Zachary Amstead and William Ignatius Terrance have been friends since elementary school.
They share a birthday, although Billy is a year older, and their lives are similarly complicated by
the presence of paranormal powers. Zach has lucid dreams, and he has the ability to participate
within those dreams. When this ability began to emerge, he could observe scenes as they
happened in the places his dreams would take him. Over time, his ability grew to the point
where he could step into the dream-scene. Finally, well into his adult life, his prowess over this
ability allowed him to wake up inside the scene he was dreaming about.

Billy has always been a seer. He has visions of the future. Not a general world view, only the
future around him. Like Zach, his capability grew as he became older. He was more certain
about his future, and he was better able to distinguish what might happen from what would
happen. His ability also extended to friends with whom he was close. He didn’t see their future
with the clarity of his own, but he saw it well enough to help them avoid serious problems.

“Knuckleheads” is the story of these two boys as they were only beginning to understand these
skills. They didn’t understand them at first, and they had very little control over the way these
abilities manifested themselves. They were scared, tempted, and frustrated.

Experiencing this
growth in a world controlled by adults was frightening. They frequently found themselves in
trouble.

Zach’s father became aware of their situation. He didn’t understand what they were going
through, or where the limits to their skill might lie, but he knew they needed help. He knew
what could happen if they didn’t find a way to “get ahead of these abilities,” as he liked to say.
In addition to the extraordinary capabilities, they were attempting to master, Zach and Billy
were growing up in the tumultuous period between the early nineteen sixties and mid-nineteen
seventies. The world around them was one of drugs, racial strife, and protests against the war.

The adult world was struggling with those challenges, the pressures of post-war growth and
having to contain a generation of children that was busting out at the seams. There was no
room for children with special needs or abilities.

This short bit of speculative fiction is told by Zach to his adult daughter, Abbie, shortly
immediately following his retirement. The story is interrupted by Abbie which leads to some
sharp lively and sometimes snarky dialog. The book is a fast and fun read.
The story is told two days before the events chronicled in the second and third books in this
series begin. While the second and third book tell a story which can stand on its own, the core
of this series begins in the long-forgotten days of their childhood. Reading Knuckleheads first
will make you feel like a participant in their tale rather than just an observer.