Wow! Just a phenomenal Southern gothic novel with a twist. The writing is superb, and the scene in the snake handling church revival was totally mesmerizing. What a great book. ( )

This book starts off just pure Appalachian tale. Michael has come home to the Mountains to recover from a suicide attempt and to care for his ailing Grandmother Sadie. Sadie starts telling the history of the Gibson clan to him as her health allows. Sadie was a young girl growing up in the mountains in the 1930's. I loved her parts of the story. I eat up Appalachian folklore with a spoon. The history and tales in this part of the book come alive. I live at the base of the Appalachian mountain chain so I have experienced some of the happenings that are told. Yes I've been to a church that handled snakes.(No I didn't touch them) It's not something you discuss in proper company but I grew up curious about everything and as a young teenager I jumped at the chance to go once I found out what the outing would include. A church that speaks in tongues and picks up snakes is something this reader will never forget. A chill ran through me as I read this part of the book remembering. The author does a fantastic job detailing this in the book.

Southern Appalachian history to me is just like no other. The Granny in this book were so familiar to me growing up that I saw her in my mind perfectly. Old wives tales that came from her lips were reminiscent of my grandmother's getting on to us youngun's as we constantly tested their nerves.
The book swerves into horror towards the end and I think then I became disjointed from the story. I just wanted it to be more than it was. The ending became rushed and disjointed.

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