Screaming With the Cannibals

In this sequel to Crum, Jesse Stone finds himself in an evangelical service in Kentucky, on the other side of the Tug River from his native West Virginia. As the folks touched by the Spirit rave and howl, Jesse remembers how back in Crum they used to tell him to stay on his side of the river because the people on the other side were known to eat their children. And now, here he is in a holy-roller church, screaming with the cannibals. Since his earlier adventures, Jesse has visited the West Virginia holler where his family lived before moving up to the greater sophistication of Crum. Here he discovers that his favorite uncle has disappeared from the face of the earth in a moonshining accident. He then meets the girl who makes the earth-or at least the hayloft-move for him. From there he goes to Kentucky, and then to Myrtle Beach, where he gets hired as a lifeguard, although he can't even swim a stroke. Of course, Jesse is in a hurry to go. And, he doesn't much care where. He only knows that his future is out there somewhere. Throughout these hilarious pages, his virtues are tried and tested all over again as he anxiously searches for the freedom he knows exists outside of his tiny hometown.