KEZ: EVERY DECADE NEEDS A HERO
PHILIP L MOORE
language
(MATADOR, Nov. 4, 2015)
Kez is a thrilling modern day adventure story set in the world of aviation and opens with Kez, the heroine, celebrating her eighteenth birthday with her twin brother Tom. Kez is devoted to her father, Chaz, who has been a widower for twelve years, and she is also very close to Tom and her adoring grandparents, Beryl and Doug. The family throw a surprise party for the twins, who are also celebrating the fact that they are about to get their Private Pilots’ Licences. Lucy, their mother, died from cancer when they were only six, but she had planned this day with Chaz and there are some deeply emotional moments when the twins open their special presents chosen, prepared and wrapped by their mother, each with a personal letter.Much of the action takes place at Five Pits Farm, the home of Doug and Beryl, where huge barns have been converted into aircraft hangars and the farmland is one big airstrip, cattle and crops being replaced by every aircraft spare imaginable. Doug is a wealthy businessman and what he doesn’t know about aircraft is not worth knowing; Chaz followed his father’s example, but made his fortune from property development, flying being his hobby. Debbie and her brother Matt live at the farm nearby and often go for evenings out with Kez and. Debs, as she is known, and Tom have always been close and though neither has admitted it, they are in love. Debs is going through a very withdrawn, moody period and no-one seems to know what the trouble is. Kez knows how they feel about each other and one evening plays cupid, practically throwing them together. Tom asks her to marry him and Debs instantly accepts. She is over the moon but worries that Tom’s family may think she is too young for marriage. However, Chaz points out that she is the same age that Lucy was when he married her and she is welcomed by all of them, especially Kez who is overjoyed to be gaining a ‘sister’.The whole family, though wealthy, are down to earth, caring people, and when a twelve-year-old tearaway, David, trespasses onto Doug’s land and tries his hand at driving Betsy, the old military tank, causing a serious accident and a lot of damage to Chaz’s plane, they decide to give him another chance, realising that it is care and understanding that the boy needs, rather than punishment. As the story evolves, it is discovered that the boy’s brother, Mark has been responsible for causing extreme distress to Debbie. When Mark and his loutish mates try to bully Debs and Kez at a night club, they very quickly learn that Kez, with her black belt in martial arts, is a force to be reckoned with and they are soon brought under control with the assistance of Harry, a young man who comes to Kez’s aid and who is to play a vital role in her life in later chapters. Debs then tearfully reveals that, after getting drunk one night, she was gang raped by Mark and his mates and has even undergone a secret abortion. The abuse is continuing because she is too frightened to tell the police or anyone else, as the thugs have videos of the incidents, which they are now using to blackmail her. This is the reason for her unhappiness; she is at the end of her tether and contemplating suicide. When Tom hears her story he is overwhelmed with love and compassion for her. Her brother Matt takes it badly and lashes out angrily, saying that he has failed his sister. Kez talks to him and helps him to understand the situation. They have always been friends, but now, with love and marriage in the air, they begin thinking of romance. However, Kez is fond of him, but has no desire to settle down with Matt and ‘produce livestock’ as she puts it and although she enters into a relationship with him, she has no intention of letting things become serious. Matt’s parents realise this and when they try to warn him, he becomes jealously aggressive. Little does either of them know at this stage that Matt will become bitter and eventually turn against Kez, almost taking her