Iniquities of Gulch Fork

by Sara Rhodes and Bob Smith

In the worn and tired town of Gulch Fork, Arkansas, certified nursing assistant Samantha Caminos heads to her patient Rob Dean's home and wonders how she can find common ground with the aloof,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1491793414
• ISBN13: 9781491793411
• Release Date: June 2016
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Length: 294 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Helped Immensely An Iraqi Veteran Cope With PTSD

I'm a Vietnam veteran who took years to understand my severe PTSD. Even the VA shrinks were unable to identify it until the early 1980's, after which they started to also recognize it in past wars as what was earlier called "soldier's heart" or "shell chock." My grandson made excellent grades in his two years of college before going to Iraq with the National Guard. He came back with PTSD, resumed his college career and flunked out. Why? Because his PTSD severely interfered with his ability to study, concentrate, and score passing marks on his examinations. I read "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" many months ago, right after it was published. Then I gave it to my grandson to read (it truly gave him insight into PTSD). Yes, because in the book there is abundant repetition of information about PTSD. Some readers who reviewed this book made derogatory comments about this repetition. I know for a fact (from conversation with the author) that one of the primary purposes in writing this novel was to help veterans with PTSD understand its complexities, not to assist all those erudite, know-it-all reviewers who delight in criticizing the repetition of information about PTSD. I truly wish they could have spent a year in Vietnam during the war. Maybe they would have returned much less critical of this book which has helped a large number of veterans with PTSD, veterans to whom I've loaned my numerous copies of the book. If a potential reader likes (or dislikes), and can identify with the four characters in the story who have severe PTSD, then it is easier to remember and understand some of the debilitating characteristics of the disorder, hence giving more insight.

A Book Never Opened My Eyes Like This One

I'm using a friend's computer to write this review of the book "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" that I just finished reading early this morning. This is what I call a fantastic book! I just decided to help promote it, hoping it becomes an international top seller. I'm a retired school teacher from the Houston area, and can say, from my own experience that this is an extremely well written book that scores extremely high marks in every category used in evaluating a literary masterpiece. My half-brother was a Vietnam veteran who returned with severe PTSD, but took his own life about fifteen years ago. I'm a military brat, coming from 6 generations of extremely proud soldiers and sailors. I would have proudly served our country except for being born with a bum left foot. I taught high school physics for a number of years. Although I was deeply puzzled by the events of 9/11, it took me a few months to understand cognitive dissonance, which prevented me from immediately accepting that 9/11 was a hoax. This cognitive dissonance is clearly explained in the book, in character Rob Dean's session with his psychologist. Unfortunately, my brother became severely depressed after 9/11, about the same time a number of my friends with degrees in physics convinced us both that it was a giant sham. I attribute my brother's suicide to the dishonest politicians who backed the phony 9/11, the phony 9/11 commission's report, as well as all the lives it took, not only in NYC but also in Afghanistan and Iraq. I feel indeed saddened when I think of all my father's and mothers' relatives who served our country so proudly only for me to now discover that their valiant patriotism has been deeply stained by some of our current political leaders so they could make obscene amounts of money from wars. When I closed the book I'm reviewing, I felt a weird sensation of impending doom. Our only hope is for enough people to realize what is happening today, and make an all out effort to get our political system back under the control of old-fashioned patriots like those who founded our country. I am indeed coming to believe the love of money is the greatest of our iniquities.

I Hope Everybody In The USA Reads This Book

Asked to read this and make a review, I didn't mind doing it for this unusual book about the effects of PTSD on veterans and members of their families. I thought it is extremely well written. It is an enigma to me why some books make me want to keep reading and others make me want to throw them in the trash. I can think of a number of different examples in "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" that I enjoyed reading. For example, think of a non-exciting event such as when Samantha, a main character in the novel, and her mother stop by a rural location to buy eggs. There is absolutely nothing that interests me about such a mundane task, yet the way the book is written, I could readily picture the egg seller's physical description, I didn't like the way Samantha was rather brusque with her mom, and I was eager to learn what information the little old lady egg-seller could provide to Samantha. The brief description of the event seemed timed about right, made a meaningful contribution to the flow of the story and I wasn't bored to tears. I guess that is exactly what distinguishes a good author from one who is not so good. This book tells the truth about 9/11, an incident that many highly-educated people deny. It explains the reason in terms of cognitive dissonance, something that I truly am glad to learn. I hope with all my heart that this remarkable literary masterpiece will wake enough people up to the truth about what is really going on in our own country---starting its own wars with the purpose of making crooked politicians more and more wealthy. I personally believe things have already gone too far---beyond the point of return. No wonder I no longer feel patriotic whenever I hear our national anthem. And I am a Vietnam veteran.

Everybody Needs To Read This Remarkable Book

As valedictorian of my senior class in a small town, I had great plans to become an electrical engineer, but I got drafted, ended up in Vietnam, then came home with my mind a stinking mess with PTSD. Later on the effects of neuropathy began to affect me (after working in army supply for five or six months, connected with moving Agent Orange components from different locations in assisting an Operation Ranch Hand unit). When I arrived home from Vietnam, I still felt chills run up my spine whenever I heard the 'Star Spangled Banner,' even though my welcome home at Travis Air Force Base was as unsavory as Rob's in the book. Today, my patriotism has turned to zilch (I feel absolutely nothing whenever I hear our national anthem played) after fighting with the VA for some help with compensation for the CDIP (chronic demyelinating inflammatory polyneuropathy). They keep taunting me with the same old line, "No service Connection." I've known for years that President L.B. Johnson lied on national TV to fan the fires under the war in Vietnam. For over fifteen years now I've spoken with hundreds of highly-educated people (physics teachers, architects and engineers, contractors, etc.) who know and are adamant that the entire 9/11 scenario is phony. The general public will believe anything they see on TV and will swear on stacks of bibles that it is true, because they saw it on TV. The book "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" brings forth the truth in a subtle, quiet way without rubbing your nose in it. When I finished reading this book I had a bizarre sensation go through me, telling me that our civilization, our society as we know it, is beginning to crumble, to start to disintegrate. I find it extremely difficult to comprehend the vastness of greed for money that so very many of out current politicians and political leaders harbor. I cannot help but wonder how long it will be before we sink back again into the depths of the Middle Ages.

True Forgiveness Is Not Always Easily Summoned

Sorry for my lack of finger dexterity, difficulty posting this. My veteran son brought this book back from a therapy group at the VA hospital and told me he was supposed to write a review, so he asked me to read the book together with him. We thought the book extremely well written, keeping our constant attention to the end. My son has severe PTSD (wakes me up with his screaming nightmares once or twice each week, has fits of unjustified temper tantrums, severe depressions, personality like a zombie, says he has no feelings for others, etc.), and has taken many different types of psychotropic drugs which soon lose their effectiveness, or else develops an allergy or paradoxical reaction to them. He lost sight in his right eye in the war, and is being evaluated for TBI (traumatic brain injury) from an explosion under a vehicle he was driving. This book helps me understand more about PTSD, but not TBI, which is not even mentioned. It is quite well written and has good dialog, which gives me the feeling I am right in the same room with the characters. My son appears to be incapable of composing a paragraph that makes good sense, no doubt an effect of the TBI, hence my writing this review for him. The most important thing I got out of this book is the message about forgiving. My good friend and neighbor who lives across the street from me, has been insisting for the past four or five years that the events of 9/11 were staged, that explosives were used, and all the news media went right along with the scam. I find it extremely difficult to force myself to forgive the crooked politicians who were behind 9/11, because my son is damaged for life. He was damaged for life so some of those politicians could make huge amounts of money, because of their greed. I like to think that Smokey Jones, villain in the story, is a symbol of that horrible greed. I also like to think and believe and hope those politicians behind 9/11 will read this book and find out what happens to Smokey Jones.

Forgiving Is Not Always An Easy Task To Perform

Am having difficulty trying to post this review. Will try once more in hopes that it takes. My veteran son brought this book back from a therapy group at the VA hospital and told me he was supposed to write a review, so he asked me to read the book together with him. We both thought the book was extremely well written and it kept our constant attention to the end. I know my son has severe PTSD (wakes me up with his screaming nightmares once or twice each week, has fits of unjustified temper tantrums, severe depressions, personality like a zombie, says he has no feelings for others, etc.), and has taken many different types of psychotropic drugs which soon lose their effectiveness, or else he seems to develop an allergy to some of them. He lost sight in his right eye in the war, and is being evaluated for TBI (traumatic brain injury) from an explosion under a vehicle he was driving. This book I've just finished reading helps me understand more about the PTSD, but not the TBI, which is not even mentioned in the book. It is quite well written and has good dialog, which gives me the feeling I am right in the same room with the characters. My son appears to be incapable of composing a paragraph that make good sense, so I suppose this is an effect of the TBI. So I am writing this review for him. The most important thing I got out of this book is the message about forgiving. My good friend and neighbor who lives across the street from me, has been insisting for the past four or five years that the events of 9/11 were staged, that explosions were used, and all the news media went right along with the scam. I find it extremely difficult to force myself to forgive the crooked politicians who were behind 9/11, because my son is damaged for life. He was damaged for life so some of those politicians could make huge amounts of money, because of their greed. I like to think that Smokey Jones, villain in the story, is a symbol of that horrible greed. I also like to think and to believe that if I can force myself to forgive those politicians and their pals in the high-finance arena, maybe they'll soon read this book, learn what happens to Smokey Jones in the book. One positive thing I did learn, or gain, from this book is that if we refuse to let go of our resentments, our life is not going to get any better. We both need all the help possible.

When I Finished This Excellent Novel I Felt Transported

I sincerely hope this novel that reveals the truth behind the wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq becomes an international best seller. From a creative writing instructor's view point, this masterpiece deserves an A+++, were it created by one of my students. I teach American literature and creative writing in a small community college. In one class we spent considerable time on "The Jungle," by Sinclair Lewis, and its profound effects upon the American public with regard to the meat processing industry. My brother, a Vietnam veteran, gave me his copy of "Iniquities of Gulch Fork," which he received from another veteran, and enjoyed it immensely. He asked me if I'd evaluate it, possibly consider using it in one of my classes. Frankly, I loved this idea. I arranged with a friend of one of the co-authors to obtain a number of loan copies of the book. (We photocopied the two new chapters added in edition of the book released 03/02/2017.) After members of the class have finished reading the book, we'll discuss it for several classroom sessions, particularly in the light of Sinclair Lewis' "The Jungle." The class "term paper" assignment is to write a fictional short story on the subject of "How the novel 'Iniquities of Gulch Fork' affected a country involved in two wars with no end." It will be an unusual way to stimulate the students' thinking on the subject as well as to stimulate their creative thinking. As to my opinion about the book, I think it is going to eventually become a candidate for one of the top novels of the Twenty-First Century. Next semester, I intend to use the book as a guide in a couple of my creative writing classes.

Wish My Veteran Son Had Had Chance To Read This

What a genuine pleasure to read an entertaining book every once in a while. Characters beautifully presented, a little bit of a person here, another bit there, so I could absorb the individual over a brief period of time, not thrown at me all at once. I also loved that the speech didn't go along the line of "he said, she said, he said..." Instead this book occasionally uses a gesture, a smile, or some other action to indicate who's speaking. The imagery within the book is as good as the cover, since I spent one beautiful autumn in the Ozarks a long time ago, a time that I'll always remember. I thought most of the dialog was exceptional, especially on my second time to read it. I truly adored the manner in which the initial dialog between Samantha and Rob reflected both their personalities, especially Rob's reminiscing about time spent in Oklahoma honkytonks. The most unforgettable character, the most superbly described, the one who sprang into life in my imagination, is the villain Smokey Jones. I had a cousin with autism, yet he was an extremely talented artist, could paint remarkable pastoral scenes with oils. The chief reason I read this book is because my son came home from the war in Afghanistan a completely changed person. No doubt he had severe PTSD, yet took his own life while he waited a long time before he could be seen by a doctor at the VA hospital. I sincerely wish he could have read this book, because it may have helped him. But it came into print 9 years too late.

Best Novel I've Read In Past 10 Years

I was completely astonished upon finishing my read of this excellent book, saying without any doubt it's the most enjoyable reading experience I've had in the past 10 years. Characters so well described I felt I'd just met them, had conversations with them. I loved all the flashback scenes by Rob to Vietnam. When I finished this book I felt I had landed in an entirely different world.

Upon Finishing This Book I Felt Transported

A Vietnam veteran, I went for my annual checkup at the VA clinic, where I was handed (by a waiting VA patient) a copy of this book and requested to make a review whether I liked book or not. Curious about the young Afghan war veteran's connection to the book, I asked him. He explained that his Vietnam vet grandfather had known the co-author in Vietnam. When I finished reading this book (photocopies included of recently added chapters to latest edition, 03/02/2017) and laid it on my coffee table, I had a peculiar sensation creep over me. I'm truly at a loss for words to describe it. After reading several hundreds of other reviews, I discovered that a few others felt this weird sensation as well. I'll make just one comment about the writing of this book---It was superbly written. I asked a close friend who once taught psychology and ancient history at my community college if he would read "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" and try to explain what it was that came over me when I got to the end. When he finished the book, I invited him to dinner one evening so we could discuss it. I'll try to summarize succinctly his comments: "It's common knowledge that history repeats itself. It's also common knowledge that people never learn from history. The Roman Empire is said to have disintegrated because of two reasons: (1) internal corruption; and (2) no-win wars. President John F. Kennedy had announced the was pulling our troops out of South Vietnam shortly before he was killed. President L.B. Johnson lied on national television to expand the war in Vietnam. Many are now certain 9/11 was an inside job to involve the USA in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. By May of 2017, it is beginning to appear that our present government is completely and totally controlled by moneyed and corrupt interests. The strange feeling, I believe, is caused by realization that our world is now on precipice of disintegration."

