• Belmont writer Mike Banks has published his first novel, "Bend in the River," which is set in 1964 western Kentucky. • The book was inspired by Banks's career as a journalist and a true story about two missing hunters. • Banks, a former journalist for The Gaston Gazette, decided to self-publish his novel.

Belmont writer Mike Banks understands small towns, and in his first novel, "Bend in the River," he writes about what he knows.

"It's about the small towns and the secrets of small towns, and how people closely guard a lot of these secrets," Banks said in an interview.

Banks also is deeply familiar with the world he is writing about. The story takes place in 1964, in western Kentucky, and Banks is a 1989 graduate of Western Kentucky University. Where Banks is from, "most people we

See Full Page