The Cloud Atlas by Liam Callanan was a mistake. The AskMe recommendation was Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell but I didn't make the distinction in the title until long after I'd started reading the novel. Since I was already over 100 pages into the novel and enjoying it, I decided to keep reading despite the confusion. The Cloud Atlas is about a bomb diffuser in the army during second world war who is sent to Alaska to dismantle the bombs the Japanese sent to the United States inside air balloons. These balloons, of which there were over nine thousand, fell all over Alaska and West Coast of Northern United States. The balloons were rigged with explosives and are one of the best kept secrets of the war. A completely fictional story based on a true-world event.

The three main characters are all interesting, each a bit too extreme in their flaws. But I got attached to the main character and to the story in general. I cared about what happened and enjoyed reading it from the first page to the very last. Especially since I had no idea about the balloons and was quite amazed it was a true story.