This Book Left Me Totally Stunned Upon Completion

'm a veteran of the second war in Iraq, received copy of this book for agreeing to write a review whether or not I liked reading it. Fair enough, I thought. If the book's worthless, I'll give it a rotten review. Man! was I surprised. Plot movingly suspenseful; dialog right out of mouths of small-town, down-home, folksy individuals; characterization so well sculpted I felt I actually knew Rob and Samantha as next-door neighbors. Smokey Jones is a masterpiece, a Mona Lisa, if you will, of the literary world. He's an exquisite, textbook description of someone with Asperger's. (I worked as a clinical psychologist for about ten years before eventually finding myself in IT.) Significantly, this book captured the essence of wartime banter among buddies. In the scene between Zack and Rob, immediately before the mortar attack in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam, insults and degradation are exchanged, thrown recklessly at one another, yet each individual intuitively knows almost the opposite is intended. It's much easier to love a human being that you may never see again. After all, in this wartime situation neither may ever see the light of dawn again. I've spoken with several veterans who recently finished reading the book; each one informed me he felt he'd a better grasp into the nature of PTSD. Finally, the most trenchant message this novel carries, aside from the insinuations that 9/11 was an inside job, is that war is the result of man's greed; and Smokey Jones is a classic example of it. Yet resentments caused by war can poison us, turn us in to cauldrons of seething unhappiness, unless we learn to forgive. Rob and Samantha have no other method to cope with the misdeeds of Smokey Jones, who has demonstrated that he'll make life even more miserable for them if they report him to the law. As the story ends, one is reminded of an age-old saying from long, long ago. This book gave me a truly strange sensation when I laid the book down.

So Far, This Is The Best Novel of the twenty-First Century

From my viewpoint as both a veteran and creative writing instructor, I would like to make two comments over and above my impression that "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" is a remarkable piece of 21st Century literature. Even though slightly repetitious in a few areas, it does this for a reason---teaching a potential reader (often a veteran with PTSD) about the disorder, particularly from the viewpoint of the recipient of an unusual traumatic event (in this case, Vietnam veteran Rob in the story, and some of his harrowing experiences in war). This piece of writing even goes a bit further in exploring the much neglected premise of the damage done to the PTSD sufferer's victims, usually a family member or a significant other (in this novel, the damage done to Samantha by her veteran father, who has inflicted verbal and emotional abuse upon her since childhood.) I cannot help but notice the large number of veterans who commented upon this book in their reviews. Many felt as though they were gaining some insight into the concept labeled PTSD. I'm a veteran of the First Gulf War, after which I received my degree in American literature, followed by a masters, and now I'm almost finished with my PhD dissertation. Simultaneously I'm teaching creative writing and composition in a large community college. Weirdly, if that's the best word choice, I am concentrating in my thesis on Edgar Allan Poe, the favorite of Zack, Rob's best friend in the book and who was killed in a helicopter crash. I simply want to make two points in this review: (1) I am recommending that all in my creative writing class use "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" as a model par excellence for studying characterization, imagery, dialog, plot, and all the other vital components in the brew for good novel writing; and, (2) Strict attention should be paid to the many different reviews of IGF ("Iniquities of Gulch Fork") to help you understand how a vast audience of different readers interpret the identical literary endeavor.

A Truly Wondrous Uplift For An Old Vietnam Veteran

While I was reading this book I had this strange feeling that I had made myself two new friends, Rob and Samantha. I liked them as book characters a whole lot, because I was certain they could really understand all the bad thing that happened to me after I got home and was asked to leave the service. I served as a marine in Vietnam. I've had nothing but bad luck and problems and trouble since I got home from Nam. My temper and my drinking was real bad for many years. Like Rob in the story, I live alone, have no friends, and often feel like ending my life. But thanks to a Vietnam veteran that goes to AA, he has told me a whole lot about PTSD, and also says that talking to me about PTSD helps him to keep sober. But I've had three different times I got dogs to help give me something to live for. Three different times my dogs got old and died on me. I finally got sober by going to AA, like Rob did in this book. I'm close to sixteen years now sober. This was the first book I have liked to read for a long time. I have to use a dictionary to know the meaning of some words in the story. I am reading this book now for the third time because of the way they wrote the story to keep my interest. I am also learning that for me to hold on to memories about Vietnam is only to keep my mind from healing like I wish it would heal, for me to get rid of all the blame I still have. I am really trying to forgive all the bad things that happened to me in Vietnam, the things that caused all the bad dreams and nightmares. Maybe it is starting to work, because I had the PTSD real bad when I've done the things that got me a less than honorable discharge. A man connected somehow to the AA and the VA is going to talk to me to try to see what we can do about revising my discharge because it may have something to to with the PTSD. This book has given me more hope, more hope than anything I've read since Vietnam.

This Wonderful Book Lifted Spirits of Old Vietnam Vet

Someone at my PTSD therapy group at the VA Hospital loaned me this book if I agreed to post a review online at several places, then pass it on to another veteran. Oh! how very pleased I am that I agreed to do this, because reading this book has done more than cheer me up. It's helped shift by depressive thinking into another dimension, one where I realized others are going through the same misery that I am. I live alone, like Rob in the book. Nor, like Rob, do I have any friends (the PTSD left me with an extremely unpleasant personality). When I finished the book, I picked my cat Thurman up in my arms, whispered how very much I loved and appreciated him. I'm a Vietnam veteran who many times has wished he'd never come back from the war. Why? Now I am almost ready for a nursing home as a total, useless person because of my CDIP (Chronic Demyelinating Inflammatory Polyneuropathy) caused by my working 11 months in Vietnam in loading and unloading the two components of Agent Orange. Millions of gallons of A.O. were sprayed as a herbicide from one end of South Vietnam to the other. In the book "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" the character Rob Dean describes to perfection the constant burning pain and agony which I endure each and every day. No drug satisfactorily relieves the pain. There are some truly genuine nurses, doctors, and other employees at the VA, but there are also a few rotten, dishonest doctors suspected (by many veterans with Agent-Orange-caused neuropathy) of receiving sweeteners from a huge chemical manufacturing company and others who made Agent Orange. I know of (in the Houston area) seven Vietnam veterans with severe neuropathy (they do not have diabetes), who have one thing in common: they worked with Operation Ranch Hand, which used C-123 planes to spray Agent Orange in the Vietnam war (or operations in Laos or Cambodia). Just as Rob explains in the book, the VA decision makers have repeatedly pronounced "no service connection" in their steadfast denial of these veterans' claims. This unusual literary endeavor subtly shines a light on many-a-veterans' dilemma: "How do you remain loyal and true to an entity that sends you off to war where you give your everything to defend it, only to return to discover that "entity" has chosen to forget about you. Or, perhaps another way to get this point across is to relay contents of a conversation I had, as a patient in the hospital, with three other veterans not long ago. The subject was "The Star Spangled Banner," our national anthem. All four of us wondered why we no longer felt those chills go up and down our spines as we used to experience, such as whenever we heard our anthem played at public gatherings. We knew the truth, yet each one of us was ashamed to admit it.

This Truly Unusual Book Opened My Eyes

Reading this highly informative book opened my eyes to what is truly going on in this world. I grew up in a small Texas town between Corpus and McAllen, where my very popular son was president of his high school senior class as well as an outstanding tennis player. Due to my faltering health and job insecurity, my son chose to enter the military service and get their assistance in attending college or university. Iraq, however left him with TBI (traumatic brain injury) and PTSD. My reading this enlightening novel explains PTSD in terms that everyone can easily understand. It also tells the truth about the basis of our last three big wars (Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq) and convinces me that my son sacrificed his once healthy life not for our country, but for making a bunch of insider politicians extremely wealthy. This book has fantastic characterization, beautiful imagery, stimulating dialog, and genuine suspense. It is, without doubt, based upon true events. I'm recommending it to all my acquaintances as well as what few friends my son has left in this world. After my son returned from Iraq, all his old "very close" high school buddies want nothing to do with him anymore, except for one fellow who became a minister. I cannot believe what is happening to young people today, where "solid old friends" turn into sour non-caring excuses for human beings. It has made me wonder whether my son would have more "friends" today if he had lots of money.

Hope This Book Becomes An International Run-Away Best Seller

I'm a disabled veteran (Vietnam) who started having horrible nightmares about the war after my granddaughter was killed in a tragic auto accident in front of me. I started going back to PTSD group therapy at the VA hospital. That's where I got this book, exchanged for my agreeing to write a review and pass the book on to another veteran. This was a terrific book, enjoyed it very much, especially how it ended. Thank God, the writers had the guts to tell the truth about 9/11 as well as how President LB Johnson fanned the fires of the no-win fiasco in Vietnam. The most important thing I got from this book was to forgive those behind the promotion of war and get on with life. My ex-wife has a relative, retired from the USAF, worked for NORAD. He says it's absolutely impossible for 9/11 to have happened the way it did without high-level intervention. (A high-jacked plane could not have been still in the air that long without being shot out of the sky.) Yet he has been warned to keep his trap shut---not even discuss 9/11, otherwise, as warned through the grapevine, his retirement pay records will suffer an irreparable computer glitch. I sincerely hope this outstanding book, "Iniquities of Gulch Fork," soon becomes a runaway international best seller. It's a fantastic read filled with lots of wisdom. I wholeheartedly recommend it for everyone who seeks the truth.

What A Fantastic Surprise To Read This Book!

An Iraq war vet I go to VA Hospital in Little Rock, where a woman waiting for her dad gave me the book and asked me to make an honest review after I finished it, and pass it on to another vet when I was able. Truly was I surprised that someone would give me such a magnificent book for free. When I got into the story I could not put the book down, because I've got PTSD and wanted to see what was going to happen to me when I get old like Rob in the story. Besides, the well-written book was a good suspense, thriller on top of having a fantastic ending. Not only will I write a good review, I'll tell everyone I know or meet about what an extremely good read this book is. I can't wait to see the movie.

This Book Helped Me Beyond All Belief

I'm an Army veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. A guy in my PTSD therapy group loaned me this book if I'd make an honest review of it and I agreed. I thought it was extremely well written, the characters were believable, and the dialog right on target. (I've got lots of relatives in the Ozarks, spent many summers there since I was a kid.) In summary, I truly felt I'd grasped a better understanding of PTSD after reading this enjoyable book than after coming for three years to my therapy group. The two most outstanding things about this book are: (1) it tells the godawful truth about the wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq---all fanned by the fires of greed in American politicians and industrialists; and (2) once we discover the sordid truth of the foregoing, it does us no good whatsoever to brood and develop poisonous resentments about them---instead, we're much better off if we learn to forgive and go on with our lives free of our deeply-felt resentments. I liked this book so very much I even read it a second time and it really struck a chord with me. As a veteran who lost some extremely close and dear friends in the war, I truly believe this book has helped me more than anything else I have ever read and thought about.

This Magnificent Book Helped Change Direction My Life Was Taking

It's difficult to express in words how much this well-written book means to me because it's helped me to correct something I was too stubborn to do by myself. I'm a Vietnam veteran with PTSD having emerged and being diagnosed at a VA hospital after I retired from a strenuous job and tried to relax in life. In my VA therapy group were a good sorting of Afghanistan and Iraq veterans, many with crippling disabilities. About this same time it became more widely speculated that 9/11 was most likely an inside job. I developed a phenomenal resentment against our very own government for causing all the deaths and injuries to our veterans in order for a select group of dirty politicians and their financial pals to make tons of money. This book taught me that until I learned to forgive those behind expanding the Vietnam war as well as those wars engendered by 9/11, the poison in my mind and thoughts was only going to grow, my PTSD waxing more pronounced and troublesome. Now, after reading and digesting "Iniquities of Gulch Fork," I'm beginning to pay more attention to the victims of atrocities I see on news programs, who, during an interview, often comment that they completely forgive the wrongdoers. Now, I'm beginning to comprehend those often almost relaxed looks on some of their faces---they've discarded their resentments and are getting on with their lives. That's the marvelous message in this truly extraordinary book that has helped me change the direction my life was headed.

Reading This Unusual Book Gave My Life New Direction

Wish I'd read this book 40 years ago because it almost repeats my own personal experience. Returning from Vietnam with what I now recognize as severe PTSD, I sought booze to help me tolerate vicious nightmares that awoke me screaming bloody murder, horrible sensations of impending doom, a temper like a scalded hyena, and a pitiful disposition like a thrice-jilted lover. My family totally, thoroughly, disowned me. When my nourishment became limited to what I could recover from trash dumpsters, I started going to AA, almost as Rob did in the book's story. Even after a number of year's sobriety. my nightmares remained along with a severe startle reflex and profound anxiety attacks, so I gathered courage to go to the VA hospital nearest me in the Houston metro area. At my last PTSD therapy group a participant gave me a copy of this book, asked me to review it on several web sites, even though I disliked the book. I truly loved this book---unequivocally loved it. This magnificent book opened my eyes to something I was simply too ignorant and stupid to recognize myself. Although we touched on it in AA meetings, it was insufficient to reach into the depths of my almost indelible resentments against the USA for what they did in Vietnam---prolonging the war, which was never won. Consequently, it was much easier for me to see the truth behind the almost unbelievable hoax of 9/11 which led into more wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. As Rob did in the book, I lost the best friend of my entire life in the stupid war in Vietnam. I simply cannot understand why, but as I begin to make a conscious effort toward forgiving those who promoted war in Vietnam, I do believe some sort of a healing has begun. This well-written book and a new little kitten have truly given hope to what little still remains of a miserable life.

Some Proclaim Book Causes Strange Effects, Others Say Phooey!

A remarkably enjoyable narrative, pace sometimes fast, sometimes slow, suspense building, dialog spot on for a down-home tale in a hardscrabble town nestled in a valley of the Ozarks. Am eagerly awaiting results of a survey I understand is being considered by a psychology professor in a large university near Houston, where many students in several of his classes are being asked to read the book because of "strange feelings" supposedly reported by some readers while still others are completely insensitive to any "effect" from having read the book. Query whether strange sensations felt by some readers upon completing novel could be explained by quantum mechanics or plain ole barnyard psychology and farm field philosophy. I am wary of such a small sample, realize it may not square with latest demands of experts in bio statistics. One thing I do know, though, is that this novel is extremely well written from an English language fanatic's viewpoint.

Taught Me A Lot About PTSD

A veteran from war in Iraq, I was not able to hold a job very long after I got out of the army because of my bad and mean temper and sour attitude they said. The VA shrinks keep saying I had the PTSD, but no one ever told me what it was til I read this book that told what it was and helped me to understand it more. I don't have a good education, had to get a neighbor lady to help me write this. I liked the book very much, it was exciting and seemed real to me, especially the scenes from Vietnam in the mortar raid on Rob and his friend Zack, who Rob watched die in front of him in the helicopter that got shot down. I know this is a real good book because it kept all of my interest until the end of it. I usually can't read a book to the end because I lose interest and put the book back on the shelf because I never get to the end.

