Viper Quarry — Dean Feldmeyer

STRANGERS DON'T COME TO BAIRD, KENTII(KY....

In fact, I almost missed it myself, and I was looking for it with some anticipation. The tiny town nestled among the splendid Appalachian Mountains represented my return to the Methodist ministry after what my ex-wife likes to call "the big crash." Suffice it to say that it involved booze, debts ... and the third-grade Sunday school teacher.

Baird may not be heaven, but it looked pretty good to me. I got a knowing welcome from Constable Ray Hall and his wife, May June, who serves up crackerjack advice with her crispy fried chicken. And not the least of Baird's attractions was Naomi Taylor, a young businesswoman as smart as she is heart-stoppingly lovely. But before I even preached my first sermon, the town was shaken by the horrible arson deaths of a sweet old couple. Now their foster child was missing--a snake handler's daughter, wayward, precocious, and beautiful--running from an unspeakable past. Secrets were slithering through Baird like the copperheads that infest its idyllic wilderness, and pursuing a ruthless killer nearly lost me Naomi. This time I'm not out to save a soul, I'm out to stop a killer, and I'll need you to keep me in your prayers....