TRULY LIKE LIGHTNING

by David Duchovny

TRULY LIKE LIGHTNING

Genres: Fiction, Audiobook, Contemporary, Thriller, Adult Fiction, Westerns, Novels

300 pages, Hardcover

First published February 2, 2021

About the author

Born and raised in New York City David Duchovny earned an A.B. in English literature from Princeton University, and an ABD in English literature from Yale University. He was on the road to earning his Ph.D. when his interest in playwriting led him to acting. Subsequently, he emerged to become one of the most highly acclaimed actors in Hollywood.

Globally known for his roles in the Fox Television’s monster hit The X-Files and Showtime's Californication, David has made his way into our pop culture lexicon. David Duchovny remains the only actor to have won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television series in both the Comedy and Drama categories.

David Duchovny has published four novels, Holy Cow: A Modern-Day Dairy Tale (2015), a New York Times Bestseller; Bucky F*cking Dent (2016); Miss Subways (2018) and Truly Like Lightning (2021).

Additionally, David Duchovny has completed two studio albums, Hell or Highwater (2015) and Every Third Thought (2018), and his third album is slated for release in summer 2021.

Reviews

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't write a lot of reviews, but I loved this novel & feel almost as it was written just for ME! Morman polygamists at Joshua Tree in a life-or-death with evil Real Estate soul-suckers for their kids? YES, please! As a SoCal resident, I dug all the local references. As a person of a "certain age", I got all of the pop-culture references - yes, I remember old Christopher Lee & Peter Cushing horror movies, 80's - 90's movies... all of those things, but I am still here & I know what is going on now too! I understand the divisive political climate of today, as well as the Great Recession 2008 & it's cause, what happened in the 70's, the 80's and 90's to get us in this mess ... As a woman, I appreciated the frame of mind of the women in this long novel... the "p.c.'ness" of it all... As someone with "white privilege" and understanding of this country's legacy of hate & oppression - I appreciated it on that score too, and what the sheltered children of this tale faced when they went to public school and struggled mightily to fit in. And finally, as someone who grew up in the desert and also studied a lot about world religions, I REALLY got into not only the theocracy and discussions of religions - the LDS (FLDS) and also the Scientologists, Catholics and more that inhabit this novel. THIS is a novel, an Epic, a STORY! I will never forget Bronson Powers, the protagonist. Many, many props to the renaissance man, David Duchovny, a favorite actor always, who has really written something truly remarkable here. Would love to thank him in person, it really affected me so deeply! ALL THE STARS!!

[Kasa Cotugno · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first of David Duchovny's books I've read but it definitely will not be the last. Although better known as an intuitive, charismatic actor, his bio proves that he is a renaissance man with talents that range from his acting gigs to music and here he proves himself a writer of originality. He has always been known for intellectual curiosity and prowess, having garnered his degrees at both Princeton and Yale with honors. He credits inspiration for this lengthy but totally involving novel to Prof. Harold Bloom and his study of Joseph Smith.

So here we have a former stuntman turned Mormon leader who lives with his wives and children in the desert near San Bernardino, completely off the grid and living the laws of the faith. Enter the outside world via Maya Abbadessa, a young turk employee of a predatory real estate company, who literally crashes into their compound, stoned but observant. What happens unfolds through the eyes of multiple characters, all accurately developed and completely involving. Highly recommended.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not ashamed to admit that I had the biggest crush on David Duchovny when I was in my late teens/early twenties. I would spend every Friday (and then Sunday) night curled up in front of the TV watching the latest episode of The X-Files. And then the show ended, and Duchovny kind of faded into the background, as these things go.

It wasn't until a few years ago that I realized David had written a book and was making music. I picked up a copy of Bucking F***ing Dent but hadn't cracked into it yet, and then I saw this one. A modern day Western set in the middle of the desert out by Joshua Tree, where ex-hollywood stuntman Bronson Powers freely explores Mormon life with his wives and children, far removed from the impurities of today's society.

But it wouldn't be a book if it stopped there. See, Bronson's inherited a large chunk of land out there and there's a company looking to purchase it out from under him, but he's not interested, he's got his own little "Garden of Eden" going on out there and likes it just fine the way it is. But the company won't take no for an answer, so they notify child services and wager a bet with him - send a few of his kids to public school and at the end of the year, if those kids do better than the ones he's been homeschooling, he'll sell off some of that property. If they don't, well, no harm no foul, the land remains his and the State of California will let him be.

