Topping author David Brown Howell is set to speak 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6 at the Deltaville branch of the Middlesex County Public Library system. His talk is expected to focus on his latest book, “All Saved Great and Small — Surviving a Chesapeake Bay Cult and an Appalachian Apocalypse.”
Howell has extensive knowledge of the Appalachian region and he uses that to create this fiction thriller. The setting starts and ends in the Boone, N.C., area in the Appalachian mountains and in between the setting slides to the Urbanna, Deltaville, Irvington and White Stone areas.
The protagonist in the book is Finn Boone. The book follows Finn from birth to a career in the FBI. There are numerous twist and turns as he is a star athlete in his youth dealing with his own dysfunctional family consisting of a father who is a bootlegger/bully with no moral compass and a mother who spends much of her life in prison for cutting off her “no count” husband’s hand.
The book consistently speaks to Finn’s desire to be a better man than his father and he finds relief in a surprise admittance from his mother that the notorious Reuben Boone was, in fact, not his father. This would lead to a renewed romance with his childhood sweetheart Grace Goins, who dumped Finn in their senior year in high school because she was told by her aunt that Reuben Boone had raped her mother and was in fact her father, making Finn, her step-brother.
The short chapters make for a quick read and there are many surprises. Towards the end of the book, Finn, an FBI agent, was recruited to infiltrate a cult in Irvington and the twist and turns take Finn back to his Appalachian roots when the leader of Cult G turns out to be Grace Goins’ brother, who in fact turned out to be her cousin — more twists and turns.
Howell has a knack for description and this is a powerful element in the book. An example of his writing talent is, “It’s a damn yellowjacket!” Bed Bug says as he pulls a wad of food from his mouth. “It must have landed on my burger when I looked away, and then I took a big bite. Damn thing sat on my tongue and just pumped his stinger into my tongue.”
Finn tried not to laugh but can’t help it. Howell’s book is a good write and a good read!
The book can be purchased in Urbanna at Marshall’s Drug Store, Wooden Pickle, Something Different and Urbanna Trading Company; and in Deltraville at River Shack Treasures. The book will also be for sale at Howell’s library talk/book signing on Feb. 6.
