Review: "Salvation on Sand Mountain" by Dennis Covington

This is a very interesting non fictional story about the nature of religion in the hills of Appalachia. Dennis Covington is a journalist with a taste for adventure, so when a pastor of an Appalachian church is convicted of trying to kill his wife with poisonous snakes, he decided to follow up on the story. His search leads him into the backwoods churches of the South where drinking strychnine, speaking in tongues and handling poisonous snakes are every day events at their services. Since his ancestors are from this same general area, he also closely examines his roots and can relate closely to these happenings. He is lead to examine his own faith and beliefs.

Mr. Covington does a good job of retelling this story. He relates all the facts with passion and he gives an impartial look at the people and their beliefs. There is a whole cast of characters and I did have a small problem of keeping track of who was who. It also appeared that the story was leading up to a huge climax and the ending was a slight disappointment.

This is a short introduction into the religious practices in some parts of Appalachia. If you have any interest in churches of the South, where they speak in tongues and practice other forms of passions regarding religion, I would recommend this book. It is short and gives a good introduction and place to start.