John Billheimer: 4 books

Contrary, West Virginia, a sleepy town with failing coal mines, has an urgent need for revenue. A federal grant for a non-existent bus system meets that need, until a government auditor consumes too much white lightning and dies under mysterious circumstances. When the Department of Transportation...

Failure analyst Owen Allison returns to his native West Virginia, where his mother faces cancer and construction dumping threatens a family hollow. Owen’s Aunt Lizzie, shotgun in hand, vows to stop the dump trucks. A trucker is killed and Aunt Lizzie swears she pulled the trigger. But Owen thinks...

Failure analyst Owen Allison is called home to West Virginia. His mother is convinced that a skeleton unearthed by a construction crew belongs to Owen’s father, believed drowned decades ago. Owen’s brother George, a highway commissioner, is battling alcohol, a bureaucratic boss and environmentalists...

Ten years after California Governor Red Davison engineered the collapse of Owen Allison’s consulting firm, Owen crosses paths with the Davison family again. A win in the West Virginia primary is all Red’s son Jason needs to capture his party’s presidential nomination. Reporter Tom O’Day believes...