When the Watcher Shakes by Timothy G. Huguenin

The walls were meant to keep evil out–but they only hid the evil within.John has given up his ordinary life to find wisdom traveling the country and enjoy the freedom of living as a nomad. But when he stumbles across a mysterious town tucked away in the Appalachian Mountains, walled off from modern society, he discovers a group of people who could use some freedom of their own. Are they a harmless religious sect, or is there something less benign underneath the surface?The townspeople are initially wary of their new visitor, but as John questions their way of life, some of them begin to have questions of their own. As the leadership's tight control unravels, men and women break free from the chains of legalism–some literally, and some at the cost of their own lives.