Recently, on October 12, 2024, I attended the Alice Lloyd Appalachia Day Homecoming at Alice Lloyd College in Pippa Passes, Knott County, Kentucky, with my wife Candice and a good friend, Eugenia "Genia" DeCoursey Hall. I had completed high school at Pippa Passes in Knott County High School many years ago and attended two summers of Upward Bound at Alice Lloyd College. I also attended Alice Lloyd College after graduating high school but did not obtain a degree there. But I enjoy occasionally attending some event there because I usually run into people I have known but not seen for many years. On this trip, I encountered Dennis B. Campbell, a Knott County native, Alice Lloyd alumnus, and a retired psychiatrist with whom I worked in my prior life as a substance abuse and mental health therapist. Dennis is now occupying at least part of his time as a writer of fiction books which he publishes on Amazon and was selling his books at the homecoming event. In explanation of the two author names on this book, Dennis told me that his wife also writes and this book was a joint project. We never got into a discussion of who wrote what in the book or what system of coauthorship they employ. The book is composed of two novellas set in the Red River Gorge and the two books also have a few common characters. The first novella is entitled "The Red River Gorge Killer: A Romantic Suspense Thriler". The story involves the main character, Lori York, a 26 year old woman from West Virginia who is the CEO of a coal company which she inherited from her parents. She loves to hike and spend time in the woods and wilderness. The antagonist is a serial killer from Northern Kentucky who is very fastidious about what he considers his mission to kill women and he is portrayed as hating all women. He attacks Lori but failes to complete her murder. She regains consciousness and is rescued by a group of hikers from Eastern Kentucky University and a local search and rescue group including one who is a local doctor working in Winchester, Kentucky. It transpires that Lori regains consciousness from the attack with a serious case of amnesia. The doctor, who is not her attending physician when she reaches his hospital, arranges for her to live temporarily in a Bed And Breakfast which his sister owns and operates. A Kenucky State Trooper is assigned the assault case and works closely with Lori both in the search for her attacker and her identity. The young doctor, Adam Cantrell, is also very helpful to Lori who chooses the name Holly for herself since she doesn't remember her own and was found near a holly tree at the scene of her assault. The story move quickly and the serial killer eventually learns that Holly is staying in the Red River Gorge area and he returns in an attempt to kill her. Holly and Adam are both lovers of target shooting and, as their relationship develops, he takes her shooting on his family farm and provides her with a pistol and ammunition in order for her to be able to protect herself if the attacker returns. The killer does return and has learned where she is living. He enters the B & B, attacks Adam's sister and Holly kills him. She and Adam have fallen in love in the meantime, and when she regains her memory they become a couple. The book has a great deal of local information about the Red River Gorge area and I suspect the serial killer is based on someone Dennis Campbell possibly knew in his professional life. This is not a perfect novella, but it is readable, entertaining, and worth the time it takes to read it.
The second novella in the book is entitled "Lost In The Red River Gorge: A Tale Of Wilderness Survival". The two major characters are two small children, Cody and Chloe, who are lost in the gorge after their drug addicted father takes them on a weekend paddle trip down the Red River for which he is not adequately qualified or equipped. Their canoe overturns and the father drowns leaving two children, aged 7 & 5. Their mother has taken them camping and hiking many times and has taught them as much as she could about the woods, wildlife, flora and fauna, and the dangers of life in a wilderness area. The children strike out on their own seeking a way out of the wilderness after heavy rains close off the possiblity of simply hiking upstream to the spot where their father had parked his truck. The encounter a variety of problems including a coyote attack, little or no food, no sleeping bags or tent, and no real knowledge of the geography of the portion of the gorge in which they are lost. A couple of the characters from the previous novella show up in this one including Adam Cantrell's sister who is a good friend to the children's mother. The children do an amazing job of surviving the wilderness long enough to be found and rescued. This novella is a feel good read which can be found on Amazon along with all of Dennis Campbell's several books by seaching the titles or the name B. Camp. He writes in several genres including postapocalyptic, fantasy, and even one western type novel. Here is a link to his page on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=B.+Camp&crid=32NNNUPYNYO2S&sprefix=b.+camp%2Caps%2C169&ref=nb_sb_noss_1
