Deep in the mountains of Appalachia, Billy May Platte learned the hard way that 1940s West Virginia was no place to be gay:

"We was sheltered in them hills. We didn't know much of nothin' about life outside of them mountains. I did not know the word lesbian; to us, gay meant havin' fun and queer meant somethin' strange."'

In 1945, when Billy May was 14 years old and alone, three local boys witnessed an incident in which Billy May's sexuality was called into question. Determined to teach her a lesson she would never forget, they orchestrated a brutal attack that changed the dynamics of the tiny coal mining village of Cedar Hollow, West Virginia forever.

Thirty years after the brutal attack, living in solitude on top of Crutcher Mountain, Billy May discovers the hideout of a young girl - a girl who just happens to be the daughter of one of the boys who attacked Billy May so long ago. No one knows better than Billy May the telltale signs of abuse, and she must quickly make a decision. Will she withdraw into the solitude in which she has lived since the horrific attack, or will she risk everything to save the girl from a similar fate? In spite of the heartbreaking incidents that take place in the novel, the book is ultimately a tribute to the resiliency of the human spirit and a celebration of the beauty of second chances.

Underneath it all, Appalachian Justice is also a powerful love story, though certainly not a conventional one.