The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Brown, Taylor. Gods of Howl Mountain. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2018.

The novel is set in an unnamed town in North Carolina in the autumn of 1952. Rory Docherty is a man in his twenties. He served in the Korean War as a Marine, and he was discharged from service after losing his foot and part of his leg in combat. He now makes a living delivering bootleg whiskey brewed by Eustace Uptree. Rory lives with his 54-year-old grandmother Maybelline “Granny May” Docherty. Granny makes a living selling herbal remedies to locals. In 1930, Rory’s mother, Bonni Docherty, and his father, Connor Gaston, were attacked by unknown assailants. The attack left Connor dead and Bonni clinically insane; Bonni now lives in an asylum in Raleigh, North Carolina. All that is known about the attack is that Bonni managed to gouge an eye out of one of her attackers.

Eustace’s whiskey operation is at risk as a rival operation controlled by the Muldoon family potentially prepares to sabotage Eustace and Rory. Cooley Muldoon, who is about Rory’s age, appears to develop a sudden and persistent hatred for Rory. In addition, it is said that the federal government will soon be sending down a tough new agent, Harmon Kingman, to disrupt the bootleg whiskey trade. One day, Rory walks by a church and notices a beautiful young woman in the congregation. He immediately becomes infatuated with her. Rory attends a church service and notices that the pastor, Asa Adderholt, has a glass eye. Rory converses with the young woman, who introduces herself as Christine Adderholt, the pastor’s daughter. Rory also learns that Asa is the brother of the local sheriff, Winston Adderholt. Additionally, according to Granny, Asa and Winston used to be whiskey bootleggers.

Rory wonders if Asa was one of the men who attacked Bonni and Connor in 1930. One day, by chance, Rory encounters the new federal agent in town, Harmon Kingman, who served as a Marine in World War Two. Rory continues to attend church, and a romantic relationship develops between him and Christine. One day, Cooley Muldoon challenges Rory to a drag race in their respective cars. Rory almost wins, but he stops his car to tend to a wounded deer. Soon after, the sheriff of a local county meets with Rory and says that there seems to be increased conflict on the horizon between whiskey bootleggers and the federal government. Rory and Christine experience a rift in their relationship after Rory tells her that he suspects Asa of having been one of the men who attacked Bonni and Connor.

One day, Kingman tells Rory that if Rory does not lead him to Eustace, then Kingman will use his connections to cause harm to Bonni in the asylum. Rory leads Kingman to Eustace, but Eustace uses a machine gun to drive Kingman away. Eustace then tells Rory that Winston Adderholt was the person who attacked Bonni and Connor. Rory goes to kill Winston, but he does not. Granny soon deduces the truth: Eustace was the one who attacked Bonni and Connor. Granny kills Eustace, and she and Rory bury his body. Granny then decides that instead of whiskey, they will begin a secret operation of growing and selling cannabis.