The Holy Ghost Speakeasy and Revival

By: Terry Roberts

Narrated by: Andrew Eiden

Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's Summary

Jedidiah Robbins is a man on a crusade. From town to town, his Gospel train rides the rails of 1920s Appalachia, spreading the Good News with his daughter and a loyal group of roustabouts in tow. But Jedidiah's traveling revival company has a secret: In addition to offering the gifts of the Holy Spirit, it also delivers spirits of another kind. 

Prohibition is in full swing, but The Sword of the Lord train keeps the speakeasies in the towns it visits in business by providing the best that mountain stills have to offer. While beyond the gaze of federal agents, the operation eventually runs afoul of an overzealous small town sheriff and a corrupt judge, setting in motion a series of events that could land them all in chains.

Told with haunting lyricism, this is the story of a preacher full of contradictions, a man for whom the way is never straight and narrow. It bends like the river, a river that leads him in the paths of a different brand of righteousness - and perhaps even to salvation.

©2018 Terry Roberts (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

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I struggle to review this one because I personally know the author, Terry Roberts. He and I are former classmates from high school. And this book, wow, it was really good! Jedediah is just too real. It’s hard to believe he’s fictional. The story and fictional accounts are almost Homeric in scope and detail. My friend has created someone in Jedediah and his troupe that poetically pairs with Odysseus and his crew, traversing the rails over mountains and valleys, bringing spirits in Prohibition, and a gospel that opens purses and provides entertainment akin to a traveling circus. There are heroes and villains, the devil, death, and a dream of God as an old farmer carving life. Set during Prohibition in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina where people were dirt poor, living hard with few roads traveling mostly by mule and wagon or walking, Solomon’s Crusade would have been a big event for mountain folk fervent in their religious beliefs. It’s not hard to imagine such a spectacle or the events written here. Throw in a crooked sheriff, the Ku Klux Klan, a flood, and a fire, and you got a story that’s fun to read. But it’s the characters and their story that turns the pages and eats into your heart until the last page. The narrator’s voice and inflections were perfect here. A really great match all the way around. I’m surprised there are no other reviews. You guys are missing out on some great storytelling!