Camp Redemption: A Novel

Travel to Sequoyah, Georgia, to meet Early and Ivey Willingham. Early is a lifelong underachiever who occasionally smokes marijuana, drinks malt liquor, and watches the world go by. Ivey is a modern day prophet who sees dead relatives and angels in her sleep. Together they own Camp Redemption, a failing Bible camp in the North Georgia mountains. After they are forced to close the camp, Early and Ivey begin to attract a motley collection of people in trouble—Jesús Jimenez, an abused runaway from Apalachicola, Florida; Millie Donovan, with children in tow; Charnell Jackson, an out-of-luck lawyer on the dodge; Isobel Jimenez, Jesús' mother, and her other children; and Hugh Don Monfort, the local bootlegger. Trouble looms as these travelers settle into their new home. Gilla Newman and the deacons at the Washed in the Blood and the Fire Rapture Preparation Temple covet the camp, and they intend to have it. From that moment forward, nothing is the same at Camp Redemption.

Raymond L. Atkins resides in Rome, Georgia, where he is an instructor of English at Georgia Northwestern Technical College. His first novel—The Front Porch Prophet—was released in 2008 and was awarded the Georgia Author of the Year Award for First Novel. His second novel, Sorrow Wood, was released in 2009.