Of course nothing is ever that simple and what ensues is part comedy, part tragedy as Bronson has no choice but to watch his family split off into two directions, forcing them to navigate new cultural norms and calling into question the faith and life they've cultivated for themselves.

I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting, but I was pleasantly surprised. And while I found some of the writing to be a little on the "rolling of the eyes" cheesy side, overall I really enjoyed the book. This dude can write!

[Lizz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t write reviews.... I call out bullshit.

I’m not finishing this book. I’ve never done that before. Even books I put on hold for years. I’m even gonna finish that horrible zombie book. It looks good compared to this drivel. No politics.

Duchovny took an amazing story and inserted Trump derangement. Frequently. I was okay with the first five times. Then it increased. It wasn’t even related to the story 99% of the time! Like a guy mentioning that they were near a place where “Chump’s Land MISmanagement” thing is considering building a thing he doesn’t like. Why was that brought up? Politics ruins everything.

Anyone who has two brain cells knows that regardless of how you feel about the man personally his policies were not extreme and the media had an erection over him because they finally found a way to stay relevant in a world of the internet. Only difference as he did less war than the others. The rest was psycho hyperbole.

Anyone who has three brain cells knows that the same puppeteer controls the donkey AND the elephant. To buy into the illusion is a sign of woeful ignorance and years of successful brainwashing. Now let’s get out our miniature American flags for our two minutes of hate!! Boooooo!!!!

Duchovny however thinks Pepsi is great and only Coke is evil. Talks about how Clinton flew with Epstein and brushes it off like no biggie. He says how Obama bailed out banksters. No criticism. Wow those things hurt people... Yet he goes on and on about Trumps America. Even claiming that because of the administration racism and creationism are now the norm in school education. At least speak the truth please.

Yeah dude. You’re fucking nuts. And a waste of talent.

[Laurie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could not finish this book. Throughout I was asking myself "WTF did I just read?". I was asked to review this book and I agreed because it sounded interesting and the author's name seemed familiar. I later realized he's the guy from X-files, of which I was not a fan but that has no bearing here other than I will not simply give this a good review because I am/was a fan.

From the first chapter I thought of putting this down as it starts with Bronson, an ex-stuntman who found religion in the Mormon church, with his own slant, in order to inherit a huge plot of land outside of Joshua Tree (I am a fan of the park and admit that piece kept me reading in itself). It felt like a diatribe on religion, not being religious it didn't bother me other than it's not my thing and I could not tell where it was going. The second chapter we meet Maya a money-hungry capitalist who wants to steal Bronson's land away from him to create a huge real estate development. It wasn't until almost a quarter of the way through the book that I had any idea what the point was.

Duchovny has strung together numerous complaints about society from the Liberal's handbook. I too consider myself liberal but it was too much and felt more like reading Twitter with a tenuous storyline to connect all the comments. If you are a Trump fan, which I certainly am not, you will really hate this book. There are several anti-Trump rants in just the first half (I didn't read much past that) and I've seen Trump supporters give scathing reviews for novels that include even one line against him. But even for me it was too much especially when a character who has been living in the desert for years with no outside contact is forced back into society and learns about Trump and he is now one of the things that keeps her up at night. She watches YouTube videos of Obama and wishes she had been aware of him when he was president. Two months before she didn't even know what a smart phone was. This book will not age well. Even now that the election is over and I'm just waiting until Inauguration Day I don't want to read all this. The final straw for me was pages of a side story about the ills of immigration in this country. As someone that used to work in immigration law, Duchovny's take was all too simplified and one-sided and all the blame laid at the feet of Trump when there's been issues long before him, he was just the first president since the Japanese concentration camps to treat immigrants as inhuman.

All in all I think there is a good story buried in there somewhere if you stripped away most of the unnecessary political rants and put the effort into character development. They all just felt flat and cartoonish in their role to further Duchovny's agenda.

Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and #Netgalley publishing for allowing me to review this book.

[Janelle Janson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come

[Kyra Leseberg (Roots & Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Maya Abbadessa is trying to hold her own at Praetorian Capital, the Santa Monica company run by self-made billionaire Robert Malouf. While Malouf has holdings in many ventures, real estate is the primary asset. The workplace has been tough for Maya, the only woman among a frat-like brotherhood of thirty-somethings. She knows she has to score a huge listing to earn the respect of Malouf and her co-workers. The opportunity comes on a weekend where the employees travel to Joshua Tree to trip acid and spitball some interesting business ideas.
High as a kite, Maya drives out into the desert in a car she’s never been in before and stumbles upon the Powers family where she’s promptly shot with an arrow.

