The Last Hanging in Ripley is a historical novel about the brief, troubled life of John F. Morgan, an uneducated farmhand.
Based in rural Appalachia in the late 1800s, the book offers a fascinating account of a disturbed young man who gruesomely ended three precious lives one early autumn morning.
The family innocently woke that morning, sharing the belief that Morgan was a trusted friend. But unfortunately, this quickly turned to disbelief and horror as their so-called friend brutally struck them down one by one as they went about their farm chores.
Why did he do it? What would cause Morgan, a newlywed and loving father, to slay his hunting buddy viciously, his longtime mother figure, and the young woman who had once embraced him with his first kiss?
Did monetary greed lead to their demise, as the local inhabitants have surmised for over a century? Perhaps some other motive led this young man to carry out his horrific crime.
The author introduces us to the realistic aspects of farm life in West Virginia in the 1890s as he weaves the details about the private side of John Morgan's life and a glimpse into the public spectacle of his death.