Tearfully Brought Back Memories of Pals Who Died in Nam

I got drafted, ended up in Vietnam, leaving me with indelible memories of close friends, blood and death. My PTSD left me with almost constant depression and thoughts of suicide. I had some buddies in Vietnam who became extremely close, like Rob in the story was with his friend Zack. The spirited conversation between the two in Rob's flashbacks to Vietnam amazingly brought back similar conversations I'd had with a couple of pals who never made it home. I dearly loved reading this book, which reminds me of real life---slow in spots, rapid in other places. I truly don't like novels with one fast action followed by another. I loved pacing in "Iniquities of Gulch Fork," which seemed just perfect for my tastes. I cannot recall ever reading a book as enjoyable as this one was. Most importantly, this book tells the truth about the purposeful expansion of the war in Vietnam as well as the inside job known as "9/11" which led the way to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, both of which are still going on to this very day in April, 2017. Everywhere I go, I'm going to tell people about this remarkable book.

Am Extremely Grateful For Having Read This Book

I'm a veteran of the no-win wars in the Middle East, and developed the PTSD a long time after I got discharged. The shrinks at the VA Hospital were too busy prescribing psychotropic drugs and talking about them all the time that they had no time to explain the PTSD to me so I could understand it at my level (I barely got two semesters of college). A nice woman waiting for her dad at the hospital gave me this book to read and I told her I'd make several book reviews whether I liked to read the book or didn't. In the book they seemed to repeat information about PTSD several different times in several different ways. Suddenly it seemed like I started to get the general idea of what they mean by PTSD, so I can aim to understand it much better. This is exactly why I liked this book so very much. Maybe I should not write this, but in my PTSD therapy group I've heard rumors over and over that shrinks get these huge bonuses of money for keeping us vets loaded to the hilt with all those mind-altering psychotropic drugs. This book confirmed that for me. I think this is the best book I ever read about causes of our three recent wars (Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq) and the effects on us veterans. The people in the story seem to me to come alive and I even get to know them as friends because they are so well described. I love the suspense in the story, and the very most of all the way this story ends. I am telling everyone I know to please read this story, veterans as well as people who never wore a uniform. I think the whole world would be a much better place if everyone read this book and thought about what it taught me. I am an extremely grateful reader.

One of the Very Best Books I've ever Read

I'm a Vietnam veteran, received a copy of this book from a lady I met in waiting room at VA Hospital in Little Rock; all she asked was that I write a review. Highly pleased and satisfied with the superb story, I was dismayed when I read a review of this book at Onlinebookclub.org by micoleon13, who was apparently surprised to read that Rob received an abusive homecoming at Travis Air Force Base after one year in Vietnam. This professional reviewer was way off the mark about homecomings for all Vietnam veterans, has no business even pretending to make a review of a book about Vietnam veterans. This goes to show you how very litte today's U.S. citizens know about the Vietnam war. "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" did a magnificent job of disclosing problems faced by Vietnam vets after returning home, as well as exposing the truth about President LB Johnson's role in expanding the war in Vietnam as well as revealing the truth about the big hoax known as 9/11. It's a shame that people even bother to read reviews posted by the Onlinebookclub.org.

I'm Certain This Will Make Broadway and Hollywood

I simply could not believe all the reviews of this book, one after another heaping mounds of accolades on "Iniquities of Gulch Fork." I do have some background in the use of the English language since I worked as assistant editor for a small newspaper for 14 years before Internet competition drove it and four other small papers in nearby towns out of business. I asked a number of people I know personally to read and orally review the book for me. Everyone loved the contents and message of this novel except for three people. I wanted to find out why. (1) It was too slow for my young pal Ed, who surprisingly prefers smut. He enjoys a novel where they meet in the first paragraph, hold hands in the second, and head for the bedroom in the third paragraph. Case closed; (2) My former secretary, young, sweet, impressionable Mary Lou, is the last person in town to discover that her second husband Tom has eyes for anyone in a tight skirt. She told me truthfully she simply was in no mental frame of mind to read the first page of any book and explain what was on it. (3) My former boss, Curtis, has financial worries because his two recent investments backfired on him, and now concentrates primarily on how he's going to survive when he retires at the end of next year. He handed "Iniquities" back to me, stating, "I simply couldn't get involved in a disabled veteran's problems when I have too many of my own at the moment." Everyone else I asked to read the book came back with glowing praise. My advice to a prospective reader of "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" is to wait until your own immediate, extremely-pressing worries and problems are manageable before you undertake reading it. I decided to read it a second time myself, enjoyed it even more. I think it would be an excellent candidate for a Broadway play as well as a movie.

This Book Truly Helped Me Open My Eyes About Wars

My email's been hacked, having problems posting this review. My dad came home from Vietnam a completely changed person: vile, hateful, ugly and nasty---and a temper like a scalded beast. My mom drank herself to death. I'm the only one who still speaks to him, so I had to take him (almost helpless) to the VA Hospital in Little Rock for his semi-annual checkup. A woman handed me this book, asked me to write a review whether I liked it or not. I stayed up half the night reading this book because it truly struck a chord with me, compelling me to finish it today. It is extremely well written, at the same time giving me insight into the disorder called PTSD and polyneuropathy caused by Agent Orange, both problems afflicting my poor dad. Overall, this true story is wonderfully put together in a magnificent manner, which taught me the wonderful lesson and value of forgiveness, which is necessary for the healing process to begin. I wish I'd asked the woman who gave me the book to sign it because I'm almost certain she was the co-author (she was with her dad, whom she described in the book). I highly recommend this book for everyone because it's different and entertaining in a way I've never before found in a book that I've read. Vietnam was a fiasco, as is Iraq and Afghanistan. I am no longer repulsed by the idea that 9/11 was a hoax, an inside job. After reading "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" I am now totally convinced that 9/11 brought us into war so corrupt politicians and their moneyed pals could receive vasts sums of money, at the expense of lives and ruined bodies of our brave, loyal servicemen. I'll recommend this book to everyone I encounter in the future. It should become a "Must Read" for all students in all our schools. No one should graduate from high school unless he's read this book that tells the truth about our three most recent "no win wars." When this becomes a reality, our founding fathers will be at peace, rest more comfortably in their graves.

Sinerely Do I Hope This Becomes International Bestseller

Reading this unusual but deeply penetrating novel affected me in a bizarre way. I was just twelve when my dad was killed in Vietnam, where he served with the 101st Airborne. In the story, Rob and Zack work with the 101st Airborne in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, where Zack saves Rob's life during a mortar attack. The description of this event in the book made it come alive in my mind, simultaneously making me feel closer to my dad. I sensed the whole theme of the book was definitely anti-war, helping the reader to see the truth behind the ridiculous wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, both of which are still going on today in 2017. I am against war, which has ruined my mom's life as well as mine. Reading this extremely well-written book helped me realize I carry a deep-seated resentment against all the politicians and their buddies, the investment sharks and financial crooks who profited off wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. This book also taught me about cognitive dissonance, why so many intelligent people refuse to accept the fact that 9/11 was a giant hoax with one purpose---to support our country's military invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. I hope this marvelous book becomes an international best seller in order to teach the world that the good ole U.S.A. is no longer that, but has allowed dishonorable people to take control of it. George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson must be convulsing in their graves.

Book Saved Fragile Relationship With My Vietnam Vet Dad

My dad came home from Vietnam a completely changed person: vile, hateful, ugly and nasty---and a temper like a scalded beast. My mom drank herself to death. I'm the only one left who still speaks to him, so I had to take him to the VA Hospital in Little Rock for his semi-annual checkup. A woman handed me this book, asked me to write a review whether I liked book or not. I stayed up half the night reading this book because it truly struck a chord with me, compelling me to finish the book today. It is so extremely well written, at the same time giving me more insight into the disorder called PTSD and polyneuropathy caused by Agent Orange, both problems afflicting my poor dad. Overall, the true story was wonderfully put together in this magnificent book, which taught me the wonderful lesson and value of forgiveness, which is necessary for the healing process to begin. I only wish I'd asked the woman who gave me the book to have signed it because I'm almost certain she was the co-author (she was with her dad, whom she described in the book). I highly recommend this book for everyone because it's different and entertaining in a way I've never before found in a book that I've read.

When I Finished Reading This I Felt Transported To Another Planet

I simply am at a loss for words to describe why, but I found this book extremely gripping from the moment I started reading it. In the prologue are two women characters, Mabel and Flo, whose last names aren't provided, so I knew I didn't have to remember their names. I merely recall the general idea that a local man in the tree business took unfair advantage of a disabled veteran who lived alone on an acreage next door to Mabel. Then, for the first three chapters I liked both Samantha and Rob who were going to be leading characters. I just recently started a book that I put down half-way through because there were too many characters, none of whom I really cared anything about. I'm not a writer, I'm a reader. There was something intangible I cannot explain that totally captivated my attention when I read "Iniquities of Gulch Fork," a great book.

One of Greatest Book I've Ever Read

I'm a Vietnam veteran. Someone at the VA Hospital gave this book to me, asked me to read and write a review even if I disliked the book. My daughter is helping me write this because my fingers no longer work like they used to. I worked with Agent Orange in Vietnam and have really severe Chronic Demyelinating Polyneuropathy. It's identical to what Rob Dean has, the disabled veteran in the story. Reading this book was like I'd gone to a great movie. It's a thriller/suspense set in a Southern "tired and worn" small town named Gulch Fork, in the Ozarks of Arkansas. This folksy melodrama reminds me of "Steel Magnolias," except "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" carries a message: Corruption is more than widespread in our government. The VA refuses to give me any assistance for the neuropathy caused by Agent Orange. The VA says over and over, "No Service Connection," the identical situation that faces Rob in the story. He believes, as I do, that some of the huge corporations are paying bribes to VA doctors as well as decision-makers on claims review boards to deny claims for Agent-Orange-caused problems related to neuropathy. I know personally five other veterans (intimately exposed to Agent Orange) whose claims are being denied in an identical manner as mine have. This highly unusual book I'm reviewing also makes extremely clear to me that 9/11 was an inside job, all geared to make unbelievable sums of money from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Finally, and most importantly, this intriguing novel deals with the answer to coping with these problems caused by our corrupt politicians and their pals in the financial firms and big corporations in the military-industrial complex. Unless we learn to forgive and forget these nefarious deeds by the greed-crazed hierarchy, our resentments will only fester in our minds until we become swallowed by them. Forgiveness is the only thing that will start us on the road to healing.

I Have Yet To Read A Better Book: It Helped Me

I'm a Vietnam veteran. A patient at the VA Hospital gave this book to me, asked me to read it and write a review. My daughter is helping me write it. My fingers no longer work like they used to. I worked with Agent Orange in Vietnam, now have severe Chronic Demyelinating Polyneuropathy. I'm almost certain it's identical to what Rob Dean has, the disabled veteran in the story. As for the book, I think it reads like I'd gone to a great movie. A thriller/suspense set in a Southern "tired and worn" small town of Gulch Fork, in the Ozarks of Arkansas, it's a folksy melodrama that reminds me of "Steel Magnolias," except "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" packs a giant wallop of a message, which is: Corruption is more than just widespread in our government. The VA refuses to give me any assistance whatsoever for the neuropathy caused by Agent Orange. The VA says over and over, "No Service Connection." It's the identical situation that faces Rob in the story. He believes, as I do, that some of the huge corporations are paying bribes to VA doctors as well as decision-makers on claims review boards to deny claims for Agent-Orange-caused problems related to neuropathy. I know personally five other veterans (intimately exposed to Agent Orange) whose claims are being denied in an identical manner as my claim has. This highly unusual book also makes extremely clear to me that 9/11 was a giant hoax, geared to make unbelievable sums of money for "insiders" who promoted the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Finally, and most importantly, this intriguing novel provides the solution for coping with these problems caused by our rotten politicians and their pals in the financial firms and big corporations in the military-industrial complex. Unless we learn to forgive and forget these nefarious deeds by our greed-crazed hierarchy, our resentments will only fester in our minds until we become swallowed by them. I'm now on the road to healing, thanks to this book---the very best book I've ever read.

I Am Veteran of War In iraq That was Helped by This Book

I'm a veteran from war in Iraq and had head injury from explosion under truck I rode in. I got a book from a guy who comes to my PTSD group meeting and I promised him I would to my best to give a review about the book. I can read much better and much faster than I can write. This was a very good book and I really enjoyed to read it. One of the best books I have read in a long time. It helped me to understand PTSD, which I also have along with the T.B.I. (tramatic brain injury). I Think the most important thing about this book is that it tells the truth about the wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq---all phony wars to make much, much money for our crooked politicians and their pals in the big banks and corporations that make things necessary to make war. They should all be ashamed of themselves because of all my buddies who left their lives or their arms or their legs and feet over there.

I'm Glad My Dad, A Vietnam Vet, Asked Me To Read This

My dad, a Vietnam veteran, brought this book home from the VA hospital and told me he promised to make a review, and gave me addresses of where to send it by email. Oh, no, I thought, some scam or gimmick. He hadn't even read the book. What a shocking surprise! I started reading the book and got hooked even after I finished the prologue. What an amazing discovery --- this was one of the most delightful reads; I dearly loved this book, and I forced my dad to read it. He's reading it now, but is a very slow reader. He hasn't read a book in years. He just watches TV or plays solitaire. I've never before made a review. I can truthfully say this is an extremely well written novel. I was ready to decapitate the villain, felt sorry for Rob and Samantha in the story. I thought all that talk about 9/11 being a hoax was a hoax itself. Now that I've looked into it, talked to some educated friends, they also agree that 9/11 and Vietnam were false flags, just to get us into war so high and mighty politicians could make tons of money. After my dad finished the book, I'll help him write his review. As for me, I'm going to read this book a second time because I've never before read a book that held my attention like this one did. I sincerely wish there were more books like this one and I would read a lot more books than I do now.

I've Waited For A Book Like This For Ages

I've been waiting, waiting, and waiting for a good book like this for a long, long time. I wanted something with a down-home, old-fashioned, countrified setting that seemed real to me, not a forced melodrama with a poor little orphan girl torn between her two lovers, a multi-billionaire and the garbage man. Unfortunately the garbage man was a zombie and the multi-billionaire was a werewolf by night and a transvestite by day. I'm sick, sick, sick of that garbage. I just wanted something that I could connect with my real life as a veteran living in a small town. This ("Iniquities") was the best thing that came along in ages. Characters seemed real, almost alive; dialog appropriate; sarcasm plentiful; suspense terrific; and the ending surprised me out of my mind. There are more and more people like Smokey Jones, the villain, I guess, some of them forced to lie, cheat, and steal because of the economy and constantly rising prices. I know of three honest, hard-working families destroyed by medical bills. This is the most enjoyable book I've had the pleasure of reading in ages.

