Title: Moon’s Black Gold
Author: R. H. Peake
Publisher: Toplink Publishing, LLC
ISBN: 1947938339
Genre: Fiction
Pages: 294
Reviewed by: Aaron Washington

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The reader is taken through the ups and downs, the good times and ugly days of Everett ‘Moon’ Lunamin in Moon’s Black Gold. I like how the author starts the story. His narration is simple yet the reader gets so drawn in his words, making one forget what is happening around the reader.

In an ideal world, a war veteran would be entitled to everything nice given the service that he offered his government. Lunamin’s world was however not set that way. The Vietnam war veteran came back home with high hopes. He was optimistic that he would amass all the fortune in the world as a result of the coal business that was flourishings in the 1960s and 1970s. This was not the case as Lunamin came home to struggles which he had not expected.

Life was not easy for Moon and so he tried to make a living with one of his relatives, cousin George Landsetter. Even with the tough times, Lunamin had to deal with surface mining contestants. This group of people was not only greedy, but they also lacked mannerisms that would classify them as humans. The surface miner competitors were unethical and cold-hearted. Lunamin’s determination was admirable. His character made me see how some people can be encouraging. Lunamin never despaired despite things not working for him. Life however happened and he came to marry his highschool love, Susan Stanard.

It is funny that Susan’s parents never approved of Lunamin when he dated their daughter in high school but welcomed him later when he married her because he had the money. This part of the book goes to show how even in real life, some parents would be against their children’s partners if they think they lack some qualities like financial stability. Susan’s parents also disliked Lunamin’s mountain dialect, which was weird because it was something he could not change because of his upbringing. Susan’s parents’ harsh attitude towards Lunamin was a blessing in disguise. Their dislike for him made Moon work hard and even gain all the wealth he amassed. Moon’s marriage to Susan was great at first, but things started going south in a minute. Lunamin came to conclude that his wife loved his wealth more than him. Seeing a man who worked hard to get such a wife get depressed because of the same wife is disheartening.

R. H. Peake turned a beautiful romance tale to a horror story that included death. The once-happy couple ended their love and went to seek other people. The result of this broken marriage was the neglecting of Moon and Susan’s son as the end was unfortunate. R. H. Peake is a brilliant writer. The story gets intense with every new chapter as the main characters end up different from what the reader would imagine. The author knows how to twist the plot, catching the reader off guard in most scenes. The major themes in the book include romance, politics, education, marriage, the effects of separation in families, crime and challenges of life. You get to experience a thrilling story that will have you hooked from the start to the end.