'Earth Cult' (189 pp) was published in the UK by Panther in 1979; the cover art is by Peter Elson. In the U.S., the novel was retitled 'This Sentient Earth' and published, also in 1979, by Zebra Books.
This was one of a number of sf titles written by U.K. author Trevor Smith (b. 1940), who used the pseudonym Trevor Hoyle.
The terrain and mountains are the main characters, so to speak, in 'Earth Cult', as the novel is set in Colorado in the late 70s. The Mount of the Holy Cross features prominently, as do the nearby towns and villages (Minturn, Red Cliff, Dotsero, Eagle, etc.) of Eagle County.
It's September, and Frank Kersh, a writer for the magazine Science Now, has arrived in the (real-life) town of Gypsum on an assignment to interview the director of the 'Deep Hole' : the Rocky Mountain Astrophysical Neutrino Research Station. The Research Station supervises a project to detect neutrinos by monitoring the collision of these particles with the chlorine atoms residing in perchloroethylene solution stored in enormous tanks a mile under the Mount.
Kersh completes his interview with Station Director Professor Friedmann and is ready to head for Chicago the following morning, when Kersh begins to realize that things are a little........off............in Gypsum. For one thing, a cult, calling itself the Telluric Faith, has established itself in the town, and its head, the mysterious Mr. Cabel, tells of a coming Apocalypse that will see the Earth sundered and all living things extinguished.
Then there is the unprecedentedly severe weather that has struck Gypsum and the other towns in proximity to the Mount of the Holy Cross. And in the town of Radium, mothers are giving birth to 'zombie' babies that are outwardly healthy, but simply lie in their cribs and stare vacuously into space......
Intrigued by these developments, Frank Kersh finds himself teaming up with local journalists Cal and Helen Renfield to conduct an investigation....because these developments weren't present prior to the installation of the Research Station. Is there something going on in the depths of the Mount of the Holy Cross that the researchers don't want the world to know about.........?
Like the other sf novel by Hoyle that I have read, The Last Gasp, 'Earth Cult' stays away from New Wave affectations and relies on a straightforward prose style, short chapters, and a steady stream of revelations to keep the reader engaged. Without disclosing spoilers, the final chapters undergo a shift from a 'scientific mystery' theme to a much more 'Cosmic' theme. While I thought this shift showed quite a bit of inventiveness, there also was a bit of contrivance in terms of plot development, hence my three-star review.
I finished 'Earth Cult' thinking it was perhaps most effective as a travelogue, and tribute, to the Rocky Mountains and the Colorado of the 1970s.
It reflects very much the era of John Denver's Rocky Mountain High and the attendant pop culture fascination with the mountains and a Return to Nature, as exemplified in films like The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, Adventures of the Wilderness Family, Jeremiah Johnson, and Continental Divide.
John Denver, in quintessential 70s 'outdoors' clothing, posing against some mountain scenery
Grab that Gerry down vest, your suede Trail Boots, and your rugby shirt (as demonstrated below in the Moss Brown and Co. catalog from 1978), and get ready to ascend the mountains !
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