Title: Iniquities of Gulch Fork
Author: Bob Smith and Sara Rhodes
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 978-1-49179-341-1
Pages: 282
Genre: Fiction
Reviewed by: Joe Kilgore
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Small towns sometimes have large problems; that’s certainly the case in Iniquities of Gulch Fork, by authors Bob Smith and Sara Rhodes. This is a tale of shady deals and shared dependencies threatening to make things even more burdensome than they already are for the hard working people of Gulch Fork, Arkansas. One affliction or another besets virtually every principal player in this country melodrama. Post traumatic stress disorder, alcoholism, Alzheimer’s disease, meth addiction and more, seep into family after family. The setting may be bucolic, but the situations the characters find themselves in are definitely less than languid.
Samantha is a certified nursing assistant. On top of keeping her own household together, she visits patients in their homes and helps them with their physical, mental, and emotional burdens. Her patient, Rob, is an aging Vietnam War veteran now confined to a walker and an ever-present Foley catheter. He suffers from severe neuropathy, PTSD, and also happens to be a recovering alcoholic. As it turns out, Samantha’s father is a veteran as well, and a practicing alcoholic. So she’s well prepared to recognize and handle similar behavior patterns both older men share. What she’s not prepared for is events that begin to tumble one upon another which not only test her resolve, but also threatens her life.
It soon becomes apparent that Rob has been swindled by an unscrupulous individual as well as his wife. Not only have the two charlatans hoodwinked Rob into a bogus cattle deal, they also have wormed their way into the good graces of other seniors with more savings than savvy. Preying on these good peoples’ naivety and their physical vulnerabilities, the pair are slowly draining the elderly of their accumulated funds while the rest of the dastardly duo’s brood are actively engaged in dealing methamphetamines throughout Gulch Fork and surrounding rural communities. Before the novel’s end, Samantha and her family have been sucked into this undertow of evil and have to rely on themselves, the law, and God’s help to extricate themselves and see justice served.
Smith and Rhodes combine storytelling with modern maladies that affect all too many susceptible individuals today. Their novel comes across as a sincere effort to dramatize real problems facing some of the most defenseless among us. While occasionally a bit repetitious and sometimes straying into tributaries only marginally relevant to the flow of the plot, there is no denying they have you pulling for those who’ve been wronged and praying for the evil doers to be punished. An emphasis on collaborative help and religion is sprinkled liberally throughout the narrative as effective ways of dealing with the curveballs life frequently throws. One of those prescriptions even makes its way into the climax, where you just may find yourself reminded of the scripture, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.”
