A review by bunnieslikediamonds
Poachers by Tom Franklin

4.0

The snake venom had bleached the boy's pupils white, and the skin around his eyesockets had required grafts. The surgeons had had to use skin from his buttocks, and because his buttocks were hairy, the skin around his eyes began to grow hair too. In the years to come, the loggers who clear-cut the land along the river would occasionally stop in the store, less from a need to buy something than from a curiosity to see the hermit with the milky, hairy eyes.

That's Tom Franklin's idea of a happy ending.

The testosterone practically spurts off the pages in this country noir short story collection. I'm sure I could go on about it being a fascinating study of masculinity and all that, but all you need to know is there's lots of violence, hatred and general backwoodsy wickedness. The only thing missing was Burt Reynolds in a wetsuit, with a crossbow. I for one certainly don't feel like going poaching any time soon.