Strange Valley by Darrell Bain
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Product Details
- Pub. Date: October 2004
- Publisher: Twilight Times Books
- Format: Paperback, 222pp
- ISBN-13: 9781931201230
- ISBN: 1931201234
Synopsis
A clerk working in the census bureau discovers a series of anomalies in the population of a small city located in the Ozark Mountains. Intrigued, the clerk continues to investigate. He finds that, on average, the people of the city and surrounding valley, are a little smarter, less religious, more thrifty, marry less, have a higher level of education, are more sexually liberated and have fewer illnesses. The city also refuses government money for schools and roads, has little crime and no sign of racial unrest. None of these factors would mean much taken alone, but together, they spell out a population that is distinctly skewed from the normal. Surprisingly, hardly anyone in the valley realizes that most of them are different from the average. They simply think they live in a good place among good people. Then the investigation starts...
editor of Twisted Tales - Annette Gisby
Five stars "Strange Valley" was like a roller coaster ride. You opened it and began reading with a steady build-up and then were hurtled forward with hardly time to take a breath. The pace was beyond fast, you just knew you had to keep reading to see what bombshell the author was going to drop next. The term page-turner could have been invented for this book.
"...I loved this book, it was a bit different from anything I've read before and since I read an awful lot of books, that makes a refreshing change!
"Strange Valley" is a thrilling adventure that you will be hard-pressed to put down.
More Reviews and RecommendationsCustomer Reviews
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A fabulous eye-opening tale.by harstan
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May 02, 2005: Census Bureau career civil servant Harry Beales is stunned with the data that reflects Masterville in the Arkansas Ozarks. The small town contains no measurable crime, a much greater than average life-span, no international business chains as everything is locally owned, no federal money is received not even Medicare or Pell Grants, the marriage rate is very low, but offspring very high and no major religion has taken hold. However, the oddest fact is that these trends can be traced back to the Civil War.................. Harry?s findings reach NSA; they become concerned with this oddity in the center of the Bible Belt especially since the objective of the President of the United States is to imbue Christian family values as the Bill of Rights. NSA field agents Daniel Stenning and Shirley Rostervick are sent to Masterville to uncover and destroy this heretical conspiracy in the middle of the United States that the POTUS and the NSA believe is the biggest threat to national security since the wall fell...................... Using hyperbole to highlight the extreme of the fundamentalist religious right movement, Darrell Bain provides a powerful political thriller. The story line showcases a central government that feels so strongly in the end state of Christian based federalism that it leads the people to a restrictive faith in which the means to get there do not matter. This includes beating the bushes to thwart a small town whose residents are living together in harmony as that is not necessarily a pious life style. This reviewer kept thinking of the bane imposed on Rushdie as this strong thriller with a powerful message leaves readers to ponder what is right. Darrell Bain has written a fabulous eye-opening tale............ Harriet Klausner
A Strange Valleyby Anonymous
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September 12, 2004: Only a few of Masterville?s citizens are aware of the anomalies and uniqueness of their behaviors and lifestyle, but with the NSA sending agents to investigate them and their valley will they have time to find the cause and prove they are not aliens, monsters, or a threat? Harry Beales? work in the Census office is routine if not boring, until he comes across some unusual findings about the small town of Masterville. NSA Agent, Daniel Stenning, is a bit confused by the NSA?s interest in a small town on the Arkansas, Missouri borders. Why are a few unusual statistics and lifestyle choices considered a threat to national security? When he arrives in the valley with his partner, Shirley, who is posing as his wife on this assignment, he finds a back-in-the-fifties, clean town, and Lisa. The minute she opens the door of the B&B where Shirley and Daniel are registered for their stay in Masterville, the attraction between Daniel and Lisa is obvious. Impossible to hide, impossible to fight. Daniel has no desire to fight it, and begins to suspect he has a lot in common with the unique residents of this pleasant valley town. Someone else has discovered Daniels similarities to the valley residents too, and he finds himself marked as a target by the agency he used to work for. Daniel must work with Tyrone and the Masterville council and prove they offer no threat before powerful and corrupt government officials use terrorist tactics to wipe out a small part of the homeland. Darrell Bain keeps the questions and suspense flowing through the action packed pages of Strange Valley. Thought provoking, this story stirs the imagination with what may at times seem exaggerated and extreme, but then, the extreme and those who err on the side of it is where the danger lies.
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