Bronson Powers was once a celebrated Hollywood stuntman but for the past twenty years he has lived deep in Joshua Tree on land that he inherited with his three wives and ten children, following Mormon teachings. The family has been successful at remaining oblivious to the modern world but their way of life is threatened when Maya finds them.
Aware of the astronomical value of the land, Maya strikes a deal with the Powers family. If they enroll three of their children in public school and Maya can prove they’re better off there than in the desert, Bronson will sell a plot of his land to Maya.

The three oldest children, already exceptionally bright, assimilate to the modern world with ease but not without complication as their way of life is put under the microscope and their views on religion, family, sex, and race are challenged in dangerous ways.

Truly Like Lightning is a complicated read. The plot required more suspension of disbelief than I care for and the points of view jump around often which means I never got to know anyone very well. I found it hard to believe these kids who have been sheltered from the world their entire lives transitioned so quickly into the real world. Not enough time was spent developing the character of Bronson Powers. Readers have insight into his past but his actions at the end of the book left me scratching my head because the climax felt like it came out of left field. The wives are given backstory but they felt more like props.
Despite all of that, I still felt compelled to keep reading! Duchovny is a gifted storyteller and his quirky sense of humor made this worth the read. Several characters are well crafted with authentic flaws and my feelings about each of them fluctuated with the story arc.

Thanks to Farrar, Straus, and Giroux and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Truly Like Lightning is scheduled for release on February 2, 2021.

For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

(ARC from NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

David Duchovny writes books?! Who knew? Apparently, a lot of people as this is his fourth book. I requested it out of pure curiosity.

I was expecting something vaguely pretentious (I wasn’t wrong) and although I didn’t have high expectations, I was prepared to be pleasantly surprised. Turns out, and I didn’t know this going in, but DD is both the son of a novelist and an English Literature graduate himself (BA from Princeton, MA from Yale). So he has the credentials to save this from being a total celebrity vanity project.

Having said all that… I didn’t love it. Degrees don’t make you a great writer, but they help you not to be a terrible one I suppose. Was there a story here? Yes, but, this book’s main purpose appears to be to tell us how much DD hates Trump (23 mentions), laments racism, destruction of the environment and possibly Mormons (it was unclear how to me in the end what the message about Mormonism was, or perhaps it was religious extremism?). We get it, most people who pick up the book are going to agree on all those issues but the lack of subtlety in making the points got a little tired.

As I said, there was a story: Bronson Powers, ex-stuntman, converted Mormon, lives off-grid with his wives and kids in the desert until greedy real-estate investors come looking for an opportunity. It continues from there and the story is entertaining although I was left with the feeling that certain lines of plot were just vehicles to get us to another place and were never really tied up.

The main problem I had with this book was there seemed to be a lot more telling than doing. About 20% in I found parts interesting but I didn’t really feel invested because it felt very narration-heavy. The characters didn’t come alive for a long time.

The other problem was the vocabulary. What have you got to prove? I’ve never used the word ‘palimpsest’ in my life, yet it appears twice in this book. I started highlighting all the big words because it started getting ridiculous. Some others: nomenclature, proselytizing, turpitude, extemporaneously, transubstantiated, pernicious. Towards the beginning, there were sentences I had to read two or three times to figure out.

Although I had a few things to pick at in this book, and around 30% I was tempted to set it aside, it’s far from the worst book I’ve read and I know there are people who will enjoy it. It reminded me a little of Jonathan Franzen (I can’t really say why – long and pretentious?). Will I read another of his books? Maybe. I’m a little curious but I have seen a few reviews call this one his best.

Thank you NetGalley for this opportunity to satisfy my curiosity!

