A vivid lot of characters, each worthy of the utmost compassion or contempt -- or perhaps both -- inhabit this debut collection. A Bible-beating preacher of the literal kind, a tattoo-covered man who plies dead armadillos with empty beer cans, a mother bent on retaliating against her daughter's attacker, and scores of other obsessive and temperamental personalities wander and collide in this striking collection. Running throughout the book is the recurrent theme of denial, or unshakeable naiveté, in the face of disaster and its inevitable consequences. Anchored by the last piece, a cinematic, suspenseful account of a young attorney and her jealous lovers -- these tales deliver a hard-hitting assortment of skilful storytelling.