One Massive Step Review | A Kaiju Epic With Engaging Storytelling

Written By Daniel Laudato

One Massive Step is a novel by Joshua Brafman that follows two kaiju-driven storylines that slowly intertwine as the book unfolds.

As a disclosure, Joshua Brafman provided us with a review copy of the book with no strings attached, and I have since bought my own copy. He had no prior involvement in or preview of this review, and all opinions expressed here are entirely our own. With that out of the way, let’s move on to the story.

This story follows two main characters. The first is Monique, a Japanese insurance agent who is thrust into the middle of war-torn Vietnam to assess an insurance policy that is held by a town against Kaiju attacks or “Calamity” as they put it. Once she arrives, things aren’t as they seem, and she is quickly thrown into an action adventure mystery. She needs to try to figure out what is causing these calamities and how this ties to her father who went missing long ago.

The second story follows Mickey, a teenager who is living with his Uncle Tito and running a surf shop off the beaches of Subic, in the Philippines. After a surfing mishap, he unknowingly develops psychic powers. Together with his new friend and crush Taylor they unravel the mystery of what is happening to the disappearing locals, and what has developed a frightening psychic connection to Mickey.

In addition to a great cast of human characters one of my favorite aspects of this book are the Kaiju. They are mutated animals, which is par for the course in kaiju media but they are mostly unexpected animals that you wouldn’t think of like Whales, Eels, Shrimp, Jellyfish… But it’s not just the types of animals it’s how they are described. They all have this uneasy feeling about them, they are very macabre in nature. These aren’t just a big version of that specific creature, they have been fundamentally corrupted.

Joshua Brafman used a paintbrush of words to describe the actions and feelings in this story in such a way that it feels cinematic. The characters in this story are all perfectly fleshed out and their chemistry and interactions feel genuine. The story is well paced and does not feel dragged out, leading to a real page turner of a book.

One Massive Step earns a strong 4.5 out of 5. I am enthusiastically waiting for the sequel titled Two Giant Cries. I cannot wait to see what twists and turns he has planned for this motley crew of characters. If you are a kaiju fan this book is a must-read.

We have spoken with Joshua and while the book is only available on Amazon in both print and digital, the digital version will be DRM-free on there as of January 20th, 2026, when that feature goes live.

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