Truly Like Lightening by David Duchovny

Reviewed By: Jeremy Zentner, Reference Assistant

Genre: Literature

Suggested Age: Adults

What is this book about? Bronson Powers is a Mormon polygamist living in the Californian Mojave Desert with his two wives. He used to have a third, but she died due to refusing modern medicine on a religious basis. After getting discovered by a real estate developer on a company excursion, the Powers family is threatened with exposure if they can’t prove their way of life is better for their children.

But this way of life wasn’t always how Bronson, or his wives, Yalulah, Mary, and Jackie, lived. In the past, Bronson was a drug addict working as a stuntman for Hollywood until his grandmother passed away. She left him a wealth of land, but only if he joined the Church of Latter-Day Saints. Well, he went through the routine of conversion to get the land, but something didn’t go as expected. He started to actually believe in the writings of Joseph Smith. And not just the current flavor of church doctrine, but the original text and lifestyle Joseph Smith lived in the nineteenth century.

Now, Bronson and his family will have to figure out how to navigate the modern world and deal with this swindler of a real estate agent, Maya, lest they face exposure to every regulatory body in the state. More importantly, their children will have to make a choice. Continue the isolated desert lifestyle or rejoin modern civilization with all of its ups and downs.

My Review: Wow! Talk about a heck of a writing style. When I first checked this book out, I wondered if the famed actor, David Duchovny, hired a ghost writer to compose this novel. I can say confidently that the star of the X-Files and Californication wrote this book himself because no ghost writer in their right mind would compose something so daring. Truly Like Lightening is not a cookie-cutter book, written to placate Duchovny’s fanbase in a quick money-grab. This book is truly his heart and soul on display. Caught somewhere in between Chuck Palahniuk, Charles Bukowski, Augusten Burroughs, and maybe a little of Bret Easton Ellis, Truly Like Lightening is a highly addictive read as Duchovny paints a world full of bedlam and contradictions culminating into a bright bolt of electric tragedy. He weaves in and out of the many characters like the “patriarch” Bronson Powers, to each of the Powers wives, to the two eldest children, and the scheming real estate developer Maya. It might seem like a lot, but Duchovny does it seamlessly and without prejudice. Be warned, this is a scandalous tale of debauchery and bloodshed.

Three Words that Describe this Book: irreverent, addictive, funny

Give This A Try if You Like… Choke, Running with Scissors, Sellevision, Less Than Zero, American Psycho, Under the Banner of Faith, Big Love (tv series) 

Rating: 5/5

Find it at the library!

The Christie Affair by Nina de Gramont

Reviewed by: Becky Houghton, Circulation Assistant

Genre: Historical fiction

What is this book about? This book is a fictionalized account of what happened in 1926 when mystery writer, Agatha Christie, disappeared mysteriously for 11 days. For years many have speculated about this time, but Christie remained totally silent and never revealed where she was or what she did during her absence. De Gramont has woven an intriguing tale of love, marriage, grief and loss, and more in her mysterious and moving account of these “lost” days in Christie’s life.

My review: This was a fascinating book that I had to keep reminding myself was a fictional account, not a true story. Agatha Christie’s mysterious disappearance has fascinated readers of her sixty six mystery books for years and apparently continues to do so. For eleven days in 1926, no one, including her husband Archie or her publicist, knew where she was. She just vanished leaving no trace which prompted an extensive search throughout Great Britain. In this book, Nina de Gramont weaves an account written by Archie Christie’s mistress, Nan O’Dea which has flashbacks to Nan’s youth, early romance and troubled life, with the missing days of Agatha. It reveals an elaborate, long-term plot for Nan to insinuate herself into Archie and Agatha’s life and to orchestrate and conceal Agatha during her absence from her home. This story has many unexpected twists and turns combined with the switching from the 1926 timeframe to events in the past. If I have any criticism of this book, it would be that the reader must be constantly vigilant to the dates that events occur. Written beautifully, I recommend this book to mystery fans, especially those readers who love Agatha Christie’s extensive collection of mystery stories, plays and books.

Three words that describe this book: Chilling, Intriguing, Complex

Give this a try if you like: Agatha Christie’s books or The Mystery of Mrs. Christy by Marie Benedict

Rating: 4.5/5

Find it at the library!