A Perfect Example Of Why I Dearly Love Reading Books

Finishing a book like this one is what makes reading so delightful. When I reached the very end I felt as though I'd been transported to another kingdom, another planet, or another dimension of time and space. Only one other time did I have a sensation such as this. That was when I read "Bridges of Madison County" and had to pinch myself to make certain I was not dreaming or having some weird "out of body" experience. I frankly did not understand it then, nor do I know how to explain my sensations now after completing "Iniquities of Gulch Fork." I suppose I've taken the simple way out and merely attributed my peculiar sensations to exceptionally fine writing.

Characterization Some of The Best Out There

Am having difficulty posting this review, so I'll try a third time. This phenomenal book ushered me into a brand new dimension, so I am gladly writing this review because I want to share with others the trenchant lesson contained between its covers. As a former high school teacher and much-shunned fanatic about the proper use of our language (before texting completely ruins it forever), I, if offered the opportunity to do so, would recommend that this book be required reading in all high schools from one end of the USA to the other. The dialog is extremely good, so good that I could actually imagine it being spoken by characters right in front of me, as though everything was real. I was especially impressed with the scene in Rob's flashback to Vietnam, the one with his best friend Zack, right before the mortar attack. Even though I'm from Northeastern Oklahoma, I worked a couple of years in Boston, went to hear concerts (every opportunity I could finagle) by the Boston Symphony in their highly esteemed concert hall. I thought the villain, Smokey Jones, was magnificently described---in fact, so well depicted that I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes a classic character in all American literature for years to come. I've known personally several individuals who are autistic, no doubt on the Asperger's end of the autism spectral disorder, but none of them as dishonest, rotten and crooked as Smokey Jones in the novel. I have no problems whatsoever in believing he was an actual person in real life. I doubt any author could artfully create such a character in fiction, but sculpted him from a real live model. I believe the reader can understand him, have compassion for him, when he comprehends Smokey's severe childhood abuse by his father. There are very few novels out there as captivating, exhilarating, and awe-inspiring as this one. Finally, I think this book will become an all-time best seller, as well as instrumental in exposing the sordid truth behind 9/11, because it does so in a quiet, subtle way which a reader will be able to grasp along with the book's most important message: healing does not start to remove resentments until one forgives.

I Think A Character In This Book Will Become A Classic

This phenomenal book ushered me into a brand new dimension, so I am gladly writing this review because I want to share with others the trenchant lesson contained between its covers. As a former high school teacher and much-shunned fanatic about the proper use of our language before texting completely ruins it forever, I, if offered the opportunity to do so, would recommend that this book be required reading in all high schools from one end of the USA to the other. The dialog is extremely good, so good that I could actually imagine it being spoken by characters right in front of me. I was especially impressed with the scene in Rob's flashback to Vietnam, the one with his best friend Zack, right before the mortar attack. Even though I'm from Northeastern Oklahoma, I worked a couple of years in Boston, went to hear concerts (every opportunity I could finagle) by the Boston Symphony in their highly esteemed hall. I thought the villain, Smokey Jones, was magnificently described---in fact, so well depicted that I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes a classic character in all American literature for years to come. I've known personally several individuals who are autistic, no doubt on the Asperger's end of the autism spectral disorder, but none of them as dishonest, rotten and crooked as Smokey Jones in the novel. I have no problems whatsoever in believing he was an actual person in real life. I doubt any author could artfully create such a character in fiction, but sculpted him from a real live model. I believe the reader can understand him, have compassion for him, when he comprehends Smokey's severe childhood abuse by his father. There are very few novels out there as captivating, exhilarating, and awe-inspiring as this one. Finally, I think this book will become an all-time best seller, as well as instrumental in exposing the sordid truth behind 9/11, because it does so in a quiet, subtle way which a reader will be able to grasp along with the book's healing by forgiving message.

This Book Helped Me In A Truly Exceptional Way

I've been extremely starved, truly hungry the past five years, for an exceptionally satisfying good book to read, something to soothe my tattered soul. When I arrived at the end of this great book, I felt as though I'd just finished the gourmet, deluxe special at the very best restaurant in this land. I know that sounds a bit cheesy, yet I have no other way to describe the pleasure, the satisfaction, the contentment, or whatever...when I completed the final chapter of "Iniquities of Gulch Fork." Now, allow me to wax a bit more corny---for a short while after closing this book, I felt really strange for a few moments, strange in the sense that I were in another place, another land, maybe. I think I'd just had the realization---an epiphany?---that the past half-century the citizens of the U.S. have all had the wool pulled over their eyes about Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. We've sent our best, our most loyal, our most worthy as a sacrifice to make uncountable and unaccountable sums of money for crooked politicians and their dishonest bankers. I ought to know. My only son came back from war in the Middle East a completely changed person, someone I didn't know. The VA doctors told me he had traumatic brain injury (head wounds received when truck he drove hit a roadside explosive device) and post-traumatic stress disorder. Both these, acting in harmony I guess, interfered with his childhood dreams of becoming a veterinarian and caring for animals, which he dearly loved. I'm extremely proud of him for giving it the old college try. Even though his high school grades were tops, he failed to make decent grades in a nearby community college (he studied constantly yet his IQ took a holiday because of the TBI). He chose to take his own life rather than receive a rejection letter from his choice of Schools of Veterinary Medicine. So now it should become evident why this remarkable book means so very much to me. Rob and Samantha, in the book, made it abundantly clear to me at the end of their story. I must learn to forgive the people behind the spectacle known as 9/11, or I'm going to turn into more of a horrible mess of a person, rotting alive by swimming in a cesspool of deep resentments.

What An Extraordinary Surprise To Read A Book So Good!

Someone at the VA Hospital gave me this book if I'd make a review of it. I simply couldn't believe I had fallen for a trick, or scam. This book turned out to be the very best book I've read in a long, long time. What an absolutely wonderful surprise.

This Book Moved Me, Affected Me---Positively

A truly extraordinary novel. One of the first in a long, long time that I truly enjoyed.

For A Bookworm, I Rarely Find A Book As Good As This One!

A friend who works at the VA hospital loaned me this book since he knows I read all the time instead of being glued to the TV. He asked me to review the book. I read this book, which flowed so well I simply could not put the book down until the end---which knocked me for a loop. I'm not a veteran (they wouldn't take me because of flat feet), but now I have a brand new image of what our military personnel have gone through. I used to teach high school physics before going into IT (Information Technology). I've known all along there was something phony about 9/11. Only afterwards did I even learn about nanothermite, which, I believe was being developed by the military. I truly loved this book because of its fantastic characterization, witty dialog, marvelous imagery, and for this book's almost magical ability to pull me inside the story, seemingly making me a participant in this wonderful small town, homespun melodrama. It is such a marvelous change or variation from 95% of the recently-published books which are so very much alike. This one is truly a literary gem which I'll recommend to everyone I know who enjoys books as I do.

It's About Time For A Book Like This To Be Published

I'm a Vietnam veteran just like Rob in the story. I, too, have horrible PTSD and progressively advancing polyneuropathy from working with, and moving and storing, components of Agent Orange (The VA, in response to my multiple pleas for assistance with this, plays their broken record, over and over, "No Service Connection...No Service Connection..."). Never in my entire life have I read a book like this one with which I could identify almost 100%. I live alone, have dogs and cats, can't endure human company for more than 30 minutes, love being alone, had a drinking problem before being able or helped to stop through AA. I certainly wish I could find a CNA as sweet and understanding as Samantha in the story. Reading this book has helped me in ways I find difficult to express in words. I still have extremely deep-seated resentments against the people in our own government who were complicit in 9/11. Also, I've followed the Carlyle group in various news items since 1990. At one time they had reached one-third of a trillion dollars in assets, almost all of which came to them associated with contracts related to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The most important thing I learned through reading "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" is that I've let all my resentments fester and grow until they're beginning to poison my inner being. I've already started forcing myself to use the very last trace of love left in me to start forgiving the American politicians and their friends in high finance who are behind the giant hoax known as 9/11. It's going to be a long, difficult journey, but I've held my animals in my arms, asking them to share their wondrous love with me in order to help me start my efforts in forgiving. I truly want to set out on the pathway to healing so I can be around to give my little friends all the love and care they rightly need and deserve. Sincerely, Lucas M.

Belongs At Summit of Every Book I've Ever Read

A truly magnificent book providing an enthralling reading experience that I highly recommend.

I Still Feel Stunned After Reading The Final Paragraph

An unusually well-written book with a trenchant message for us all. Had real difficulty putting the book down to do my household chores. It seems as though I made close friends instantly with several characters, so well-described I almost thought they were real. When I got to the final paragraph I was nearly shocked out of my senses, feeling this existence on Earth still has something worthwhile in its makeup. I learned so many different thing from this literary work I felt I'd entered another dimension, giving me a different birds-eye view of what's going on around me. I simply do not possess the ability to explain it. It reminds me of how I felt near the end of reading "Bridges of Madison County."

So Good I Selected It For My Next Book Club Review

It's been a long, long time since I enjoyed reading a book as much as I did in reading this one. The characters uncannily came alive, the imagery made me long for my childhood not far from the center of where the true events happened, and the dialog was spot on for a down-home melodrama/mystery/suspense like this one. I don't even have a veteran in my family, but a veteran who lives two streets away from me knows I love reading almost constantly. He received the book from a VA support group he attends at a VA hospital, liked it so very much he wanted my opinion of it. He truly gave me a wide, generous smile when I told him I thought it was so good that I'm going to make a quick substitution for the book I'd originally chosen, replace it with "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" as the book I'm going to review at my monthly book club meeting the first week of next month.

I'm Recommending This Book To Everyone I Know

My son, a disabled Iraqi war veteran, brought this book home from the VA hospital and asked me to read it and make a review. I started reading it and simply could not lay the book down until nearly 2:00am, then finished it the following morning. When I finished the very last page, I felt completely stunned, as though I'd been clobbered on the head with a brick! A fantastic book! An honestly and truly delightful read! I'm telling all my friends about this marvelous book, best thing I've read in years!

Book Awakened Me To Bitter Resentments Of War

I'm a Vietnam veteran and alcoholic, been sober three years now from going to AA. Another AA member handed me this book with two photocopied chapters, asked me to read it and make a review (and pass it on to others on a waiting list). After reading the story, I discovered I'm almost exactly like disabled veteran Rob in the story---have no friends (people make me nervous, lose my temper over nothing) and live alone out in the country. I go to VA for leg injury from Nam, so I scheduled appointment to see a shrink, who immediately advised me to start in PTSD group therapy in addition to continue sessions with him. If I had never read this book I never would have felt like I was finally on the road to discover a few good things left in what little remains in my up-to-now extremely miserable live ever since coming home from Nam. Only now am I beginning to see the truth behind Afghanistan and Iraq. Thank God, someone asked me to read "Iniquities of Gulch Fork." I had no earthly idea that reading one single book could possible help me as much as this one did.

This Book Carries A Truly Trenchant Message

The message in this fantastic new novel about a red-necked pastor abusing and rooking a severely disabled Vietnam veteran is nothing short of Dynamite! I believe this book's allegorical significance will endure for years and years into the future. It's symbolic of our morally decadent politicians using our loyal, patriotic military men and women as pawns in the most disgusting money-making game ever invented by human beings---war. Our service people give their lives, souls, minds and limbs as their sacrifice for fellow citizens of our country. Simultaneously our crooked politicians and their financial pals make billions upon billions, with absolutely no true regard for our service men and women. Symbolically, red-necked Smokey Jones takes advantage of crippled veteran Rob Dean. In both instances, the motives are identical: disgusting, psychopathic, human greed. Nevertheless, the enduring message in this fantastic, perhaps esoteric, novel based on actual facts is that resentments caused by politicians, their pals, and their wars may cause long term effects in many. These resentments themselves no doubt cause bitter poison in our souls and being. Forgiveness, often a tough and rough road to follow, is necessary before true healing can begin. Wouldn't it be wonderful if all politicians as well as those who profit from wars have the same fate as befalls villain Smokey Jones in this remarkable story?

One of Best Books I've Ever Read

My hobby is reading books. I don't like religious books because I was cheated out of a good sum of money by people claiming to be forming a new church---they were con sharks. I've been super-cautious ever since. But when I started reading "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" something rang a bell loud and clear: Smokey Jones pretending to be a pastor in order to screw unsuspecting people out of whatever he could. I could truly, truly identify with disabled veteran Rob Dean who got screwed out of thousands of dollars by Smokey Jones in the cow business. I thought this book exceptionally well written, characters so real I could almost smell some of them (example, on page 279 of revised edition of book 03/02/2017: "As usual, the obnoxious sour stench of unbathed bodies invaded the small church's sanctuary.") By the time I finished this book I felt thoroughly overwhelmed. All along I've sensed something rotten about the 9/11 spectacle, felt initially extremely unpatriotic by even questioning it. But that's what those crooks behind it, with the news media's complicity, wanted all of us to feel. This book wasn't a religious book, yet it carried an ancient message about forgiving. "Wake up, you ignorant oaf," I told myself, when I remembered what my grandma had told me when I was a child, probably five or six. Her words still ring loud and clear in my memory: "Forgiving doesn't help one teeny little bit the ones who did you wrong. It helps you. If you don't forgive and forget, it starts to rot and decay, dragging you along with it until you turn into an abscess or a boil yourself." In a nutshell, this is the message carried by this remarkable book, plus the subtle hint that the war in Vietnam was expanded by the lies of President L.B Johnson; and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were results of inside job 9/11. I must add, in closing, two things: (1) I'm a veteran of the Vietnam war, served in navy offshore Vietnam; (2) This is among 10 best books ever written in my humble opinion.

Helps Me Understand My Afghanistan War Veteran Son

A truly exceptional book, had difficulty putting it down to have lunch or dinner. My son came back from Afghanistan war a total mental mess. He's so loaded with drugs he can't find the time to talk to me. The war in Afghanistan is still going on. I think the U.S. politicians and their financial pals are making money off the war and my son's sorry mental state is a result. This truly remarkable book confirms my thinking. I'm going to ask everyone I meet or run into in my life as an electrician to read this mind-expanding literary masterpiece.

