{"id":6922,"date":"2026-07-30T11:22:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T11:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=6922"},"modified":"2026-07-30T11:22:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T11:22:00","slug":"where-the-heathen-rage-by-stacy-dean-campbell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=6922","title":{"rendered":"Where the Heathen Rage by Stacy Dean Campbell"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fate of an abandoned baby ignites a chain reaction of rage, vengeance, and redemption in a Virginia coal mining community on the edge of extinction.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In Stacy Dean Campbell\u2019s mesmerizing novel, Where the Heathens Rage,<\/em> the cry of a newborn infant shatters the stillness of Little Black Mountain as long-held secrets threaten to crack open the heart of a poverty-stricken community.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the people who reside around Little Black, the Blue Bonney Coal Company is their main lifeline for survival. But for coal miners like Hollis Koker, the union strike for better working conditions has him searching the mountain for ginseng roots he can sell for a little cash. Times are tough for Hollis and his wife, Anna, and they are about to get tougher when he hears a sound out of place in the woods. Tracing the sound to a hollowed out log, Hollis finds a newborn baby girl wrapped in a dirty blanket. Only one thought courses through his mind as he takes the baby and rushes home to Anna: who would leave a helpless infant to die?\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

The answer to that question is less about the who and more about the how and why as, across town, the gorgeous yet volatile Micah Chandler realizes her fifteen-year-old daughter, Maddie, may be pregnant. When a doctor\u2019s visit reveals the surprising fact that Maddie is not pregnant because she recently gave birth, the authorities are alerted about a missing baby, and Sheriff Bobby Lee Wade begins the search and investigation.<\/p>\n

This emotionally resonant and character-driven story unfolds largely within the inner lives of its protagonists and antagonists. Their thoughts and memories circle around death, love, desire, and the thin reed of hope that is always just out of reach.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Campbell\u2019s characters speak in authentic voices shaped by anger, disillusionment, and limited opportunity, their lives rooted in the mobile homes and weathered shacks scattered among the hills and hollows surrounding Little Black.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Campbell excavates this Southern heritage of poverty and hand-to-mouth survival without resorting to stereotypes as he illuminates the complex reasons that have shaped his characters. Hollis, for example, reflects on his choice to follow in his dead father\u2019s steel-toed bootsteps into the mine shafts at the Bonney Blue:<\/p>\n

\u201cCoal. It tainted his blood same as the blood that drove so many men through the wages and strikes and black lung deep into the bowels of these mountains for generations \u2026\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It is a grim existence, made worse by the snake-handling preacher Calder Meyerson, the deranged young man who leads his flock at the Free Will Pentecostal Church of God. Half-brother to Micah and Mozelle\u2019s only son, his chiseled good looks belie a deep evil that can still hypnotize the unwary. \u201cIt was for the most part his walk along that razor-fine line between fanatic and madman that held them spellbound.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

As Wade gets closer to locating the baby and procuring a blood sample that will identify the father and make an arrest possible, the tension steadily escalates. At the same time, the father embarks on a violent quest to find the infant and silence it for good.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Campbell eschews the traditional whodunit in favor of exploring the consequences of what is already known, as readers are given the essential facts early on. The existence of the child sets in motion a series of violent interludes, but the baby is also a redemptive creature, bringing about a change of heart in Hollis\u2026a man who never wanted children, despite Anna\u2019s wishes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe God or the universe or just something much bigger than himself had given it to her. Wrapped in a blanket and stuffed in a log. And who was he to argue with God or the universe.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Campbell\u2019s clever shifting of the novel\u2019s central question from who<\/em> is responsible to how<\/em> the inevitable collision between its characters will unfold creates a sense of gathering dread on every page. And yet, his prose is a joy to read. He describes both the beauty and the horror of small town life in a depressed community lacking sufficient education, healthcare, and opportunity.<\/p>\n

At turns brutal and compassionate, Where the Heathen Rage<\/em> is a superb novel about the stubborn endurance of hope, where moments of redemption spark even in the darkest corners of human experience.<\/p>\n

The post Where the Heathen Rage by Stacy Dean Campbell<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The fate of an abandoned baby ignites a chain reaction of rage, vengeance, and redemption in a Virginia coal mining community on the edge of extinction. In Stacy Dean Campbell\u2019s mesmerizing novel, Where the Heathens Rage, the cry of a newborn infant shatters the stillness of Little Black Mountain as long-held secrets threaten to crack […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6922"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6922\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}