The Fervor

November 29, 2021
Katsu (The Hunger) weaves myriad perspectives into a powerful historical horror novel centered on the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. A Japanese meteorologist travels to a windswept island; a hesitant Oregonian minister worries he worships his wife more than God; a Japanese immigrant interred in Camp Minidoka fiercely defends her mixed-race daughter while not quite daring to hope for the return of her white husband from the Pacific Front; and a sharp Nebraska journalist is less interested in the married man she’s seeing than in the fireball that explodes over their trysting site. At first, these characters seem linked only by their eerie encounters with tiny, translucent spiders, an apparition in a kimono, and the remnants of what appear to be paper parachutes. It takes some time for deeper connections to come into view—pace is not a selling point here—but throughout, the meticulous and compassionate portraiture, placed against the backdrop of what evils humans do to one another, creates a horror that renders even the creepiest spiders merely decorative in comparison. Horror readers looking for sharp social commentary should snap this up. Agents: Richard Pine and Eliza Rothstein, InkWell Management.

Starred review from January 1, 2022

Katsu (Red Widow) returns to historical horror, this time adding an extra dimension of terror--Japanese internment. Told through multiple storylines in 1944, with key journal passages from Japan in 1927, the story follows Meiko and her daughter Aiko in an Idaho camp; Archie, a pastor from Oregon; and Fran, a freelance reporter from Nebraska. The characters get entangled in balloons with Japanese markings that are landing across the American West and causing death and intense suffering. Katsu takes time to build depth and sympathy for the main players, bounces between perspectives, and ends chapters with cliff-hangers that beg readers to keep going, until the characters collide in the final third of the book. The unease is constant, as anti-Asian racism, a mysterious illness, government cover-ups, and Japanese demons permeate the pages, soaking readers in anxiety. While there is a definitive conclusion to Katsu's story, the evil specter of racism isn't going anywhere. VERDICT Katsu has no peer when it comes to atmospheric, detail-rich historical horror, but this volume is more unsettling than anything she's written yet, because its demons attack readers uncomfortably close to home. A must-read for all, not just genre fans. Those seeking more Asian-influenced horror might try the anthology Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women.

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2022
In 1944, the lives of a newspaper reporter, a newly ordained minister, Japanese internees, and a Japanese scientist intertwine around a mysterious illness. "There's a long history of violence against Asians in America. If you're unaware of this, it's not surprising: it doesn't make the history books, it's not taught in classrooms," the author writes in an afterword. Her novel combines historical events, such as Roosevelt's executive order forcing Japanese Americans into internment camps, with supernatural elements from Japanese folklore. Chapters alternate among the perspectives of minister Archie Mitchell, reporter Fran Gurstwold, Camp Minidoka internees Meiko Briggs and her daughter Aiko, and scientist Wasaburo Oishi's journal entries. What unites these disparate characters becomes clear as more is revealed about the illness spreading through the internment camp and the dangerous balloons or parachutes that have begun appearing in several states. While at first the plot moves at a dizzying pace, especially in Archie's first chapters, a balance of incisive detail and steady progression is struck toward the middle of the book. What appears to be a story of supernatural suspense mixed with historical fiction transforms into an important reminder of the United States' short memory of its own atrocities and its long history of anti-Asian sentiment, violence, and racism. Didactic writing is both a strength and a weakness here. At first, important parallels are created; for instance, "America was not Nazi Germany. Rounding up citizens in camps in order to kill them: it was impossible. It went against everything America stood for--everything Americans said they stood for. Yet here she was, dying in an internment camp." Unfortunately, by the end, these notes become too frequent and heavy-handed. Even so, it's enjoyable to experience the ambitious, weblike weaving of the book's many elements. Admirable in its aims but needed more finesse.

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Starred review from February 15, 2022
Katsu (Red Widow, 2021) returns with a psychological and supernatural thriller based on the atrocities that occurred at Japanese American internment camps during WWII. A young, married couple goes on a field trip that forever changes them. A mysterious illness runs through an internment camp in Idaho, where Meiko is held prisoner along with her troubled daughter, Aiko. In Nebraska, Fran Gurstwold sees an explosion and thinks the area might be under attack. What she and her lover find suggests something far worse. While Meiko is attacked by a strange invader at the camp and separated from her daughter, Fran finds more evidence that the explosion and debris left behind are proof of something unthinkable. With startling relevance to the ongoing pandemic and filled with insightful metaphors, the action leaps off the page and has a cinematic quality. The Fervor is a stunning triumph and unfurls like a masterfully woven tapestry. It is suffused with secrets, pain, Japanese myths long thought forgotten, and above all the guilt that permeates throughout. There are depictions of racialized violence and slurs that were common in the period. The ghosts of this story will haunt readers long after they're finished reading.

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