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will start off by saying this is Duchovny's best work yet. You might think I'm exaggerating just because I have been a fan of his written words for a while now, but the truth is that this book brought me so many different views, so much knowledge, so many feelings, that it is really hard to translate it all into just a few sentences.
Not being an American myself, I was afraid that the cultural differences would weigh heavily on my reading, but that was not the case. If anything, it was like a huge history lesson on things I did not know and also a lesson on how judging others using our own view of the world can be harmful. Wouldn't things be a little bit better if we just knew how to listen?
Eloquently, Duchovny translates his unique sense of humor and political criticism into perfectly crafted dialogues that guide us through this equally unique story about a man who believes too much, a woman that wants the world without really caring about the world, and the people who get tangled up in their stories as a consequence.
Truly Like Lightning is a book that can make you laugh, cry, stay on the edge of your seat, reflect and, most importantly, give you hope that there are better days ahead, despite everything. In short, this book truly is like lightning – it hits us hard when we are least expecting it and it lightens our skies at the same time.

[Lydia Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bronson Powers is living in the desert with his three wives and ten children minding his own business. Not legal, but not really hurting anyone. The land belongs to him fair and square, but you never know when a greedy person is going to invade your domain and uproot your life. This is a heartbreaking meditation on family, religion, sex, greed, human nature, and the vanishing environment of an ancient desert. This family suffers greatly. A must read.

[A · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me start this review by saying that I loved Bucky Fucking Dent and Miss Subways, so I was looking forward to a new novel. But what can I say about this? This novel is just not for me. More than once I thought “what am I reading here?” And more than once I considered just quitting the novel. The only reason I decided to plow through is so that I can write an honest review. And it got better! (before it got worse).

The book starts off as a quasi history lesson that, in my opinion, is unnecessary and could have been interwoven way better throughout the novel. Once the actual action starts, it gets more interesting and it’s easier to get into the plot. Except that I find the characters so unbelievably flat. A few times, I couldn’t keep Bronson’s sister wives apart. The fact that the names are similar in length and sound (Yaya, Maya, and Mary) doesn’t help at all.

The characters seem like cookie-cutter versions of stereotypes (the greedy, heartless businessman, the disillusioned young woman finding her way and purpose in the end, the wild child, etc.). There wasn’t a single character I cared for. I read this in another review and agree whole-heartedly with it: all the female characters only exist to serve the interests of the male protagonist. There’s a scene where Yalulah and Mary meet up after not seeing each other for a while and they barely talk about each other (!) but instead discuss how Bronson feels and how worried they are about him.

Everyone seems to be obsessed with Bronson in the novel and the writing, to me, doesn’t reflect why. It’s mentioned he’s good-looking and charismatic but that’s not what’s on the page. He’s arrogant, he’s moody, he's completely nuts, he’s boring and downright annoying. The passages I liked best are those that aren’t about him. Maya’s infatuation for him is particularly uncomfortable to read (don’t even get me started on everything with his daughter but that’s going into spoiler territory) - and maybe it was intended this way! But it doesn't read well. There’s no chemistry there either. This sentence stood out to me: “They could be father and daughter. Or they could be lovers. They could be in love” (Chapter 19). As well as this one: “Could he stop with the gross polygamy and be her sexy, older cowboy boyfriend she could show off all these soft West Side men?” (Chapter 28). Can we stop with these age gap fascinations, *please*?

There are smaller details that just bothered me. The family dynamics for one. Bronson, his sister wives, and the children are described as a family. Yet, when they’re torn apart, it’s like no one cares or misses anyone. Sometimes the women are referred to as the children’s mother and then they say things like “I am not her mother” that makes you go ??? I understand that this novel tries to question relationships and what family means, but the mere allusion that lack of blood relation makes someone not their child/parent is a no-go.

The novel gets better in the middle and there are a few passages that I enjoyed. But the ending is just bonkers and I did not care for it at all. The novel isn’t bad – but it is definitely not for me.

[Susan Tunis · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. David Duchovny is not some kind of dilettante wanna-be novelist. Four books in, the man is the real deal. Each successive novel has been more complex and more ambitious, and Truly Like Lightning is a novel any writer would be proud to produce.

It's the story of Bronson Powers. (What a name.) He's a retired Hollywood stuntman. A significant inheritance helped fund his early retirement, and it came with only one string--that he make a sincere effort to convert to Mormonism. As it happens, little effort was required. Bronson converts in a big way, going way beyond the mainstream into a Mormon originalism. Eventually, he settles in an idealistic desert compound with his three wives and ten kids, away from the evils of the world. That's not the end of the story, alas. Evils have a way of finding you, and sometimes they aren't even that evil.

