Randal Poe’s eviction by his dysfunctional family propels the history buff and nascent journalist toward a hapless criminal act that unleashes sibling rivalry, animal rights activism, corporate greed, unethical behavior, class conflict, blind patriotism, and grudges bent on revenge from a host of characters in the capital, coastal plain, and the Appalachians of North Carolina. Through gun store owner and Civil War reenactor Elmer Butkins, Randal sells a storied heirloom to collector L.D. McKee and a mockup of the blade to McKee’s half-brother, a museum curator. Columnist Tarleton Ramseur takes an interest and mentors Randal as a cub reporter. A battle reenactment interview leads to Randal’s involvement with the rag-tag militia defenders of the new Republic of 1/10 of Peedee County, recently seceded from the union, and with a hog farm on the brink of insolvency that seeks asylum for refugee swine. In addition to his irate father and disconsolate mother, Randal draws these actors toward a denouement in dire pandemonium in Cutlass Wonders, a comic novel about coming of age the hard way.