For New York Times reporter Dennis Covington, what began as a journalistic assignment--covering the trial of an Alabama pastor convicted of attempting to murder his wife with poisonous snakes--would 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 faith--an exploration that gradually turns inward, until Covington finds himself taking up the snakes.