Nate Kenyon’s second novel presents an unfortunate but not altogether unique dilemma: a talented author who has latched on to a subject that does not serve him well. And try as he might, he simply cannot bring much new or different to the table.
In THE REACH, Jess Chambers, a graduate student at the small Thomas Ward School of Psychology in Boston, is called into the office of Professor Shelly, a faculty member Jess much admires. Shelly has a special assignment for her: A 10-year-old girl named Sarah at the Wasserman psychiatric facility downtown has been diagnosed as schizophrenic and is completely unresponsive to treatment. Shelly feels that Jess’ academic achievements make her a worthy candidate to meet Sarah and attempt to bring the child out of her shell.
Jess is escorted to the basement holding cells of the facility where she finds Sarah heavily medicated and restrained in a straitjacket. Jess had been told of Sarah’s violent episodes and warned to keep her guard up. But there are discrepancies in Sarah’s case file that do not justify the kind of drugs and restraints she is under. Furthermore, attempts to get additional details or background into Sarah’s medical background are either ignored or brushed aside.
But still, Jess manages to connect with Sarah. The girl confides that she has been secretly rejecting her daily medication, and that she is very frightened of the things she claims she can do, like break open the doors and windows of her cell. Then, as a result of a sudden emotional encounter, Jess witnesses some of Sarah’s hidden powers. Whenever the girl is angry or feels threatened, the surrounding air grows cold; light bulbs, windows and other glass objects shatter; and things are hurled all around the area. It has all the earmarks of psychokinesis, but Jess refuses to acknowledge it.
Meanwhile, representatives of a large pharmaceutics company are entertaining investors for their latest, revolutionary project. They claim they are on the verge of harnessing and controlling psi powers and are offering this knowledge to the military and other interested parties for millions of dollars.
As Jess learns more about the source and extent of Sarah’s abilities, she realizes that the girl is the central piece of a far-reaching conspiracy intent on exploiting her rather than either curing or caring for her.
There are moments throughout the first half of the novel so reminiscent of earlier works by Stephen King, John Farris, Thomas Harris (at times) and several others, that they border on derivative. Knowing this, perhaps, Kenyon pulls in all the latest known facts and cases about the topic to try to make it relevant and current. But the sad reality is, we’ve read and seen this kind of thing numerous times before. Kenyon tries, but can’t escape the corner he’s painted himself into. So the plot, even with its overarching conspiracy, becomes predictable.
But what prevents THE REACH from being just another story about psychokinesis is the power and depth of Kenyon’s prose. His character descriptions and behavior insights are so convincing that you’d swear he was a seasoned author of dozens of novels. The same is true for his mood-setting techniques. So even though we know the glass will break, the chairs and bodies will fly all over the place, and all sorts of similar psychokinetic hell will break loose, we keep reading for the thrill of the emotions and details Kenyon provides.
It’s not even enough to say that THE REACH is the among the best novels written about psychokinesis, which in many ways it is. Such praise still limits the scope of the author’s skills displayed here. So obviously Kenyon needs to find a plot topic worthy of his considerable talents. Then watch out, folks. Stuff will start flying
about like we’ve never seen before. —Alan Cranis
OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS AUTHOR:
• BLOODSTONE by Nate Kenyon
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