There's so much more to this story, but no need to get into further detail. I think a lot of readers, upon hearing the novel is about a man with three wives are going to make some immediate assumptions about what kind of story it is, and what the issues and conflicts might be. But this novel surprised me at every turn and kept me up reading deep into the night as the increasingly intense endgame played out. And Mr. Duchovny is painting a broader canvass and critiquing a lot more of our culture than taking easy pot shots at Mormonism and Hollywood. Although, he does have some fun with Hollywood. And there's a great deal of humor throughout, despite the often serious subject matter. There is big-picture satire, but there's also just a lot of cleverness. David Duchovny has a tremendous facility with language, and there's a playfulness in the way he employs it. He also creates a cast of fascinating, complex, flawed characters in the telling of his tale.

I opened by saying that this is the author's most ambitious novel to date. It leaves me eagerly awaiting his next offering!

[jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

"words are to the world as omens are to time."

before he pursued acting, david duchovny was a lit major, earning a bachelor's from princeton (summa cum laude with a senior thesis entitled the schizophrenic critique of pure reason in beckett's early novels) and a masters/abd from yale, where he studied under canon-maker harold bloom. duchovny's fourth novel, truly like lightning, is the tale of a charismatic, former hollywood stuntman turned mormon homesteading recluse — and his three wives, his ten kids, and the greedy developer who aims to upend their simple, devout, back-to-the-land lifestyle. an absolutely entertaining story twinned with solid explorations of faith, family, capitalism, 21st century america (the novel is set during trump's ignominious reign), the rights of man, landscape, law, and violence, duchovny's new book is darn good and it's clear he has legit writing chops.

ah, the true american story of genocide, slavery, and rape hidden beneath the beautiful, obfuscating, july fourth words... he said there's only one trinity worth addressing, one that consists of capitalism, racism, and climate change, and like the holy trinity, he felt that those three issues are at base one in the same, and that he hoped to find the common root and yank it from the american soil.

truly like lightning is being adapted into a showtime series (co-written by duchovny and the writer-director team behind the peanut butter falcon) and set to star duchovny himself as the lead.

[Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this book at all. I found the story unrealistic, the writing pretentious, the characters unlikable. And, worse, it was obvious that Duchovny was attempting to share his views on government and politics (much of which I agree with) but these views override the story and take the reader out of the fictional world and into the real one. And, finally, this book makes a judgement about a religion, and it is the wrong one. Mormons do not enter into multiple marriage. Polygamy was denounced by the faith in 1890. When that happened there was a split in the church and those that left now call themselves The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This church is separate from the mainstream Mormon church. They have different leaders, different precepts by which they live. It is irresponsible of the author to call this character Mormon.

[Angus McKeogh · Rating 4 out of 5]

An actor with writing chops. A story about Mormon isolationists and their interaction with modern society. Duchovny’s novels continue to just get better and better. Set in the present and heavily thought-provoking. As an aside his acknowledgments about how the book came about were much the same. I knew Duchovny studied literature at Yale and Princeton but his views were much more cogent than I would’ve guessed from his acting roles. I’ll leave it to readers to explore Duchovny’s thoughts on Mormonism, the Trump administration, and the lives of isolationists.

[StrawberryCupcake · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a difficult novel to pin down being it's extremely layered, has a lot of themes (often controversial themes) running through it and the characters are actually quite awful at times and difficult to like (not a bad thing. I like to be challenged).

That said it is a well written book, it's an interesting book and it's a timely book. Why? Because it's a lament on the nature of extremism (both ideological, religious and personal) and how far people will go to get what they want and preserve what they have. It's also a social commentary (without being too woke) on radicalisation and a warning not to get so caught up in your own agenda, and single world-view, and to let others in as a counterpoint. You never know, it might actually save you in the end.

It's not going to be for everyone but I thoroughly enjoyed it and I recommend it. This is my first reading of a Duchovny novel and I will be seeking out his other 3 after this one.

[Penny (Literary Hoarders) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

This is good, Duchovny is a good writer, and I do want to go back and read others from his backlist. However, I felt with this one, the pop culture references were too current and too often sprinkled throughout - the celebrity name dropping, the events, some of the issues written here mean this isn't a book that is going to hold up if you read it 5-10 years from now.

[Stef]

I’ve decided not to rate this book. I love David, love his writing but this book wasn’t for me, like at all, and the fangirl in me doesn’t want to drag down the average rating 🤷‍♀️ I’m glad other people seem to be enjoying it though.