This Book Helped Bring My Little Brother Back To Me

A thoroughly remarkable work. It's truly the first thing I've read that's helped me profoundly understand my little brother who came home from Vietnam a completely changed human being, a total nut case. I still love him so very, very much, even though he took his own life a long, long time ago. I tried my very best to refuse to believe that President Johnson expanded and prolonged the mess in Vietnam, but I've always thought something was screwy about the twin towers collapsing into heaps of rubble on 9/11 after fires on the top floors. Yet when I learned about nearby Building 7 which wasn't hit by flying things, I began to put the pieces of the puzzle together. The way this unusual book was written, I felt it was telling the truth. I loved the characters throughout the entire book, not especially their souls, but rather the way they were described as physical beings---their mannerisms, their words, glints in their eyes, etc. This made them blossom into life. An extremely well done job of writing a book. Have no doubts it will one day be called a literary masterpiece. Rob's best friend in the book, West Point graduate Zack, is almost a dead ringer for my little brother's looks as well as personality, especially his biting sarcasm. Even though for only a few very precious moments, reading the few parts about Zack and Rob talking to one another, helped enormously in bringing my brother's soul or spirit back to me while I was reading.

So Enthralling A Book I Even Dreamed About It

Recently I began working at a VA hospital, have no relatives that are veterans except for a distant cousin whom I've never met. Reading this most remarkable novel has given me a brand new insight into what our service men, especially our disabled veterans, have gone through on behalf of our nation's citizens. It makes me deeply ashamed that I have not in the past paid more respect to them. I am so glad, so deeply relieved, that I have read this book, and now already passed it on to others to read. I'm certain the insight I gained from it will assist me in doing a better job working with veterans. I'll never be able to forget the villain in this unusual book. I wanted to do something unmentionable (that's really not in my nature) to that wicked Smokey Jones. I've grown so sick and disgusted with watching TV shows that I can truthfully say reading this fantastic novel has given me a new interest in books. Yet I dare say I'll probably look and look, never finding another book filled with so many realistic characters as in "Iniquities of Gulch Fork." When I finished reading this book a rather strange or peculiar feeling came over me, one I've never experienced before. Several evening after I put the book down, I even had a bad dream about the book. In the dream Smokey Jones came in to the VA hospital as a patient. Then he was kicked out of the hospital when someone discovered Smokey had never even served in the service. He had lied to the people in the emergency room, told them his name was Emmet Burrell (a character in the book's prologue), and had even produced the dead veteran's VA identification card which Smokey had apparently stolen from him. I think Smokey was complaining of fictitious pain in hopes of getting prescription pain killers. This book must have had an unusually profound effect on me, the very first time I've ever dreamed about a book I've read. I guess that fact alone makes this truly an exceptional book. At least It will remain in my memory as exactly that.

Last paragraph shocked me out of my shorts!

From the instant I began reading this book, there was a compelling force that propelled and grasped my unyielding interest. Frankly I had difficulty putting down this literary masterpiece on my coffee table until I got to the very last page, only to be shocked out of my shorts! Sure, there were parts that were chatty, homespun, countrified, but that's real life, a real sojourn or visit with some of my relatives up in the Ozarks. But the plot, the nuances, the characterization, and the reality of the story gripped me in a manner I've never experienced in reading a novel. Besides, this outstanding book told the truth---I just felt it in my inner being. A good friend with whom I grew up in rural Texas outside Texarkana, now teaches physics in high school. He's told me from the very beginning that the spectacle known as the hijacked planes crashing into the World Trade Center twin towers on 9/11 was nothing but a giant hoax. For me, this book "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" confirmed what I have suspected all along. The phenomenal message in this book is that only total forgiving can ever begin to heal long-held resentments. I know that for a fact, since I, myself, am an example of applying that principle. I'm a member of AA and will soon have 16 years of blessed sobriety. This book is a genuine godsend and I'm recommending it to everyone I know. A veteran who comes to my Alcoholics Anonymous meetings loaned me this book, asked me to read it, and make a sincere review of it. He supplied me with photocopies of two chapters which now appear in edition of book that became available from publisher on 03/02/2017. Jon W.

A Truly Phenomenal Book That Really Helps Me

I' m a Gulf War veteran and they still can't agree on what Gulf War Syndrome really is, a combinations of things all the docs argue about. All I know is that my whole body is numb from time to time and it's more difficult for me to walk without a walker. I thought reading "Iniquities" was best thing that ever happened to me. It has given me the courage to keep on living and appreciate the love of my cat which is so genuine and pure. Aside from food, she never wants anything from me except to receive her love. She knows whenever I feel really down and out by giving me sweet little cat kisses. This book is so well written, the characters are great, and the new version (03/02/2o17) I read from photocopies of 2 added chapters and comment toward end about 9/11 being an inside job. I've known all along that fires on the top floors don't result in buildings completely crumbling into a pile of rubble. I have sense enough to know that took explosives. The most important thing, for me, is learning how to forgive in order to heal. Forgiveness really takes a lot of love. I recommend this book to everyone and I hope it some day becomes an international best seller so everyone in the world can learn wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were caused by the USA to make a bunch of greedy politicians and their pals more and more wealthy. Shame on them.

Almost Turned Down The Chance To Read This Marvelous Book

I'm a Middle East war veteran with both physical and mental disabilities. For two years I've been attending group "therapy" meetings at the VA clinic in Little Rock. A newcomer to meetings followed me to a coffee spot after meeting, asked if he could sit with me. He pulled a tattered copy of "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" from a plastic bag, handed it to me, asking if I'd read it yet. I told him I'd never even heard of it, let alone read it. When I reluctantly agreed to read it, he handed me about a dozen pages of photocopied material, explaining, "They added a couple of chapters. It's marked in the book where the new chapters go." Boy, am I truly glad I didn't hand everything back to him as I started to do. I began reading one of the most unusual and best-written books I've ever encountered---it's about a red-necked pastor abusing disabled veterans. I ended up reading it twice, because this book has an allegorical meaning, I suppose---about human greed and the lust for money. It's bad enough that President L.B Johnson told lies on national television (now a proven fact) to expand the war in Vietnam and make loads of money for his pals. But today, more and more people are beginning to realize that on 9/11 the twin towers and Building 7 didn't crumble into piles of rubble from mere fires alone (it took explosives), yet that paved the way for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Our military service members have given their lives, arms, legs and souls---their everything for their country---some of whom come home disabled, only to discover that some of those for whom they served now prey upon them. The two leading characters in the book, Rob and Samantha, finally come to the conclusion that harboring resentments toward this sad state of affairs, not only at home in the once peaceful Ozarks, but also in the world at large, is not the preferred solution. They instead discover that forgiveness, seasoned with love from animals, will launch them on the road to healing.

This book helped me more understand PTSD than talks with shrinks

Even though I go to PTSD group sessions at the VA clinic, this book has given me a much broader view of PTSD than trying to read about it in professional text books or medical journals. I tried reading about it in the shrink's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, but that was too complicated for me. I really enjoyed this book because it is also an exciting, true to life, mystery/suspense thriller. But most important to me, I learned the truth about the Vietnam war and the truth about the two highest buildings in New York City come crashing into a pile of rubble on the ground because of help with explosives, not just fires alone. All my pals and good buddies who died in Iraq or lost arms and legs, this happened to them not to protect the U.S.A. but to make gobs and gobs of money for our crooked politicians and all their pals in all the corrupt corporations. Frank A.

An English Teacher I Now Use This Book In My Classes

I've been a high school teacher for years, frequently branded a hellion when it comes to proper English usage. I found "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" a thoroughly enjoyable adventure that kept my interest glued from the moment I read the prologue. The way the words are chosen, almost sculpted, provides marvelous imagery and realistic characters that in my mind I can reach out, feel and touch, as though I had become part of the scenario. Further, the banter between Rob Dean and best friend Zack in Vietnam, right before the mortar attack, is filled with esoteric nuances for all levels of education---thoroughly delightful. I can see this as a play on Broadway as well as a movie. The dialog between Samantha and the obscene caller struck me as truly hilarious. Beyond any doubt, this remarkable book riveted my steadfast fascination and scrutiny. Suspenseful, informative, entertaining and providential, this outstanding novel made me feel transported to a different level of consciousness when I put the book down after reading the final, shocking paragraph. That made me feel something I've never before experienced---except, perhaps, the same peculiar sensation I felt after completing "Bridges of Madison County." I don't completely understand exactly what it is that makes a book a literary masterpiece, but this novel, about a red-necked preacher abusing disabled veterans who gave everything for their fellow citizens, scores way up near the very top of good writing. My son, a disabled veteran from the fiasco in Iraq, borrowed this book from a fellow veteran in a PTSD therapy group at the VA. He's planning on writing a review, too.

Book Is About Rednecks Abusing Disabled Veterans, Wow!

Rednecks abusing disabled veterans describes "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" the best way I know to phrase it. What an exciting novel! well written; superb characterization; imagery exquisite; and dialog down-home, folksy, pitch perfect, and appropriate. In all, this is the most enjoyable book I've read in years. As a Vietnam veteran, this book has helped me with many personal problems that still remain after years of struggle with PTSD. Most of all I fight these hideous resentments. I just got a rescued cat, and now, after digesting the thoughts and messages in this book, I honestly believe I'm now able to start forgiving---and then I'll be on the road toward healing. Les P.

Book Immensely Helped An 83 Years-Old Vietnam Veteran With PTSD

An old Vietnam veteran, I keep going to PTSD group therapy at the VA because I'm unable to rid myself of the startle response (every unexpected noise makes me jump like an idiot, causing people to make fun of me), nightmares that cause me to awaken, often screaming like a child, and over-reaction when I see war scenes on TV news broadcasts, often followed by uncontrolled temper outbursts. I borrowed the book (along with photocopies of several chapters of latest edition, 2017) with my promise I'd make an honest review on one of three URL addresses provided me. (I also agreed to pass the book and photocopies on to four people on the waiting list). I am grateful, indeed very glad, and extremely pleased to make my review, because this fantastic novel is more than a novel---it's only disguised as a mystery/crime/thriller novel to get more non-veteran-related people to read the thing. Reading this remarkable novel completely captured my attention because I felt it in my bones that it's based on the solid, stone-hardened truth, not a bucketful of fantasy. This book has helped me realize that some of these problems from my PTSD are going to be with me for life; I just have to accept that. In truth, I have retained some rotten resentments dating back before Vietnam. This book genuinely taught me in a way that I can now understand that unless I learn to let go of these resentments I'm going to remain a miserable, old, obnoxious fool until my ashes are scattered in the winds of the Ozarks. On top of all that, I got to read one of the most thrilling, engrossing, captivating, thoroughly enjoyable books I've had the pleasure to read in all my life. This has restored my faith in the value of literary works, particularly since I've grown disdainful of almost all the junk that fills the TV screens. This is an honest review. I'm going to find no rest until I've recommended it to almost everyone I know and meet in the future. I think new edition is now available at stores or online.

The Very Best Mystery-Thriller I Have Ever Read

I was waiting for my nephew in the VA hospital cafeteria when this elderly woman walked up, handed me a worn book and 10 or 12 pages of photocopied material. She asked me to read the book and please make a review if I thought the book was worthwhile. I promised her I'd try, but I wouldn't if the book became boring. When I got home, had supper, I started on "Iniquities of Gulch Fork," stopping on marked pages to read the two chapters of photocopied material. I read through half the book before I became too sleepy to read, but finished it early the next morning. This is a remarkable book. (I read books almost constantly because I'm sick and tired of all the garbage on TV and in the newspapers.) The book is extremely well written and conveys an almost unbelievable message. I passed it on to my nephew who is a helpless veteran victim of the war in Iraq (still going on today), suffering from PTSD as well as suspected traumatic brain injury from a roadside explosion. He will never be able to complete his college education in the pitiful state he's in right now (trouble with adding figures, poor concentration, and can't even balance his own checkbook without my help). This book deals out the truth: 9/11 was staged, an inside job to get our country into war. My nephew's faltering mind is the result of a bunch of greedy politicians and their good-friend investors making obscene fortunes off wars. The news media knows it, won't reveal it. This miraculous book tells the truth. I sincerely hope it becomes the biggest, most widely-known mystery-thriller ever written so all Americans will read it and learn the sordid truth about our ongoing wars in the Middle East. In summary, this is one of the very best books I've ever read.

A veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq Finds Solace In This Great Book

A guy in my PTSD support group at the VA clinic told me he'd give me a good book to read if I'd make a review of it. I stupidly agreed, just to be pleasant to a fellow who didn't ever say much. When he handed me a tattered book and some photocopied chapters I wondered why I had been so goofy as to get rooked into doing something this silly. As it turned out, I liked the book "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" so very much I've even started myself recommending it to others. I'm a veteran of both Afghanistan and Iraq, and a real mess because I can't stop drinking. I've ended up with my wife filing for divorce and me getting put in jail for DUI. I can't feel anything for others, could care less about anything anymore, and lost my thankless job. For some strange reason I can't put my finger on it, I think reading this book has helped me understand PTSD a lot better and assisted me in getting started trying to channel my worries and thinking in a new direction. I also started to go back to AA as well as enrolled in a nearby community college with hopes of majoring in Information Technology. This book inspired me and I've tried to follow the example of Rob and Samantha in the story. It helped me take a second look at some extremely deep-seated resentments I've held for a number of years (some of them about the phony collapse of the twin towers in NYC.) By slowly and gradually trying to let those resentments go, forget about them, I think the healing process has already started to begin. I also got a little puppy to help me heal. Al S.

One of the Most Unusual Books Ever Written

I'm an Afghanistan war veteran with PTSD that seems to linger, resulting in many problems with sleep, nightmares, and explosive temper---the latter the most troublesome of all. (I'm also working very hard at getting my degree in psychology.) At my last PTSD group therapy meeting at a satellite VA clinic another veteran I've befriended loaned me a copy of the book "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" with attached photocopies of two added chapters (now included in publisher's recent 03/02/2017 edition of book). When I finished reading this unusual book I felt as though I'd been walloped on the head with a giant sledge hammer---I felt stunned, or temporarily disoriented, or maybe under a spell like Dorothy in "The Wizard of OZ." I find it extremely difficult to describe with words exactly how finishing reading this book made me feel. Never before have I experienced something like this. Do I need to go into a funny house for those who turn cuckoo? Were the pages of the book previously soaked with some new experimental drug that found it's way into my brain? All I know is that reading this book has shifted my thoughts into another dimension, or cognizance, that I am completely unable to describe, let alone understand. There are four other veterans remaining on the waiting list for borrowing the same copy of the book I just finished; I'm looking forward to see how they interpret this book. Will they also feel this strange sensation I experienced? Or maybe I've simply been watching too many fantasy shows about zombies, werewolves, voodoo creatures and "outside of body experiences"? We'll see.

