PAX, 1960: A Novel

“When the John F. Kennedy campaign descended upon southern West Virginia in 1960, so did a wild variety of con artists, media types, and mobsters. Caught up in the havoc are a schoolteacher and her cousin, Pax. Pax, who is a hermit but a magnet for mayhem nonetheless, goes on the lam with a newly met lover who is a knife-wielding natural herbalist. Throw in a crooked county sheriff and a hippie llama breeder and you have chaos parts violent and comic and poignant that cannot be captured in these few words. Read the book, which would make a great movie.”—Denise Giardina, author of Storming Heaven,

The Unquiet Earth and Saints and Villains

“In Pax, 1960, Kevin Stewart’s native West Virginia explodes off the page, beautifully detailed, impeccably authentic. This is a smart, funny, fast-paced novel, with a surprise around every corner – both for Pax Combs, and for the lucky reader along for the ride.”—Susan Perabo, author of The Fall of Lisa Bellow

and Why They Run the Way They Do

“Kevin Stewart's novel is set in West Virginia in 1960. John Kennedy, with staff, is running in the Democratic primary. Shenanigans abound. The mafia, bootleggers, a gypsy lover, a hermit, a llama farmer, a schoolteacher, a corrupt sheriff, a newspaper man are all vividly portrayed. No one knows West Virginia better than Kevin Stewart. PAX,1960, is a riveting read. It is tightly plotted, suspenseful, provocative novel. D.H. Lawrence said, ‘The novel is the one bright book of life.’ PAX,1960 is proof of that. Buy it, read it, you'll love it. Tell your friends about it. They'll love it too.”—Donald Hays, author of The Dixie Association, The Hangman’s Children,

The Dying Light and The Great Awakening

“As suspenseful as it is beautifully written, Pax, 1960 is a multivalent experience: an Appalachian noir full of grit and unflinching verve, a psalm to the natural splendor of West Virginia’s Appalachian Mountains, a crime thriller with an offbeat love story at its heart, and a vivid evocation of a country being born into a decade when the rules all changed. Kevin Stewart’s gorgeous prose—threaded throughout with cunning humor—brings to life a slew of unforgettable characters, as contemporary as they are mythic, as anxiety provoking as they are pathos engendering. Quite simply, you will not want to put this book down before you’ve finished it.”—John Hennessy, author of Bridge and Tunnel, Coney Island Pilgrims and Exit Garden State

“A simple loner named Pax has his shotgun confiscated by the Kennedy presidential campaign in 1960. Consequently, he ends up stealing money from a corrupt sheriff and rotgut whiskey from the campaign, and we flee with him through mountains, isolated cabins, and secret caves, along the way encountering his spooky new love interest, his free-wheeling cousin, a crusty reporter, a Thoreau-quoting llama owner, and a parade of murderous ne’er-do-wells. It’s a wild ride!”—Loren Graham, author of Mose, The Ring Scar and Places I Was Dreaming