The Burning Bush

About the Book

Dear Readers: I was born in 1955, and I spent my adolescent years being raised during the troubled times of the 1960's. But I never fully understood the discontent of that period until I reached adulthood. As you know, that decade was a period of extreme social unrest for our culture, culminating in a time when our society was conflicted with war, racism, crime, and drugs. To me, it seems that many of life's issues from then have now returned to challenge us again in present day. With this in mind, I have written what I consider to be an entertaining story in the category of mainstream fiction. Set in the summer of 1969 in the fictional town of Gaston, Mississippi (located near Oxford), THE BURNING BUSH is the story of one community's involvement with the struggles of everyday life at that time. Ed Dill, a retired widower, is one of the primary characters within the story. He is handicapped, having lost a leg in an industrial accident a few years prior. Coupled with the death of his wife, and separated from his family, he has lived his last few years in loneliness. When his son-in-law, Captain Robert Denton, an U. S. Navy pilot, is shot down in Vietnam, Ed is briefly reunited with his daughter Samantha and his grandson Sammy. Upon spending a short time with them in Gaston, Ed realizes how much he has missed his family and his involvement with his friends over the past few years. He senses that he is being given another chance at life and he tries to figure out what to do with this new opportunity. As he becomes active again, his life becomes compounded by problems with crime, prejudice, and drugs, all of which have suddenly arisen in Gaston. During this time, a group of five young boys (consisting of brothers Billy and Mike Stephens, ages thirteen and twelve; Sammy Denton, age twelve; and brothers Luther and Lamar Evans, ages thirteen and twelve) accidentally uncover the location where illegal drugs are hidden in the town. As they try to figure out what to do on their own, their parents (John and Jenny Stephens; Samantha Denton; and Lawrence and Vera Evans) learn of their findings. Trouble ensues, as the children have to explain their actions. John, Lawrence, and Ed also become concerned over suspicious behavior from members of the local police department (Chief of Police Riley Jenkins; Deputy Dallas Sampson; and Deputy Rondall Clanton) and a mysterious truck driver (Maurice 'Little Mo' Thibideaux, Jr.) from Pascagoula, MS. Led by Ed Dill, the parents try to figure out how to get rid of the drugs while protecting themselves, their children, and the town. A drug ring has been set up by Maurice 'Big Mo' Thibideaux, an ex-convict who owns a trucking company in the gulf coast city of Pascagoula, MS. With his undesirable contacts, and his underhanded connections within two questionable police departments (in Gaston and in Pascagoula), he and his son, Little Mo, have set up an extensive drug network. They travel the entire state, covering the cities of Pascagoula, Jackson, Gaston, West Point, and Hattiesburg. Under the disguise of the trucking company, illegal drug deliveries are made throughout the state and have now spread into Alabama and Tennessee. Ed gets help from his friends. First, he hires a father-daughter team of private detectives, Art and Jacee McCaslin, from nearby Memphis, TN to investigate their problem. Then Ed calls in a favor from the father of the young man whose life he saved during his industrial accident years before. Anson Meadors, the young man’s father, is now the Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi. Soon the pieces of the puzzle start to fall into place. Anson introduces Ed to Chuck Hodges, his personal bodyguard and a lifelong military man. Through their united front and their good fortune, this group uncovers the entire drug network. They learn that there is an insider, Henri Beaudreaux, working undercover at the trucking company. Henri, the bastar

About the Author

Christopher Ward was born in 1955 and raised in Oklahoma City, OK along with his fourteen brothers and sisters. With so many siblings, his childhood was extremely active. In his youth, he attended parochial schools, and he began his collegiate studies at the University of Oklahoma. He lived in the Oklahoma City area until 1985, when he moved with his wife to Memphis, TN. Christopher Ward is a graduate of Memphis State University, and he has worked as an industrial equipment salesman in the mid-south area for over ten years. He and his wife have three children.