Arroyo

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Summary: Arroyo
Review: It was an interesting story. I am not into the whole alien thing that much.

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Summary: UFO Survivors in TImeless New Mexico
Review: There is no shortage of UFO books on the market. UFO's have been a popular subject for fiction writers, motion picture producers, and alien enthusiasts ever since WWII and the widely documented alien invasion of Roswell, NM, in 1947. And at first glance, Donald R. Burleson's novel Arroyo would seem a likely candidate to be included in that list of popular entertainment. In this novel, however, Burleson manages to surprise the reader with a sensitively written and richly complex story which, while it does indeed play on the familiar UFO theme, additionally weaves in elements of Southwest Indian lore, Spanish Conquistadores, Lovecraftian horror fiction, and modern-day government conspiracies.

Arroyo is set in the small New Mexico town of Chasco, a town north of Roswell on the way to Fort Sumner, some miles down the road past the turnoff to Corona. It is there, in Chasco, a town whose name, we are told, means Disappointment in Spanish, in an arroyo just outside of what became the town, that the first alien invasion took place - 500 years ago! In beautifully atmospheric prose, Burleson describes that alien encounter, and informs us that it was from these aliens that the Indians first acquired the many spiritual powers that grew into the myths of shape-shifting and oneness with the land that we know today. All too suddenly, Coronado and his band of Spaniards burst upon this paradise of peaceful co-existence in search of Cibola, the Lost City of Gold, finding Indians and aliens instead of the gold. The Spaniards perceive the aliens to be devils and a blasphemy against their cherished Catholic faith, and smite one of them, thus setting in motion the events that will culminate 500 years later in our own time.

For it is in Chasco, in late 20th century America, that we meet Arana, the Indian sorceress, Truman Lloyd, the government secret agent seeking the truth about aliens, Lisa Jaramillo, who comes to Chasco to forget a recent divorce, and Bill Weston, an out of work proof reader who seems to have psychic powers. These four, each pursuing his own personal path, collide in Chasco, trapped in a vortex of intrigue and mystery with an uncertain outcome. The conclusion to this modern alien encounter story is one worthy of the great Lovecraft himself.

Burleson uses his characters as a palette of colors with which to paint his story. Each person is sensitively drawn, and emerges from the pages as a complex human being with an individual voice and personal feelings, rather than just two-dimensional characters whose only purpose is to propel the story forward. Chasco itself is described in loving detail that will make it seem familiar to anyone who has visited southwest New Mexico, while each of its various and quirky inhabitants come to feel like real people populating a real town. Even the workings of the secret government agency investigating the alien crash have a sense of reality about them, unlike the formulaic spy thrillers found on today's best seller lists.

Arroyo is a novel that I found extremely entertaining, and so well written that I did not want it to end. In fact, I found myself slowing down at the end, just to prolong my visit with these interesting people and their compelling situation. It is a rare novel that draws the reader into itself, rather than just taking him on a roller coaster ride to a sensational ending. Arroyo will indeed appeal to readers of science fiction and UFO suspense stories, but anyone who enjoys polished prose combined with a well crafted suspense story will also enjoy this novel.

Donald Burleson is a professor at the University of New Mexico in Roswell, and is a renowned UFO specialist in his own right. He is also a respected expert on the works of H.P Lovecraft and the horror fiction of the early 20th century. His own published fiction, in addition to Arroyo, includes the novel Flute Song, also published by Black Mesa Press in Roswell, NM.