Bullseye!: Knife Thrower Hits the Mark in LDS Adventure

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Jul 10, 2001

Samuel Harold has seen more tragedy in his ten years than most people experience in a lifetime. The 10-year-old Mormon boy watches helpless as a Missouri mob murders his parents and destroys the family's cabin. Samuel's dying father urges him to run, and the boy escapes into the night. He mourns for his family as he struggles to survive in a wilderness fraught with danger. The frightened boy finds himself face-to-face with a variety of terrors, from coyotes to wild Indians. When Shunktokecha, a Sioux hunter from a Pawnee tribe, offers Samuel a place in his Indian family, he accepts. The young boy grows up among the natives, learning their ways and accepting their tradiitons. Despite his place with the Pawnees, Samuel knows he doesn't quite fit in. His Mormon past beckons to him as does his desire for revenge on the man who killed his parents. Eventually, he realizes that he must leave his Indian family to find his true self.

From the plot summary above, it's easy to see why readers will enjoy this action-packed novel. The plot will hold anyone's interest, although the writing itself leaves much to be desired. The novel races along using only the barest of details in order to further the plot. This lack of depth may be bothersome to mature readers, although young adults will probably appreciate the emphasis on action. Richardson's writing does contain occasional sparks of cleverness, especially when narrating Samuel's thoughts. One example occurs early in the novel, when Samuel thinks:

"New Orleans . . . Was it fifty miles? . . . a hundred? . . . two hundred? Someone had said it was a thousand miles . . . A thousand was just a big word that meant it was farther than you wanted to count, like when your mother sent you into the cabin to wash about a thousand dishes, or when Papa gave you about a thousand rows of corn to hoe."

Although the story does not sparkle with all of the elements of good fiction, it does makes for an interesting tale. It's a fun, easy book to read, that will be especially enjoyed by young men.

One last note: The author himself seems to be an interesting character, particularly suited to writing stories about the Wild West. He says he once considered himself a man, but the Lord called him to be a Scouter instead. A graduate of BYU, Boyd Richardson currently works for the Church. (from "About the Author")

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