Boy's Pond

By Warren J. Stucki

Suspended high above the desert floor like a hanged man dangling at the end of a rope, Shot Harry is detonated at exactly 5:05 a.m. on May 19, 1953. The predawn tranquility is butchered with three times the atomic rage of Hiroshima and Dirty Harry's iridescent pink cloud rains burning radioactive particles on southern Utah. This event, plus an ill-fated volcano prank that kills two men (a friend and a sheriff's deputy) and leaves another critically injured will change the lives of J.T. Kunz and Mick Graff forever. J.T. and Mick are charged with manslaughter in the deputy's death. J.T. is devastated. Manslaughter is a felony and if convicted, he would have no chance of fulfilling his deathbed promise to his mother, namely, going on a mission for the Mormon Church. Mick, however, is unaffected. Though a Mormon, he has little time for religion. But Mick's health soon begins to deteriorate and he is diagnosed with acute myeloblastic leukemia, ostensibly from the radiation fallout. Faced with the prospect of his own death, Mick turns to God. J.T., on the other hand, is now becoming more cynical and disillusioned by God's apparent indifference to Mick's plight. Not only does J.T. have the impending trial to worry about, but he also develops a fundamental philosophical rift with his girlfriend and discovers that another friend involved in the volcano prank has been murdered. He is forced to re-evaluate his own life and try to reconcile Mick's imminent death with his religion's conventional explanation of life, death and the hereafter.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0865343284
• ISBN13: 9780865343283
• Release Date: December 2001
• Publisher: Sunstone Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 0.8" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

READ

"BOY'S POND" is my favorite book about growing-up in the small (then) town of St. George, Utah. Much adventure, drama and history. Warren Stucki knows his subject well since he matured in this area and era. A most enjoyable read with a lot to share.

Great Book

This is a fantastic historical fiction about the "downwinders" that we have in Utah's Dixie.

A Must Read For Those Who Never Want to Forget

A toadstool cloud rises from the Nevada desert sand like an iniquitous Phoenix shaped from flame and ashes. It imprints radioactive memories in the mind of a young boy who would become a doctor and later an author. These recollections are the basis of a new novel from Warren Stucki called "Boy's Pond." In turn, the story he wrote is a reminder in today's turmoil that-in spite of what we think we remember-life has not always been simple. This novel reminds us that trust can be lamentable rather than laudable. That faith untempered by reason may very well be improvident. Set in St. George Utah in the 50s , it is a coming-of-age story that explores innocence in the literal shadow of a nuclear holocaust of our own making. Sunstone Press specializes in publishing books about the Southwest; they deserve applause for bringing Warren Stucki's first book to the public."Boy's Pond" is a book for its time. It examines issues other than 9/11 that we should never forget.Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of "This is the Place"