Into the Fire

You can always count on Kristen Heitzmann to come up with an unusual plot. While being one of the absolute best at writing UST into her fiction, she also invents some odd characters and plots to go with them. Indelible, published by Waterbrook Press, is no exception.

Indelible takes place in the same high country town as her last novel, Indivisible, and some of the same townspeople contribute to this story. Although Indelible easily stands alone, having read Indivisible adds an extra dimension to the landscape and personality of the story.

For those of you who've watched the new television series "Unforgettable", one premise of Indelible will be somewhat familiar even though sculptor Natalie Reeve in Kristen's novel has what is known as an "eidetic" memory. Images she sees directly get caught in her mind's eye and, if intense enough, must be worked out in her clay to gain freedom from their stark impressions.

Natalie meets former celebrity Gold Medalist skier Trevor MacDaniel when her young nephew is snatched by a cougar as she, her brother Aaron and his wife Paige, and little Cody go for a hike in the rugged high country just outside the town of Redford after setting up Natalie's studio next to Trevor's and his longtime best friend and partner Whit's high-country outfitters store. Trevor pulls off a miraculous rescue of the boy though there's significant damage done to the little tike's arm.

Because of the striking rescue and traumatic event, Natalie sculpts the image of Trevor's heroics in a grand lifelike statue. She sees beyond the physical facial and bodily features to capture the underlying characteristics of who people are at their core. Although she is known for her mixed medium nature sculptures, her rendering of faces reveal her innermost gifts with the clay.

When Trevor begins to understand Natalie's condition and gets over his aversion to being truly "seen", after a few poor reactions to her insights, he decides to pursue a relationship with her – something he hasn't attempted or felt worthy of doing since a tragedy occurred in his young life for which he blames himself.

There are two simmering dynamics intermingled with the story of Trevor and Natalie. One reveals the antagonist who covets and identifies with the text of Paradise Lost, the headings of "his" chapters give quotes from the book. We're only shown glimpses of his strange garb and shocking appearance, and his intentions lead us to believe he's evil. The second dynamic occurs every time Trevor, Whit, and his wife Sara and infant son get together which happens regularly. Although the antagonist seems the most threatening of the two, the triangle of Trevor, Whit, and Sara is the most disturbing. At least to me. The two best friends of his youth with him through the tragic event now play a strange role in his adult life.

Indelible allows us an inside view of the awkward yet strong and witty Natalie Reeve, the driven and valiant but guilt-ridden Trevor MacDaniel, and current flashes of important characters from Indivisible. The lack of definition for the threesome's friendship (Trevor, Whit, and Sara) kept me wondering why neither of these tough guys would step up and handle the possessive and domineering Sara.

Conclusions: The ending to this novel felt abrupt and the late heroics a bit contrived and predictable. Suspense and romance minimal, faith issues subtle like background music (outside of the dark references from Paradise Lost implicating the war between God and evil), the trademark unique characters carrying the story and making the time spent reading it not wasted.

Father, you've given Kristen such ability, her own perspective and voice. I pray you would continue to bless her with unique stories and may she honor you with all she does. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.