There's Something Strange, or Unknown, Going On Inside This Book

This book is something beyond remarkable. I teach physics while working on my PhD. I am not at all religious, nor am I a disbeliever. I keep an open mind. At least I try to think so. A close pal who teaches psychology asked me to read this book, as "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" is recommended reading in some of his classes. There are spots throughout this novel where I feel as though I were being carried away into a different dimension, a fourth dimension, if you will. I've recently been picking around tidbits of quantum mechanics. I read a book, "The Divine Matrix," which brought me to the conclusion there are forces out there about which we still have very little information. For example, I had an aunt who, a long time ago, was awakened early one morning with the sensation one of her sons had died in an airplane crash in Alaska. Sure enough, later that same day she received bad news of exactly that. I'm an unhappy military veteran of that mess in the Middle East. I've known since day one that the twin towers and Building 7 were all brought down by explosives, not fires. I genuinely and sincerely hope that enough American citizens will read "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" before it is too late to uncover the greed-crazed perpetrators who were responsible for the gigantic fraud known as "9/11." There is something going on inside the book "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" that I am unable to pin down with any definitive statement, or knowledge, of exactitude. I simply just felt it when I was reading it. So have a few others, according to several book reviews I've read. I, too, am unable to explain what it is.

My Long Wait For This Magnificent Book Was Well Worth it

I'm a nurse working at a hospital in Northwest Arkansas. I read to relax and unwind. Considering I patiently waited 5 weeks to receive a borrowed copy of this fact-based novel about veterans and considering that two new chapters were attached as photocopies (now dog-eared and wrinkled from much wear), I can proclaim the long wait was well worth while. I thought this is truly one of the best pieces of literature I've ever read. Five other individuals are still on the waiting list after I finished reading it, although I now understand the new edition of this book, dated 03/02/2017, either soft-cover or e-book, is now available from its publisher, iUniverse. I was provided my copy to read in exchange for an honest review, which I am overjoyed to provide because this suspense-filled mystery, crime novel provides lucent and accurate information about PTSD, alcoholism, drug addiction and related problems faced by many of our veterans today. The plot is intriguing, the characterization magnificent, the dialog pitch-perfect, the imagery superb and the sarcasm piercingly biting. Most importantly of all, this intensely-gripping novel provides an age-old message in a non-preachy yet incisively meaningful manner to some common problems involving deep-seated resentments that often plague many of us. Finally, it explores the use of pets in helping us cross obstacles on the road to a more love-filled life on this war-filled, sometimes unhappy planet. At the very end an unusually strange sensation came over me, a sensation I'm still at a loss for words to completely explain.

Spellbinding, Gut-Wrenching, Awe-Inspiring, Transandental, Magical

My husband's a Vietnam veteran going for chemo-therapy at the VA. Another patient's wife gave me a tattered and torn copy of the book, "Iniquities of Gulch Fork," with photocopies of two, recently-added chapters of the original edition of the book. She asked me after I finished reading the book to please pass it on to another veteran or to his or her family, as well as write a review (she gave me the names of three places that take book reviews of newly published books). I agreed to do this, and completely understand why she did this after I finished reading this truly remarkable book. I'll try to make this as short and simple as I possibly can: This is without any doubt in my mind one of the best written, most entertaining, spellbinding, interesting books I have read in a long, long time. I've started reading it to my husband, and he asked me to read and re-read numerous times the flashbacks from Rob interacting with his friend Zack from Vietnam. He wants me to order some e-books for a few of his old friends. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this book some day wins some of the world-known, famous literary prizes. When I got to the end, an extremely strange feeling came over my body. I still don't know where I can find words how to explain it. Sincerely, Madeleine M.

Thank God Some Americans Are Still Telling The Truth

I'm a Vietnam veteran, was with Operation Ranch Hand in Vietnam, exposed daily to components of Agent Orange. Very slowly I've developed neuropathy over a long period of time which is now totally disabling. I get the same old story over and over from the VA, "no service connection...no service connection...no service connection." I know for an absolute fact that Rob's experience with disabling neuropathy in dealing with the VA is true, Why? Because it's exactly identical to my story and 4 others whom I know personally. We veterans gave our everything to help our country, and everyone please take a darn close look at how our country is treating us now. I've felt from the very beginning of my ordeal with the VA that we are brushed off because some of the giant, greed-hungry corporations are paying VA employees money to keep their mouths shut, if not to outright lie. As this magnificent book points out, Vietnam was fueled by President LBJ's proven lies, and Afghanistan and Iraq were based exclusively on the overwhelming, gigantic hoax known as 9/11. My nephew teaches physics in a junior college and he convinced me he has studied intensively the complete collapse of both twin towers and nearby Building 7, all three into heaps of crumbles. "Explosives caused this," he has knowledgeably reassured me. This book has truly given me a brand new outlook upon life. At least a few Americans out there are still telling the truth, thank God!

Revised Edition Now A Superb Mystery/Thriller/Suspense Masterpiece

I'm a First Gulf War veteran with multiple medical problems, many of them not yet diagnosed. At a VA group therapy session I received from another veteran a copy of 2016 edition of "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" with photocopies of two new chapters recently added to latest edition (03/02/2017). Since I've already read the earlier edition of book (06/10/2016), I feel I can meaningfully comment on the two added chapters. In a nutshell, the two new chapters instantly changed this book into being of interest to a widespread reading audience beyond veterans and their families, because now the book becomes a genuine suspense/thriller of the highest caliber. The reader now learns that villain Smokey Jones was severely abused as a child by his dad, whom he wanted to kill, and now Smokey entertains an intense love/hate transference of those feelings to disabled veteran Rob Dean in the story. For the first-time reader, the book now becomes a genuine thriller or suspense/mystery novel of gripping interest to all. I might add that one of my therapy group's attendees took a poll of all 23 veterans in our group about 9/11 being an inside job. Only one veteran out of 23 disagreed, insisting that the rest of us were all "9/11 conspiracy theorists" and were all nuts, because, he said, "American people would never allow that to happen." As a side note, when the leader of the group arrived, he became extremely angry when he discovered we had even been discussing that 9/11 was an inside job. He refused to give us a reason, but merely said we were not allowed to discuss that subject in his group. Case closed. After this extremely peculiar incident, everyone in our group who hasn't read "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" is now on the waiting list to read a copy of latest edition, except, of course, the one attendee who thinks "9/11 truthers" all belong locked up in a loony bin.

Clearly, One of the Very Best Books I've Ever Read

An absolutely stunning novel based on true facts in the southern part of the Ozark mountains. It was so well written that often I thought I had merged into the reality of some of the scenes, such as the flashbacks to Vietnam, when Rob and his best friend Zack were interacting, and when the villain Smokey Jones began to feel the effects of the meth he was smoking. Never have I been so caught up and carried away by reading a book. The agony, the pain, and the heartaches exploded my usually weak empathy. The message about 9/11 and the lessons about forgiving being necessary for healing made an indelible tattoo on my memory. No wonder I am telling everybody I encounter about this unbelievably wonderful book---among the very best I have ever read.

One of the Very Best Books I've Ever Read

While waiting for an appointment at the VA Hospital in Fayetteville, a woman whose husband is a Vietnam veteran handed me this book, asked me to read it, then pass it on to another patient at the same place the next time I returned. After reading it I understand her request and complied---passed it on to another veteran. Not only was this book a fantastic, exciting, suspense-filled read, it carries a truly remarkable message, one that has done me a world of good. It has positively confirmed my long-held belief that our three latest wars, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, were wars of our own country's making. My intense, long-held patriotism has been focused on the country I learned about in primary school, from George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, etc. Now our country's topmost decision makers seem to be motivated by intense greed, self-importance and amassing a huge personal fortune. What in the world has ever happened to peace, liberty and justice for all? Where have all the decent people gone?

Truly One Of The Very Best Books Out There

I deeply felt am extremely strange sensation come over my body the very moment I finished reading this novel. This has never happened after completing any other book I've ever read. A veteran of the Gulf War, I've got a whole bunch of mental problems. I truly think I've taken my first step on the road to healing all the bad memories of war. Every single veteran I know believes 9/11 was all staged, a phony excuse for war to make greedy politicians lots and lots of money. This book has sealed shut any doubt about it. I feel like a new man now. Everywhere I go, everyone I meet, I'm going to tell them about this book.

Provided Me Better Escape Than A Good Movie

I like to escape my multitude of problems by going to a good movie, but this is first book in a long time that I started reading and felt pulled into another world where I forgot all my problems. Plot truly captured my complete attention. My grandad served in Vietnam, I think with the, "Screaming Eagles" mentioned in book. This story made me laugh, made me cry. The end made me feel really funny, a sensation I find impossible to describe. This book is what I call a truly great read.

This Book Would've Made My Grandma Happy

Having taught for 11 years composition and creative writing for English-as-a-second-language students, I've decided to use "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" as my classroom guide, or model extraordinaire, for teaching composition, characterization, imagery, dialog, mood, scene changes, suspense, and dialect. In my opinion, this book is one of the most entertaining and enthralling of any I've ever read. I've seen the most recent edition (03/02/2017) and find the added chapter about the villain Smokey Jones, which delves into his meth addiction and childhood abuse affecting his love/hate behavior toward disabled veteran Rod Dean, demonstrates how suspense in a novel can be magnified many fold by inserting changes in an otherwise well-narrated novel. In this particular situation, the reader now clearly comprehends that the villain once entertained ideas about murdering his own father, and thus is easily able to come to the supposition that he could engender the same outcome for helpless, neuropathy-crippled Rob Dean. What actually happened with this book now serves as an excellent teaching tool for my classes in creative writing and composition, demonstrating first hand how this new chapter signals a much higher potential danger for leading character Rob and his nursing assistant Samantha. Without this added threat, the book remained primarily of major interest to veterans with PTSD and addictions. Now, the potential reading audience is extended to a wide, wide field of all those who enjoy a very good suspense mystery-crime thriller. My grandfather came home from Vietnam as a monster, beating my grandmother unmercifully, causing them to divorce. I genuinely wish my grandmother could have had the chance to read this book, because she bore giant resentments for him until dementia set in, having endured misery for the rest of her meaningful life, yet yearning for his return until the day he died. This book, I'm sure, could have spared her misery by helping her heal by forgiving.

I Think This Will Be One Of Best Books of 21st Century

Just received borrowed copy of revised edition (03/02/2017 and was asked to make an honest review (I'd read the original edition over the past Christmas holidays). I'm a veteran of Afghanistan war from nearly the start, leaving me with a bum arm and plenty of mental, screwball problems, first relieved by alcohol. It's truly extremely difficult for me to express how much this book as helped me take a look at myself. The revised edition increases a thousand times the suspense because the true nature of the villain, Smokey Jones, is now spelled out in Chapter 5, not at the very last. The reader, especially with no service connection or no relatives with PTSD, now has the inclination to read on to find out what is going to happen to two endearing characters, Samantha and Rob, introduced at the first of the book. Now this book has all the qualities of a fast moving mystery-suspense novel, qualities which it lacked in the very first edition. In short, I think this is now one of the very best books out there. Gripping, exciting and filled with old-fashioned, down-home dialog and conversation, I think it will soon be made into a play and a movie, as well as become a long-time best seller. I believe it will be ranked among the very best novels of this 21st Century.

Interesting story

I really enjoyed the characters in this story, they all felt very real. I'm not a big fan of the 9/11 stuff, but I did enjoy the rest. The ending was perfect! I will definately pass the book along.

The War In Iraq Destroyed My Home In Texas

I was fifteen and loved him very, very much when my daddy left for the war in Iraq. When he came home there was not much left of him in his head to love, especially his mind and personality. He was mean, nasty and ugly to me, especially when I sneezed unexpectedly---he turned into a mad dog, ready to tear me into shreds. Then he was drunk all the time. My mama left with an old boyfriend, said I'd have to look after my dad from now on. When I took my dad to the VA hospital for his appointments, a lady waiting for her son's appointment told me about this book, and loaned me her copy of it. I finished reading it 7 months ago; immediately, recognizing PTSD in my dad. I discovered my dad had refused to go to mental health for an evaluation because he was afraid of what they might find out about him (He'd witnessed a murder of another GI in Iraq and had been threatened if he ever told.) Thanks to reading this marvelous book and the stories in it about Rob, Samantha's father, and Peter Ness, the disabled marine in the book, I was finally able to get my dad seen by some shrinks at the VA. Although my dad is making rather slow process, the very most important thing I got from this book is learning to forgive my dad and trying to understand him and love him again. This book was very well written and without it never would I have been able to understand the PTSD that my daddy has. Finally, I bought a copy at a used book store and insisted that Dad read it with me. He liked it very much, has even started going to AA, thanks to this book. The war in Iraq has completely destroyed my home in Texas. I learned from the book that some of our own crooked and greedy politicians in Washington, D.C., are the ones behind the wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq. I must learn to forgive them, too, because if I don't my own life will become bitter and miserable. I will try to live like Rob and Sam in the book, try to make the most of a sad life. I am going to tell everyone about this book and how very, very much it has helped me and my Iraqi war veteran daddy.

This Book Moved Me Into A Fourth Dimension

I just finished reading the new, revised "Iniquities of Gulch Fork"(03/02/17---two chapters added, one about the villain Smokey being abused as a child to explain his peculiar love/hate attitude toward disabled vet Rob Dean.) I felt completely moved upon putting down the book. Never since finishing "Bridges of Madison County" did I ever feel that peculiar way before. It's a truly strange feeling, one I have extreme difficulty describing. It's almost as though I stepped into a fourth dimension, or a place I had never visited before. I'm a Vietnam veteran and I was there in 1966 to 1967. My PTSD did not surface until I retired, but I still have nightmares about Vietnam. My most severe problems are rapidly progressing neuropathy, no doubt related to Agent Orange, according to my private physician, a neurologist on the staff of Vanderbilt Medical School. But the VA, however, absolutely refuses to help me, saying over and over like a broken record, "No service connection, no service connection." This magnificent book I just finished reading also has given me hope, hope to keep on fighting. I live alone in this world, just like Rob in the story.