[Steve Sokol · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a highly engaging and overall compelling novel. Parts seem far-fetched, specifically the psychology behind some of the main decisions made that set the plot into action. However, for an author forever (if unfairly) associated with The X-Files, I’d say the premise is ultimately plausible or at least potentially realistic.

Overall, this is a fascinating study of characters, contemporary life, and most of all a deeply cynical review of identify politics. Although somewhat of an indictment against MeToo and racial justice, conservatives (especially Trump) gets hit even harder. If this were a solution, it would be a five-star Pulitzer-level work. As it stands, I wish the book somehow gave more insight as to whether people really can live beyond their predestined classifications—ironically a very Mormon-themed dilemma.

As it is, answers prove elusive. Like therapy, identifying the source of the problem is difficult and meaningful (and accomplished). However, real genius would answer the question: So what? I’d posit the title should be Almost Like Lightening rather than Truly.

As a Mormon myself (member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), I was drawn to the book upon learning its Mormon-based context. Mr. Duchovny claims not to have done a lot of research; I suspect he (or someone) did more than they let on. He gets a lot right, beyond just language. The whole concept fits in with Mormon theology of independence, growth, personal responsibility, even the function of sin/evil. Even the mutual distrust between mainline Mormons and fundamentalists is described pretty well.

In a book without heroes, at least the motivations of the religious are portrayed without malice. Duchovny mostly showed restraint against the easiest of Mormon attacks. I’ll give the author a pass on some detailed points. This is, after all, fiction. I will say, no Mormon I know of, regardless of specific tradition or belief, refers to The Book of Mormon as Joseph Smith’s Bible.

I understand this will become a TV series. I’m skeptical. The adaptors (which will not include the author) will have trouble capturing the nuanced and thought-based drama and turmoil.

Some notably excellent passages:

On parenting:

[W]hen are the children ready to leave home? Will they venture out into the world as soft innocents and get corrupted? Were they going to go to college? But then he would argue with himself that society itself is the sickness. Can they learn of and cure that sickness without being infected by it? Is there an inoculation for the incurable mental disease that infects every participant in the civilization? Can they be in the world one day but not of it?

An on-point description of life in 2021:

It’s so much worse than you can imagine. They all have their own phones now. No one looks anyone in the eye. There’s something hideous called ‘social media.’ It’s the worst of the worst. Like when Sartre said, ‘hell is other people’ … he must’ve been prophesying this. Hell is other people with phones.

A too-good description of life under Trump:

The spiritual vertigo that Trump induced in Mary was all pervasive, and threatened to redline her growing sense of dislocation in Rancho Cucamonga. Trump’s deep, blind wound had created something less than a full human, a gargoyle who fed on chaos and hurt. The hate in him, like a dark shaman, brought out the hate in this country. Mary felt the regression, the violence, everywhere, and it freaked her out. She was not even sure that the desert was safe from this unleashed primordial, Cain-like vengeance; she sensed it spreading and borderless, like air pollution.

[Chris Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a shame that David Duchovny is such a good actor, because otherwise he would be getting more attention for what I believe is his greater gift as a ingenious writer. (Ironically, he only became an actor as a fallback while in grad school at Yale as he began to lose confidence in his ability to make it as a writer!)

Reading Duchovny’s prose is like biting into a thick juicy cheeseburger after fasting; you want to take your time and savor every bite as your taste buds relish the explosion of flavors and textures of the experience. Every sentence in this book is packed with frenetic, biting wit with captivating imagery that make you want to slow down just to take it all in.

This story is about a former stuntman in modern day (Covid) Los Angeles who embraces a personalized and idiosyncratic form of Mormonism and chooses to live “off the grid” in the desert on inherited land with multiple wives and children. This self proclaimed bucolic existence is put to the test when an aspiring hedge fund female MBA plots to force the family off the invaluable land for profits. The plot is well thought out and the story’s multiple moving parts come together nicely at the climax, but in this case, I have to admit, it’s the journey of the authors mesmerizing writing style that serves as the real entertainment value in this book, rather than the destination itself.

A truly great read.

[Eddie Tucker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very strange and compelling novel. Duchovny's wide range of characters is well developed and they swing easily and naturally from sympathic to much less so. He guides the reader into the heart and mind of a man who leads an off-grid life in the high desert and his acquired family who follows him down the rabbit hole. The reader may need a dictionary at times, but that's just fine. You are in the hands of a master storyteller here and he has chosen his words and story structure with great care. Highly recommended.

