A Touch of Rural Justice: another Illinois Love Story

Another story by an author who loves Illinois...Building on the characters from Twin Beeches, this story focuses on the destruction of prime Illinois farm land to get at valuable coal underneath. The author explores all the sides to the argument while placing young Eddie and Martha Jo Hawkins into the middle of the fight when the mining company decides to destroy their home, Twin Beeches, to build a coal processing plant 'big enough to be seen all the way from Peoria'.

People from the town of Woodland depend on the jobs provided by the mine. They don't appreciate Eddie shutting down the existing mine with his sabotage schemes, and threaten Rural Justice to burn Twin Beeches themselves if Eddie isn't stopped.

The mining company believes in helping America attain energy independence, making money, providing jobs and rewarding investors -- all worthy aims. The story tries to be sensitive to both sides of the coal-mining debate and to give credit as it is due. Above all, when you set out to use violent acts to get your point across, unintended consequences will usually result, often ones you wish you could take back.

Through all this tension, the issue of who Eddie really is and who he is becoming are explored.

The author, who once participated in a "Touch of Rural Justice" visitation himself, creates a believable and exciting story out of the quiet Illinois countryside, once again proving that things, and people, are not always what they appear to be.