OMG! I Stayed Up All Night Long Til I'd Finished

I was given a copy of the new revised edition (03/02/17) of this book to read and I stayed up all night until I finished it. I haven't done that since I was a silly teenager, or a freshman in college, studying for exams. Maybe that ought to tell you what I honestly think about "Iniquities of Gulch Fork."

The Most Intriguing Book I've Read In A Long, Long Time

The moment I finished this book, I went to the first page and started reading it again.

Mesmerizing Flashbacks To Vietnam Genuine

I'm a Vietnam veteran nearly eighty. I cannot understand exactly why, yet when reading early in the book about Rob's flashback to the conversations between Zack and Rob right before the mortar attack in Vietnam, it sounded astoundingly almost exactly like two of my close buddies there, near Pleiku in the Central Highlands, the subject matter ridiculous as usual, almost insane at times, often running down one another yet sincerely meaning exactly the opposite. It was like that, when you never knew for sure whether you might be dead or alive by the time morning came. Each moment of your time, and each of your buddies, all seemed so precious or valuable, so we cherished each moment of our being. I heard about this book at my last PTSD group therapy meeting at a VA clinic. This book is a thousands times better than I expected it to be.

Sincerely Wish I'd Read A Book Like This Years Ago

Reading this superb novel was so valuable to me. Here's the reason why: I had just graduated from college in 1967 when many of my male college friends received their draft notices to go in the service, almost all of them ending up in Vietnam. Being more interested in sports (tennis, golf) than romance, I pursued my masters in physical education so I could stay active in what I lived for, and finally ended up in a small mid-western university as a staff member, teaching what I loved most. When I encountered many of my former male pals after their experience in Vietnam, I discovered what I once thought were solid, warm and cordial friendships had dissolved into a mysterious dilemma---they seemed distant, aloof, changed, unfeeling, uncaring. Unfortunately, now that I think back about it, pondered it, I unthinkingly used the term "squirrely" to describe many of them. Some, heartlessly, right in front of their faces. After reading (I must admit I read it a couple of times) "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" I have made every effort humanly possible to contact what few of these old pals I could possibly locate in order to make a personal, profuse apology for my ignorant, stupid, unpardonable attitude about and toward them which I exhibited upon encountering them after Vietnam. I feel so deeply ashamed of myself I want to crawl in a deep, dark hole, like an opossum, and hide for the rest of my days. When I went in person to see two of them whom I could locate reasonably nearby, I started crying like a severely burned child in my begging for forgiveness. In summary, "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" is one of the most outstanding books I've ever had the experience of reading. Never have I been so moved, so touched, or so deeply affected by a piece of literature in my entire life. Moreover, it overwhelmingly convinced me that what I have suspected all along was the truth, but was too inhibited to say out loud what I thought was true. Now I can say it is the gospel truth. Now I'll say it in the following sentence: 9/11 was nothing but a fraud, a hoax, an inside job just to get the United States of America involved in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, so as to make some of our politicians and their pals in high finance and the military-industrial complex tons and tons of slimy, filthy, greed-covered money. Sincerely, a once thoughtless and stupid young girl but now a wiser, older, nearly-worn-out old woman.

Book Recommended For My Class In Creative Writing

Having taught creative writing in a private secondary school, I found this book an ideal guide to teach my students (almost all of whom go on to top universities), the basic principles of characterization, plot development, imagery, mood, dialog, interaction among characters, and superb grammar. I found only a couple of minor errors in the grammar and will award a student in my class a special prize if he or she is able to locate or find any mistake in the book "Iniquities of Gulch Fork." On top of this, I enjoyed the book myself so very much I read it a second time. Specifically, the lesson I learned from reading "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" has paved the way for me to dissolve or vanquish an extremely long-held resentment. This horror dates back almost to my childhood. Life is so much lovelier when I can live it without being plagued almost daily by that ridiculous resentment. How truly foolish I've been, and didn't even realize it until I read how Rob and Samantha handled their problems near the end of the book. This confirms that peculiar adage, "You really have to work at it to make your own life unhappy." Thank you Bob Smith and Sara Rhodes, you have no earthly idea how much your novel has helped me, and I've never even visited a war zone on this planet. Bravo! Sincerely, An Old Maid School Teacher finally on her road to happier days.

This Novel Is More Than Extraordinary

This stunning book reveals sordid truths about origins of our three most recent wars, disclosed through the eyes of Rob Dean, a disabled Vietnam veteran who traveled throughout entire South Vietnam as a navy doctor on General Westmoreland's MACV (Military Assistance Command Vietnam) staff as chief of preventive medicine for all U.S. and Allied Forces in Vietnam and medical advisor to the South Vietnamese armed forces from 1966 to 1967. Although there are numerous flashbacks to the Vietnam war, the novel principally concerns Rob's life as a disabled veteran with PTSD and debilitating polyneuropathy caused by Agent Orange spilled on him in Vietnam. The other principal character, pert and sassy Samantha Caminos, a highly-intelligent neighbor and Certified Nursing Assistant, provides nursing care for Rob. She starts investigating when she discovers that Smokey Jones, the third main character, a red-necked con artist with Asperger's syndrome and once-in-a-while pastor, starts taking advantage of Rob and two other disabled veterans, one of them her own father. This superbly-told narrative, although based on facts, pursues many twists and turns until reaching the final paragraph, which reaches an extremely satisfying conclusion to all but a few of the book’s cast of characters. Most of them are distinctly and graphically described in this suspense-mystery crime novel set in the once-peaceful Boston mountains, a colorful portion of the southern Ozarks. This highly entertaining account, seasoned with alcoholism, meth and prescription drug addiction, also takes a delicate plunge into spiritualism and forgiveness, plus the magnificent use of animals in the healing process. Without any doubts, this book sits on the summit of all the very top novels I have ever had the exciting experience and pleasure to read and review. Mary M.

This Book Kept My Resentments From Destroying Me

Never have I made a book review before now, but "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" stirred something deep inside me. Stirred me so very, very much I feel it would be a sin for me not to share the gold at the end of the rainbow---gold that was there after reading this extremely remarkable book. Although it masquerades as a suspense-mystery, those who read it carefully find a much deeper message inside. My husband Barry was killed in the early days of the war in Iraq, and I have been completely unable to let go of my extremely deep resentments until I read this book. Now I am convinced beyond all the slightest shadow of any doubt that our very own country orchestrated 9/11 as a basis to start the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and make billions for those insiders at the top of our society, a society grown fetid by the love of money. I've been completely unable by myself to vanquish these resentments, resentments that are poisoning every aspect of my life, ensuring that every day is misery, which is only mounting. I am trying constantly my utmost to apply what Rob and Samantha taught me in the book. I got a little kitten to love me, and started going to AA since I've sought too much solace in wine. The very thing I could not grasp by myself is what I found in the book---hope. That is exactly why I want to share by recommending this book to others. I'm sorry I'm unable to write very well, but what I found in this book is almost impossible for me to verbalize or describe. For some reason I'll never understand, I could almost be convinced there was some sort of unknown, esoteric or strange power contained within the pages of "Iniquities of Gulch Fork." In closing, let me express one final comment: This book has succeeded in turning around the horrid direction my life was headed. For this, I am indeed grateful. Sincerely, a widow of a marvelous soldier killed needlessly in the never-ending war in Iraq. C. Williams

Gave Insight To A Family Filled With PTSD

Reading this book about PTSD-disabled Rob, a Vietnam vet, is a virtual godsend for me, granddaughter of a Vietnam veteran whom I've started to care for in his last years. This book helps me understand my grandfather much better. Even though he can remember details of things that happened to him in the war, his mind is not so sharp in other areas. I'm now beginning to tolerate with kindness and empathy his volatile temper and understand why the least little noise affects his moods for the next hour or so. My reading this book, together with him, has been superb therapy (for both of us), especially the flashbacks to Vietnam described by Rob in the story. My grandfather loved these, often asked me to re-read them several times. Most importantly, I learned from reading about Samantha in the story, that I, too, no doubt have a variant of PTSD because of lifelong verbal and physical abuse from my own father, who committed suicide after years of trying to take care of and live with his dad. (I believe my grandfather's PTSD affected my dad, caused his suicide---my own speculation.) Only because of reading this book, I sincerely believe it has helped me come to the valid conclusion that the wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq were unnecessary, either started or intensified by citizens of our own government. This entire book, "Iniquities of Gulch Fork," has oriented my thinking in an entirely new direction. I recommend it for everybody, because its underlying theme is oriented toward healing our resentments and demonstrates in many places how our pets may help in the process. Sincerely submitted and very thankful, Susan S.

One of Best Books I've Read In A Long Time

One of the very best novels I've read in many years. Characters come alive, dialog realistic, imagery unbelievable---felt as though I were right there, especially in the flashbacks to Vietnam, where my dad died in the late sixties. Have already recommended this book to over a dozen people. In a simple, subtle way it convinced me for certain that our last three wars, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, were of our own citizens' makings---false flags to make these evil, greed-crazed Americans, and maybe a few foreigners, tons and tons of money.

Can See This As Next Southern Down-Home Movie

"Iniquities of Gulch Fork" is a remarkable down-home novel about interactions among Southern people, and based on true events. It reminds me of the play and movie "Steel Magnolias" as well as the book and movie "Fried Green Tomatoes." If it's long past time for a new movie along these same lines, this will be it, I'm certain. In this delightful new novel, three disabled veterans seek peace and serenity in a small "tired and worn" Southern town in the Boston mountains of the Ozarks, only to be preyed upon by those for whom they risked everything in serving their country. Certified nursing assistant Samantha looks after her neighbor, navy-doctor Vietnam veteran Rob Dean, severely disabled by Agent-Orange-caused neuropathy and PTSD, who is being swindled in the cow business by redneck Smokey Jones, part-time pastor and local "do-gooder." When Samantha offers to help her patient Rob with what at first looks like a simple problem with Smokey, she inadvertently stirs up a wasps' nest of trouble including being shot at when her investigations begin. Smokey turns out to be much more dangerous than suspected. The story then pursues a wild and exciting ride until it reaches a gripping, final paragraph. Dialog sparkling, twists and turns compelling, sarcasm biting, and characterization exhilarating. PTSD in veterans, drug addiction and alcoholism are all covered in a genuine, knowledgeable and rewarding manner, easy to ingest and understand, especially for those recently afflicted or with family or friends also affected. The underlying theme seems to be how disgusting human greed plays a role in our country's society in causing not only the wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, but also at lower levels, as exemplified by Smokey Jones and his gang of redneck associates. Perhaps most importantly, and explained in a manner that can probably be grasped by many, if not all readers, this remarkable book demonstrates the amazing power of forgiveness in removing resentments against others as well as the keeping and loving animals, especially cats and dogs, in the healing process.

Helped My Son, Alcoholic Iraq War Veteran Beyond Belief

Thank God for this book, so well written and persuasive. The main characters seem to come alive with their down-home dialog in a story so peculiar it could only be based on true events. Without it I might never have been able to reconcile with and understand my fatherless son (his dad left home when my son was a few months old and we never heard from him again). After my boy grew up he entered the military, hoping to get an education with its benefits. He came back from Iraq a changed person, now a total recluse and an alcoholic. He at first refused to go to a psychiatrist at the VA because of something that happened to him in the war and he refused to discuss it with anyone, not even me. (I think he was involved in too close of a relationship with his buddy who was killed in the war.) Miraculously I was able, over a period of several weeks, to get him to read the book with me, which opened his eyes to the effects of war. Most importantly for him, it convinced him that 9/11 was something all trumped up by our own government for one reason alone---to start the mess in Afghanistan and Iraq. Now my son's going to AA and has an appointment at the VA clinic in a large city close to here. Without this remarkable book, I truly doubt my son would be on the road to recovery. An extremely grateful reader.

I read many reviews of "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" before I checked this book out (borrowed) at a local library, the last one remaining of 8 copies they'd just received. Now there's a waiting list for the book. (There's a rumor in town that the book's about true things that actually happened locally.) Exceedingly well written with snappy sarcasm and realistic dialog, the prologue even had me hooked. (Lucky enough to go to college, I majored in English.) My dad, a Vietnam veteran, died from complications of injuries he'd received in Vietnam, plus had severe and crippling neuropathy from exposure to Agent Orange---he was with Operation Ranch Hand. Consequently, this outstanding book really scored, really hit home, for me. My dad would have loved to read it, I know for certain. Scenes with Rob Dean, a leading character in the book, describing constant burning neuropathic pain as well as lucid flashbacks to Vietnam, were poignantly palpable. Most significantly, it opened my eyes to the real causes behind our country's wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Here is a quote I copied from one of the reviews: "Bit by bit I'm beginning to put the pieces together, began to see that 9/11 was a false flag endeavor, that all those lives and limbs lost in Iraq and Afghanistan were of our own country's making---by greed-crazed individuals in top levels of our own government whose only goal is obscene amounts of money." My brother, in his junior year in university, is majoring in physics. All along he's insisted it was explosives that brought down the twin towers and Building 7, all three of them into piles of rubble on 9/11. "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" not only helped me relive some of the pain and agony my precious, Vietnam veteran father went through before he died, but also helped me understand my cognitive dissonance, which prevented me from accepting that people high up in our own government and financial world were behind not only expanding the war in Vietnam, but also the horrid, non-ending quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan. I'll recommend this book to absolutely everyone I know or encounter.

"Iniquities of Gulch Fork" is an extremely well-written book which I've read at least several times because I enjoyed it so immensely. I found it gripping, fascinating,and intriguing---what a really good book should be. I particularly love the pacing, which varies from slow to rapid, with a final crescendo to a gripping, exhilarating final paragraph. The characterization is phenomenal, particularly of the villain, Smokey Jones, who seems like a character right out of one of the great literary classics. I can truthfully say I've never disliked a character in any book as much as I disliked him. Severely abused as a child, Smokey has a background which tends to explain his extraordinary human greed and horrid, perverted behavior. The book subtly hints that the wars in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan were caused by our own country (President L.B. Johnson's lies to intensify the mess in Vietnam, and 9/11 being an inside job to justify wars in Iraq and Afghanistan). I taught chemistry and physics in high school for many years and I know for certain that it took more than fires to explain what happened on 9/11. When former navy doctor and Vietnam vet Rob Dean talks with his VA psychologist in one of the chapters, it becomes clear what cognitive dissonance means---helps the reader to understand why so very many people in our country refuse to accept that 9/11 was an inside job, even though physics teachers instantly realize that fires up in the top floors of two World Trade Center Buildings could not possibly result in both completely collapsing into heaps of rubble in a very short while. That requires explosives. I'm a book worm, read constantly every day for hours. It is my genuine and sincere prediction that some day in the future "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" will become a best selling literary monument to superb writing. That is exactly what I am telling every person I meet, because this marvelous book gives unusual insight into what our millions of loyal and dedicated veterans have to experience and endure. So why not learn about this yourself while reading at the same time an excellently-written, informative, and most enjoyable book? Craig G.