[Travis Cummins · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was a very unique experience. a look into the world of an extremist morman family. It's as much a family drama as it is a thriller. it's as much a comedy as it is a tragedy. It does do some unnecessary bashing on conservatives that I found obnoxious but the story and characters were so great i can look past my one issue.

[Patrick Dewind · Rating 5 out of 5]

Early on in the book, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to like it, not being a fan of the types of characters: zealots and businessmen. Soon I was engrossed in the tale and its characters. Excellently done.

[Alia B · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had higher hopes for this one. I just didn't really connect with the story, and the beginning was very slow. It was also difficult to get into when I really disliked Maya, one of the main characters.

[Megan Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I knew Duchovny was an author now, this is the first book of his that I've read, and it was strange and wonderful. Really glad I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway, I'm definitely gonna check out his other work. The first two chapters were kinda boring, but once I got past them I was hooked. By the time I started part 2, I couldn't stop until I was done.

[Lauren Archer · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://obsessedbookaholic.com/2021/01...

[Georgette · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. I've read his other books; he really outdid himself here. His grasp of family dynamics, Mormonism, corruptness, and the effects of today's world on an isolated Mormon family is outstanding. If you want a deep, thought provoking book, this is it

[Edwin Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

In TRULY LIKE LIGHTNING, by David Duchovny, we meet Bronson Powers, a former talented stuntman who has adopted the Mormon way of life, but with his own special take on the Mormon lifestyle. He adopts many of the Joseph Smith edicts on how to live (even some since abandoned by the Mormon church) including polygamy and moves his three wives and 10 kids out to the a large plot of land in the area of Joshua Tree in California. When an outsider stumbles upon their hidden existence, she sees dollar signs and quickly hatches a plan to acquire Powers' land. In the end, that plan will change the Powers family forever in ways no one involved could have ever predicted.
Duchovny creates quite a character in Bronson Powers. Bronson is charismatic, strong-willed, and resourceful, and the reader sees in the beginning of the book that he became who he is by identifying his faults and finding a lifestyle the helps him cope with himself and the world around him and he believes makes him a better person. All the people that are important to the book are well crafted as well, from Bronson's kids, to a strange and powerful real estate developer that is attempting to take the Powers' land, to Bronson's wives, who are fascinating individuals that the reader can't help but attach to and have sympathy for as much as any other person in the book. Duchovny creates a problem for the Powers family, and how the results unfold are logical and realistic, while at the same time excitingly unpredictable.
TRULY LIKE LIGHTNING will stay with you long after you finish reading and forces the reader to consider how society perceives bigotry, acceptance, tolerance, and how tightly people hold to their own belief system.
Thank you to Farrar, Straus and Giroux, David Duchovny, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

[Sheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plot Details:
This complex story takes place in the Joshua Tree desert, far from any civilization. Bronson Powers, a current Mormon and former Hollywood stuntman, lives with his two wives and 10 children on the large amount of land that he happens to own. But what happens when someone stumbles across his life inadvertently and wants to make some money off of it? Bronson's life changes completely when he ends up agreeing to let 3 of his children head to a public school for the first time.

My Thoughts:
First of all, I love the originality of this story! There's a lot of depth to it, and a lot of characters. With such a cast of characters, it's not easy to expand on all of their stories and personalities, but I think this story hit the mark. We get to know not only Bronson, but several of his family members as well. Putting three kids in school that have been raised solely by their parents up to this point was bound to have some kind of explosive outcome, but who could tell what it would be? The story is told not just about the kids, but about their parents and others involved in the situation as well.

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this. There's a lot of setup in the first few chapters, but it's necessary, as Bronson has quite a story. Once you get to know and care about the characters, it's easy to get interested in how this will all play out in the end. This was certainly a very original idea, and honestly, I'd love to hear more about this family in a sequel. I hope we have that to look forward to!

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Duchovny has an original voice with a shot of Bukowski thrown in there somewhere.

I'm not sure if all the contemporary references will hold up over time, but who cares. He's a good writer and a great storyteller who would be worthy of a book deal even without a Hollywood platform, which is something that can't be said for other celebrities that have tried to write novels (e.g. Steve Martin, Tom Hanks).

The critics seem unsure of what to think of this one except to imply that Duchovny is beginning to master his craft and that his magnum opus is coming. I disagree and think he's kicking ass right now and only hope that he keeps torturing himself by writing more novels.