The Day They H-Bombed Los Angeles
Robert Moore Williams
Ace Books
1961
1st Printing
Take a nifty mushroom cloud and screaming headline style type for the title and you have...well, I hesitate to call this a bomb, but it is.
The Cold War left its mark on science fiction, just as it did on the rest of the world. Although the mushroom cloud didn't make it to that many covers, the theme of nuclear devestation, or its aftermath, was probably one of the most dependable standbys of the 50s and 60s.
In this little gem, the "they" in the title is really the U.S government who is attempting to destroy an organism from the ocean that turns men into "zombies". After the first third, the book becomes a bore, but there are some interesting images of army troops blocking freeways and machine gunning anyone who tries to leave L. A.
Robert Moore Williams was at best a secondary (or "B" list) author, even though he was quite prolific.