Sgt. Joe Pena is the central character; indeed, he is the novel's only center.

He connects episodes of science and romance, jazz and boxing, mysticism and technology, humor and melodrama; he connects the fiction and the history. As such, he is, as reviewers noted, overburdened. He is too excellent: He was an eighth-ranked heavyweight; he played piano with the jazz greats; he was in the Philippines with MacArthur, and escaped. On July 15, 1945, he outboxes an opponent, uses $50,000 to buy a jazz club, ensures that Ben and Roberto escape to Mexico, and then, as the scientists count down to the first explosion of an atomic bomb at 5:30 am on July 16, Joe wrestles with and kills his nemesis, Capt. Augustino, atop the tower at Trinity. And yet, despite the serendipity of his encounters, Joe emerges as a credible character, capable of carrying the thematic burden which Smith has placed upon...