Larry E Cadle

Dead Reckoning Larry E Cadle

It was the 1950's, and rural America was undergoing huge changes. Better roads, telephones, radio & TV, and the lure of bright city lights-- all were luring country people out of the hills and hollows of the Tri-State Region. The times they were a changing. Hi Sexton, Korean War veteran, finds himself caught up in conflict between old ways and new. He lives in a house without electricity or plumbing, running water and central heat. He is torn between desire for a bad girl and reluctance to meet a good girl. As a Melungeon, Hi isn't quite white, but he's not black either. He lives alone in his late parents' old cabin, where the mules and stray dog are his best friends. The lines get blurred between right and wrong, good and bad, legal and moral, but Hi's innate sense of decency usually keeps him straight. The story is a fascinating tale of a unique mountain region, and yet it is a tale of all of America of this time.