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 Covington's 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.