This Rare Story Transported Me To Enjoyment

Three areas of this terrific book truly struck a chord with me. Rob's flashback to Vietnam and his friend Zack in the tent with the foxholes during the mortar attack. This scene, superbly written, made me feel as though I were actually there with them---I could clearly visualize the water from the nearby creek rushing into the side of the tent after the Vietcong mortar struck very close by, and the flickering light, the smoke and acrid odors. I loved the parts where Rob and Zack discussed Edgar Allen Poe, my favorite author of all time. (I've always suspected Poe had something wrong with him. I knew he died on the streets of Baltimore, knew he drank too much, but never realized he probably suffered from PTSD.) Finally, in the area where Rob and Samantha discussed "The Wizard of Oz," and how it related to their current situation, especially how it allegorically related to Samantha's dad---this was spot on. I watch the movie every Christmas season and hear the song 'Over the Rainbow' at least three or four times a day over my easy-listening radio station. I rarely even think this about any book I've ever read, let alone say it, but this book, "Iniquities of Gulch Fork," really and truly transported me to the wonderful world of intense enjoyment.

Aided Healing Process For Loss of Son In Iraq War

"Iniquities of Gulch Fork" has been the very best medicine indeed for my wife Sue and me for recovering from the tragic loss of our only child, Don, in the needless war in Iraq. We've both read the book numerous times because of its healing texture and message. Extremely well written with superb characterization, this unusual book helped us intimately  identify with Rob, the Vietnam navy doctor veteran who returned with PTSD and severe neuropathy from Agent Orange, as well as his indelible memories of the loss of his very best friend, Zack, in a helicopter crash right in front of Rob's eyes. Our dual, incredible fascination with this book lies in its description of Rob's friend, Zack, who sounds like an identical twin of our own beloved son, Don. Our son's sense of humor, physical description, mannerisms, and sarcastic personality, as well as being a "loner" with almost no close friends, were identical to those of Zack, as described with his interactions with Rob in the story. We could almost feel our Don's presence when we read about Zack in the story. We both cried, too, when Zack was killed in a helicopter crash---the same way our Don lost his life in Iraq. When we read and re-read "Iniquities of Gulch Fork," it brings us strength to forgive the members in the upper echelons of our government who were so morbidly greedy as to instigate 9/11, an inside job. (I, Chig Hood, have a PhD in physics and have sense enough to know the twin towers did not quickly collapse into two piles of rubble because of fires on the upper stories---that required explosives.) The message that 9/11 was an inside job is implicit in this superb novel---It's subtle, but very true in Rob's session with the VA psychologist. Yet the book makes it explicitly crystal clear that Vietnam was mushroomed by President Lyndon B. Johnson---a known fact that the president lied on national television about North Vietnam gun boats attacking the USS Maddox in the Gulf of Tonkin incident. Never has any one thing---this book---ever helped Sue and me in the extremely long and difficult road to recovery from the disastrous loss of our son in a disgusting war caused by our very own country. My wife Sue and I are telling about and recommending this book "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" to everyone we know and encounter---a book that makes our son, Don, seem to come back alive---even if only for a brief moment or two. Respectfully submitted by Sue and Chig H.

This Great Book Tells The Truth, Thank Goodness

When I started on the prologue of "Iniquities of Gulch Fork," almost immediately I realized I was hooked on this true story, a literary shining star. The words began to strike me as exactly the right ones to form an image in my mind. So easily could I feel myself transported to an outpost between the book's pages when "wrinkle-faced Mabel's best friend Flo drove up in her battered red Ford pickup and stopped under the giant oak tree...opened the pickup's squeaky door and waddled to the porch." I knew instantly I'd just started on a splendid journey, a much-needed escape to a sacntuary---a sanctuary far, far away from the daily misery caused by my husband, an alcoholic disabled Vietnam veteran whose PTSD remains still undiagnosed, and whose multiple claims for financial help because of Agent-Orange-caused severe neuropathy are totally, if not maliciously, ignored by the VA (U.S. Department of Veterans Adffairs). I simply cannot describe in words how very, very much this book has helped me cope with my own situation, which in a surprising number of different ways seem to mirror what happens to Rob and Samantha in their story. My husband Bill has tried AA for years, but seems unable to grasp any long-term sobriety. Because of Sam's problems with her father in the story, I've just discovered that my husband Bill, a long, long time ago, became addicted (without my having realized it because the VA was making it happen) to pain-killing drugs, which the VA passes out like candy. Only recently the VA seems to have realized the horrid mistake they've made for years. I don't blame them so much as I do the big drug corporations, which, I've been told countless times, pass out under-the-table sweetners to those VA doctors who meet the drug companies' quotas. Bill and I got married a few years before he got drafted for Vietnam. I'd known him since junior high school. He was the sweetest, most stable, most generous, most kind and loving as any human alive. I loved him then, and I still do. Vietnam changed all that, just as Rob describes what happened to himself in the story. We even have a neighbor, almost like Smokey Jones in the book, who tries to take advantage of Bill, especially when my husband's been drinking. Finally, I've always thought, because of the news media, that all those "9/11 Truthers," as they're called, were all nuts, or cuckoo, and should be institutionalized to protect society. Because of "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" and Rob's conversations with West Point graduate Zack about President Lyndon Johnson; and because of the chapter about Rob and his VA psychologist regarding the high school psychics teachers, my concepts changed, are different now. My eyes are now wide open---they now comprehend that Vietnam was a sham and 9/11 an inside job, both making billions and billions for American citizens with the right connections. Let it be known: Rob, Samantha, Bill and I, as well as untold others, we are now suffering because we had the wrong connections to make great sums of money, but the right connections to have peace in our hearts and minds. That's really what "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" is truly about and exactly why I am highly recommending it to every last person that I encounter for the rest of my life. Thank you, Bob and Sara. You both have no idea how much your writing this masterpiece---a veritable exultation to read---has helped me as well as countless other unhappy, suffering people scattered out in far reaches of this land---all caused by the needless wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Polly. P.

U.S. Review of Books by Jennifer Hummer

Iniquities of Gulch Fork by Bob Smith and Sara Rhodes iUniverse reviewed by Jennifer Hummer - U.S.Review of Books "After I came home from the hospital he came by and said he wanted to end the partnership, that he’d sell enough cows to pay off the bank and put my half of the remaining cows in my pasture. He knew full well I couldn’t look after the cows..." Based on true events, Iniquities of Gulch Fork, by Bob Smith and Sara Rhodes, tells the story of Rob Dean, a Vietnam vet suffering from PTSD and severe neuropathy caused by Agent Orange. Rob lives alone with his beloved cat, Charlie, and initially trusts Smoky Jones, a local man who offers to help Rob purchase cows for his pasture. Too disabled to go to the pasture himself, Rob depends on Smoky to keep records of the livestock. But when Rob is suddenly taken to the hospital, Smoky wants out of the partnership. Suspicious, Rob tells his home nurse, Samantha Caminos, of his concerns. Samantha ventures to Smoky’s house to spy and nearly gets shot by him. Smoky turns out to be much more dangerous than Rob thought, and he isn’t the only disabled vet that Smokey is taking advantage of either. Eventually arrested, Smokey suffers a massive stroke and becomes disabled himself… or does he? Smith and Rhodes have crafted a complicated plot with a growing sense of urgency that finally culminates in an ironic ending. The PTSD that Rob and many of the other characters suffer from is palpable. Disabled both mentally and physically, an endearing Rob still manages to help Samantha understand her own PTSD. Smoky is a well-motivated villain who gets what he deserves in the end... or does he? This is an earnest and gut-wrenching look into the lives of vets who sacrificed everything for their fellow man only to be preyed upon by them in the end. Jennifer Hummer

Complicated But Fantastic Novel

So well written it made me feel as though I'd crawled inside the book itself---it compelled my empathy to feel what it's like to grow old, helpless, and in constant pain that disabled Vietnam vet Rob endures in the novel. I should have been more compassionate and understanding of veterans than I've been in the past. Now I appreciate what some of them have expericnced in Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan. The villain, Smokey Jones, became so realistic that I could almost feel the effects myself of his smoking meth and feeling a power surge as he grew so confident and self-absorbed. I truly believe he's a dead ringer for having the autism spectrum disorder commonly referred to as Asperger's syndrome. Finally, this superb book has convinced me what I've felt all along---that Vietnam, with LBJ's lies, as well as Afghanistan and Iraq, prefaced with the phony 9/11, are all three ugly false flags of our own country's making. I've refused to admit it because of my own cognitive dissonance---as is so lucidly explained in the chapter when Rob visits his VA psychologist. Finally, I've now come to understand why so very many people become so extremely fond of cats. I simply could not refrain myself from reading this complicated book a second time.

This Marvelous Story Brouight Me Hope Again

Reading this fascinating yet complicated novel performed a miracle: it taught me how (by forgiving) to get rid of some extremely deep resentments that were driving me nuts. The only thing I have left in my life, my only son, came home from war in Iraq with TBI (traumatic brain injury) and PTSD. In a simple way, "Iniquities of Gulch Fork," convinced me beyond any doubt whatsoever that the wars in Vietnam as well as Iraq and Afghanistan (precipitated by the inside job known as 9/11) were all wars of our own country's making---for the purpose of making some of our citizens vastly wealthy because of their morbid human greed. This book magically transported me deeply into the lives of its main characters and their problems, like no other work has ever done before. In some places I felt exactly as though I were right there with them, another character in the scene. Extremely well written, this story stands out in my mind as one of the great classics in literature. Yet most significantly, it has given me greater insight into my pitiful son's addiction to not only alcohol, but also prescription drugs and, most recently, meth. This true story has given me the most vital thing that I had lost completely---hope.

Great story

This was an enjoyable book to read. The characters felt very real, their trouble did too. A lot of information about PTSD, I learned a lot.

This Masterpiece Unblocked My Cognitive Dissonance

For me, reading this magnificent story is a godsend. Briefly, it's about a developing friendship between Rob, an 100% disabled Vietnam veteran with Agent Orange neuropathy and PTSD, and Samantha, a young certified nursing assistant and neighbor who looks after him. This unusual story opened my eyes to the causes of war. Deep in my soul I know it's true because it's stranger than any fiction I've ever encountered. In the story, Zack, a West Point graduate (and Rob's best friend) who is killed in a helicopter crash in Vietnam's central highlands, convinced me in his dialog that escalation of the war in Vietnam was LBJ's false flag. My fiancé Bill, from a military family, graduated first in his class (mechanical engineering) from a prestigious private university yet felt it his honorable duty to go to Iraq. Eight days before he was due to come home an IED (improvised explosive device) nearly killed him. Now he has severe traumatic brain injury as well as PTSD. All along he's insisted that 9/11 was staged, a false flag, which I simply could not accept; yet now, after reading this book's simple explanation of cognitive dissonance in Rob's session with the psychologist, I've had this phenomenal, extremely lucid epiphany. In all my life I've never read a book, a novel (and true mystery), that has done so very, very much to start me on the road to gaining insight into the truth about 9/11 as well as getting rid of this horrible bitterness caused by what happened to my fiancé Bill, now a basket case. I shall recommend "Iniquities of Gulch Fork" to everyone I meet because it's helped me understand the truth about war---it only makes huge gobs of money for the super rich and doesn't give a squat about whom it gobbles up, maims or destroys in the process. Unfortunately, the identical motive appears to be behind the super-wealthy in promoting war as well as the lowest red-necked country bumpkin, Smokey Jones in the story, in screwing his neighbor. This motive is unfathomable, disgusting human greed. Thank God, reading this book has helped orient my feelings, attitudes and understanding in a brand new direction.

"Iniquities of Gulch Fork" is without doubt the most enjoyable read of my life. It made me laugh, it brought tears. I loved the subject matter, especially where it refreshed old memories from when I was a child growing up in the Ozarks near Winslow---except for the horror of learning my dad was killed in Vietnam. The writing is smooth, the humor is smart and sarcastic, the dialog fantastic. I cried when Samantha's dog was killed in front of her home and when Rob's only friend in his life, Zack, a West Point graduate, was killed in front of his eyes in a helicopter crash---that's how my dad died. I have no doubts whatsoever that this book will be made into a play on Broadway, mainly because of the dialog---and finally into a movie. Samantha's handling of the phone call from mysterious Bobby Winchester, an obscene caller (most likely the villain Smokey Jones), was so hysterical that I've read it a dozen times. Here's an example of some of the other dialog that makes me proclaim this book is so fresh and original: "You know everybody and his dog have cell phones today---they'll video a p*ss ant eating a bale of hay if they get the chance." I've already recommended it to 7 of my best friends. I'm going to keep this book as though it were a precious treasure in the top drawer of my bedside table---and read it again, over and over, whenever I feel blue and sad.

This One Scores A Bulls-eye!

Iniquities of Gulch Fork is a mystery novel set in the Ozarks, yet based on actual events. A Vietnam veteran with PTSD and Agent-Orange-caused disabling neuropathy joins forces with a certified nursing assistant whose father is a disabled veteran with PTSD; they expose a dishonest redneck neighbor claiming to be a “preacher” as an even more sinister being. The fast-moving story touches lightly on the horrors of war, its effects on veterans---PTSD, neuropathy, multiple myeloma, difficulties with the VA. In addition, the role of alcoholism and drug addiction is interwoven into the fabric of the story as well as the healing powers of animals and forgiveness. Alcoholics Anonymous and Jehovah’s Witnesses are also an integral part of this novel though without being officious or intrusive. There is subtle mentioning of false flags behind Vietnam and 9/11 (Iraq and Afghanistan). The underlying message in this compelling story is that war is hell. Unfortunately, when some veterans arrive home they're taken advantage of by others because of the one thing that started these wars in the very beginning---human greed.