Poachers: Stories - Hardcover

Franklin, Tom

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688167403 ISBN 13: 9780688167400

Publisher: William Morrow & Co, 1999

Synopsis

An eloquent debut collection of stories set in the Deep South evokes a world of hunting and fishing, shotgun shacks and trailer parks, poachers and lawmen, poor white trash, and the sweat and tears of human relationships.

About this title

Review:

Penzler Pick, December 1999: As the editor of an annual series for Houghton Mifflin titled Best American Mystery Stories, I read scores, if not hundreds, of little magazines in search of the best crime fiction published that year. One story that came to light from the Texas Review was "Poachers" by Tom Franklin, which was easily the most original and memorable tale of 1998. It went on to win the Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America and became the title of Franklin's first book, a short story collection of such distinction that it has already provided a shoo-in for spring 2000s Best American Mystery Stories of the Century.

"Poachers" is no ordinary tale of detection but a mood piece that will remind the reader of the best of James Lee Burke. Set in the swamps of the deep South, it is a riveting tale of three brothers who are so violent and amoral that they will kill anyone or anything in their path. One of their victims is a young lawman who was much loved, causing the locals to bring in their own hired gun, a game warden of legendary skill as a hunter of poachers. One by one, he tracks down the crazed brothers in a quest for justice.

The other stories in this beautifully produced little volume are also superb. While there is occasional humour, this is not a collection to read if you're in the mood for P G Wodehouse or Dave Barry. The dark woods and hollows, the unforgiving swamps and their inhabitants, do not make for a sun-shiny reading experience. --Otto Penzler

Review:

"[A] startling debut collection ... darker than anything delivered since the work of James Dickey".

-- San Francisco Chronicle

"I like Tom Franklin's stories the same way I like Lucinda Williams' music, and for the same reason: they're not updating an old song. They're set in the south, sure. But they're a new song for the south. They possess an inherent sweetness even when they're rough 'n tough. And when they're funny, it's not at the world's expense. They're poignant, and I suppose their poignance comes from longing; yet not for some mossy past--because they are contemporary stories--but for the present, as it spirits away from in front of us just at the moment we notice it's arrived. These stories surprised me. They give valuable and unexpected depth to what I thought fiction could do."-- Richard Ford"Franklin writes as if his hands and mind are on fire. "Poachers plumbs raw and startling places. His stories are burning, waiting for you."-- Rick Bass"[A] startling debut collection...darker than anything delivered since the work of James Dickey."-- "San Francisco Chronicle

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow & Co
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0688167403
• ISBN 13: 9780688167400
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192