Blood in the Soil: A True Tale of Racism, Sex, and Murder in the South

By Carole Townsend

Blood in the Soil is the first book about the investigation into the shooting of Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt and his country attorney in Gwinnett County, Georgia, in 1978. But this book is not primarily about Larry Flynt, or even his shooter (the serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin), though both men are of course important characters in the story.

This true account is told alternately from the perspective of Detective J. Michael Cowart and by following Franklin’s life from childhood through his execution. The monster that was Joseph Paul Franklin was the result of a perfect storm of circumstances, which included poverty, cruel abuse as a child, the detestation and mistrust between blacks and whites, integration, and the hate groups that operated and recruited openly. Detective Cowart tells the story of his first introduction to Franklin, and the cat-and-mouse game that ensued. A self-proclaimed truth-seeker, the detective had to appear to befriend Franklin to get him to provide enough information to prosecute him in the Flynt shooting. In the course of developing this rapport, Cowart gains astonishing insight into many of Franklin’s other cold-blooded killings and crimes, and his twisted justification for them.

This book tells of a very real struggle between right and wrong. It details with stark honesty the terrible truths that characterized the South during the volatility of the sixties and seventies, and of the ugly reality that lies just beneath the veneer of a beautiful region known for its warm hospitality. Along the way, it examines some hard lessons about life, trust, and compromise.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
• Release date: Apr 12, 2016
• ISBN: 9781634507523

Carole Townsend

Carole Townsend is a columnist for the Gwinnett Daily Post, the second largest newspaper in Georgia and a freelance writer whose articles have appeared in Ladies Home Journal and Teen Magazine. She has been described in her writing style as a cross between Lewis Grizzard and Erma Bombeck. She has established a reputation as one of the up-and-coming writers in the humor genre and has earned a national following.Southern Fried White Trash is her first book. Written in her unique humorous style that has earned her a readership around the nation for her eclectic wit, the book is a collection of humorous but real life stories that have happened at weddings, funerals, and holidays and other family gatherings. Townsend writes in a style that sees the humor in situations and lets the reader know that it is OK to laugh at life’s absurdities. Townsend and Southern Fried White Trash have been featured in the Los Angeles Times, CNN, and numerous television and radio appearances across the country.She is busy writing her next book, Red Lipstick and Clean Underwear, that is a “painfully humorous survival guide to successfully navigating life as a woman.” Red Lipstick and Clean Underwear takes a humorous but incisive look at “how women were taught to view and prepare for life as young girls, vs. the reality of being a woman and handling all that we do, every day, day in and day out. As adults, we are expected to handle, juggle, balance, earn, mother and be caregivers.” It will be released in June of 2012.Townsend is a graduate of Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN, with a degree in psychology, and holds a Masters Degree in Journalism. Prior to becoming a full-time writer, she Directed Marketing for The Baer Group, LLC and Western Digital Corp., both in Atlanta, and a major international software manufacturer.She resides in Lawrenceville, Georgia with her husband, four children and two rescue dogs.

Reviews for Blood in the Soil

[elizajane_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

APR 5 - A good read if a bit unorthodoxly written for a true crime. This is the story of Joseph Paul Franklin, the man best known for shooting pornograpy king Larry Flynt, but he was a genuine serial killer by the time he added Flynt's shooting to his roster. The book is about Franklin but Flynt's shooting does take up a chapter and beyond that point can't help but become a major part of Franklin's life story. This was a totally fresh introduction to a serial killer for me as I'd not had any interest in the Flyntt movie some years back now. Franklin was a racially motivated killer, a brutally abused child who tried to find belongng somewhere he tried Christianity but could only settle on the OT God, his hatred for Jews conflicted with that moving him on to neo-Nazi groups, the KKK and similar groups bt found them all tal and no action. e found his mentor when he read Mein Kamp and found his mission when he decided to erdicate all mixed-race couples, blacks and Jews. He didn't mind pornograpy per se, but Flynt hit his list we he started featuring mixed-race couples in his "filthy" magazine. The author interviewed lead Detective Michael Cowart extensively and with his permission, writes this book from his point of view, alternating with chapters written in the all-knowing perspective about Franklin, often, the author admits, putting thougts into his head, which se feels justified doing from er extensive research of his letters and interviews. This, of course, has to be taken with a grain of salt, but it is compelling and makes for interesting reading. Frankin admits to killing 22 blacks and jews and it was ultimately the conviction for killing of a Jewish man in a death penalty state which saw him put on death row and legally urdered by the state by lethal injection in 2013. Worth a read, especially as an introduction to the case, if you're unfamiliar with Joseph Paul Franklin as I was.