A political writer at theWashington Posthas a message for a "Mr. Curly" awaiting him when he gets to work. Twelve hours later, presidential advisor Frank Curly is found dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in a Washington D.C. park. In his hotel room is a dead 15-year-old girl, spread eagle on the bed and naked, arms and legs tied to the bedposts. Two men investigating seemingly disparate mysteries on opposite coasts unknowingly share a common bond: the clues to a conspiracy that could reshape the structure of a nation and create a terrifying new world. Fallout's themes of political intrigue and conspiracy reflect today's political climate, a prescient observation given the successful Republican platform that empowered the Bush administration for much of its presidency.

Tetsuo Takashima was born in 1949. After working for Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, he moved to California, where he studied at the University of California. Upon his return to Japan, he began writing while managing a private preparatory school. Fallout was his debut novel and won the 1994 Shosetsu Gendai Mystery Newcomer Award. Other novels include the action thriller Intruder, which won the 1999 Suntory Mystery Award. He has written more than twenty novels in the action/thriller/suspense/mystery genres.