STRUCK (Novel Review)

Absorbing!   

Keith Pyeatt’s first-published novel, STRUCK, is a fascinating and original read.  The novel opens with 23-year-old Barry getting struck by lightning while hiking a petrogylphs-filled trail in New Mexico.   Doctors tell Barry how fortunate he is to survive the strike, but also warn him after-effects may yet appear.   Barry’s prepared, therefore,  for the tingling in his hands and the chronic insomnia, but he doesn’t expect his sudden ability to read people’s minds nor his increased capacity to comfort those in need.   Trying to understand what's happened to him, Barry returns to the trail where the lightning struck him, and a Native American elder named Walter tells Barry the spirits have blessed him with a gift—one that comes with great purpose.   Although Barry’s mother--who also survived a lightning strike when she was pregnant with Barry—always told him his destiny was that of a warrior,  Barry has his doubts.  The likeable Barry, however, doesn’t want to disappoint Walter, who shows such earnest belief in Barry as he mentors him to fully awaken his spiritual powers.

Thomas has also been bestowed powers from the spirit world.  But his gift wasn’t received naturally.  Instead Thomas’s  grandfather conducted a grisly experiment on him--from knowledge he manipulated a Native American elder into sharing--with intentions of exploiting Thomas’s gifts for evil means.  While Thomas has no memory of the ritual his grandfather performed, as Thomas becomes aware of his newly-bestowed gifts, the power corrupts him.   Not only can Thomas read people’s minds, he’s able to manipulate people, animals, and nature.   Thomas becomes convinced Walter is trying to steal his greater powers to instill into Barry, and Thomas fights to hold onto the powers that have given him the self-esteem he’s always lacked, placing Barry—and the world--in grave danger.   Despite the growing tension between Barry and Thomas, not even Thomas can deny a bond exists between them.  But is Barry’s good-hearted nature any kind of match for Thomas’s greedy need for power? 

Thomas’s terrorizing accelarates as he struggles to hold onto his gifts,  but glimpes of humanity shine through, making him the quintessential “sympathetic villain.”  Further sympathy is garnered when the author takes us back in time (in chapters cleverly titled “Eight months before the lightning, “Fourteen days before the lightning,” etc.) and Barry and Thomas’s pasts are explored.  While Barry was nurtured, Thomas was not.  While Barry’s homosexuality was accepted, Thomas’s was not.  While Barry's always had a sense of belonging, Thomas does not.   While Barry’s friends are trustworthy, Thomas’s are NOT.  Secondary characters are also interesting and varied,  and the multiple points-of-view are handled quite adeptly.

Complementing the wonderful characterization in STRUCK is Pyeatt’s rich and powerful writing style.  As his words flow and the action increases he never loses our attention and builds a world that is set in present time, yet the ancient rituals and rich Native American culture act to transform the reader to a different place and time, as much as they do Barry.

While the novel is of normal length, I could have easily read about these characters longer in such an absorbing world.

Superb.    

Quest Publishing (July 2009)  http://www.amazon.com/Struck-Keith-Pyeatt/dp/1935053175