This book begins with a traveler who mistakenly finds his way to Crow Hollow and is invited by the narrator to sit and rest a bit on a bench. There's a story to be told, one rich with superstition and small-town secrets.
Up in Campbell's Mountain resides a widow named Alvaretta Graves ; an old woman rumored to be witch. And after four teenagers trespass upon her property in search of a missing piece of jewelry, the rumors appear to become reality after a sickness sweeps through Crow Hollow, affecting only female teens.
Strange horseshoe-shaped tracks are discovered and the towns people are convinced that Alvaretta has conjured up something evil ; in the form of her late husband Stu Graves. He'd died in an auto accident years earlier and Alvaretta had vowed vengeance after being denied the request of having him buried on her property.
Panic sets in (invoking spiritual revivals and boot-legger paybacks) and soon the residents of Crow Hollow are taking the law into their own hands.
I must admit that I put this book down on more than one occasion, basically because I was having difficulty keeping the characters in order. However ; I'm glad that I finished it. A fictional reminder that there's a fine line between good and evil and occasionally things (and people) are not always what they appear to be.
