For New York Times reporter Dennis Covington, what began as a journalistic assignmentcovering the trial of an Alabama pastor convicted of attempting to murder his wife with poisonous snakeswould evolve into a headlong plunge into a bizarre, mysterious, and ultimately irresistible world of unshakable faith: the world of holiness snake handling.Set in the heart of Appalachia, Salvation on Sand Mountain is Covingtons unsurpassed and chillingly captivating exploration of the nature, power, and extremity of faithan exploration that gradually turns inward, until Covington finds himself taking up the snakes.