Charles Dodd White, Professor of English in Knoxville, Tennessee, delivers an excellent novel that impressively intertwines topics of Appalachian identity and contemporary political anxieties all in a single package. Both easily readable and thrilling, White's novel is a timely story about how a rural community in East Tennessee reacts to the emergence of a small group of neo-Nazis moving into the area. How Fire Runs fits well into the growing list of Appalachian-centered literature, poetry, art, and films that explore the region as a place dealing with questions of socioeconomic continuity and change. White succeeds in telling a story that takes on this complicated dichotomy, as well as something that feels dangerously close to home for anyone keeping up with current political developments of right-wing extremism.
White's characters are a highlight of the text and a testament to his strength as a storyteller. Each chapter presents the perspective of a...
