Set in present-day Kentucky, once again Thunder McCloud is attracting danger like Benjamin Franklin conducting his electrical experiment while flying his kite during a thunderstorm to collect a charge in a Leyden jar. After watching Psyche Butterflies, a morning self-help show for anxiety sufferers hosted by an old acquaintance of Thunder's and hearing a clumsy exchange of words involving an unsolved 17-year-old murder case contributing to the guest's anxieties, plus an extended discussion regarding Thunder, she decides to make changes in her life. Going to great lengths of pre-arranging a private luncheon meeting at a prestigious downtown hotel solely with her husband to review their relationship - mainly their shared, gluttonous, sexual appetite for each other - she awakes to find herself in a hotel room with a note fastened to the pillow, a note from Anthony Grandis, an Alabama farmer. A subplot follows Charlie Face, a clever and secretive young man, who is unable to leave behind a disturbing childhood.