Monteith’s Mountains
This novel takes place primarily in the year 1902 in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina, a time when great changes began to sweep the region. Poor farmers whose families had for generations toiled ceaselessly to eke out a living found employment with large, eastern logging and mining operations that moved into the area after depleting resources elsewhere. These companies offered hope for a better future, yet simultaneously destroyed that very thing. This area today is dotted with company towns which flourished only as long as the profit margin held up.
This is the historical backdrop for a showdown between two men. David “Goodman” Brant is a young man of both Mohawk and Cherokee descent. Having lived most of his life with his father’s people in Canada, he has just arrived in the mountains of his mother’s people when he witnesses a cold-blooded murder. Walker Tom Monteith, the son of a fervent though unorthodox mountain preacher, is plagued by demons from his past, a loner whose insane rage has claimed countless victims. The third person in this mix is a young woman, Taylor Henry, who must also come to terms with her past before she can claim her destiny.
This is a taut thriller, exploring the parallels between love and loss, reconciliation and destruction, hope and regret. Each character is fully developed, leaving no doubt as to why they act the way they do. Skip Brooks does an excellent job of interweaving the various stories, and rewards the reader with a dramatic and unexpected finish.
