Adam's Needle

Adam's Needle
321 Pages
ISBN 978-1503268968

Will grows up in a shack tucked away outside of the town of Pecan Grove in the Ozarks. His father is an abusive alcoholic who causes Will to quit talking when he is five years old, and his mother has been beaten down by abuse, ailments, and life. Will’s rescuer is his part Native-American granny who instills in him a sense of right and wrong and inner strength that allows him to survive.

Some of the town leaders, members of the local fundamentalist church, and several uneducated hotheads on neighboring farms are connected with white supremacist organizations. The towering white cross on Adam’s Needle was placed there by the Ku Klux Klan. Incidents of teenage pregnancy and the drug culture are growing among the poverty-stricken families.

A young Jewish couple, scientists from K.U. dedicated to improving agriculture and restoring wildlife in the area, buy a neighboring farm. A gay couple moves to town to run the florist shop. Then, the church’s pastor retires and is replaced by a phony preacher bent on making his reputation by stirring up trouble with his xenophobic interpretations of Bible passages that appeal to the poor farmers and townsfolk ready to blame their situations on something or someone. Predictable trouble.

Mass hysteria can be caused by unscrupulous, power-hungry leaders anywhere. This book is both an engrossing story unique to Will’s Ozark community and a universal phenomenon. It’s both timely and ancient. Compare it to Winter’s Bone but with a political edge.

Beth Lyon Barnett

About Beth Lyon Barnett (Kansas City, Missouri & Kansas Author)

Beth Lyon Barnett

Beth was born and raised in Kansas City, famous for its 1930s era of crime, love, lust, and jazz. What better place to find a great story? Jazz Town, Beth's first novel, has it all, plus names and places readers will recognize.

While living on her farm in the Missouri Ozarks, Beth noticed a big white cross standing high on a cliff. Wondering who had put it there and why and when, she asked around and discovered much to write about. Thus, Adam's Needle, Beth's second novel, was born.

In addition to story telling and reading, Beth's real-life passions include her ever growing family---animals, especially dogs, and most especially a schnauzer named Looie---cooking, steak and eggs her favorites---and-gardening with wildflowers in hopes of attracting butterflies, hummers and other interesting varieties of birds of North America.