This is a violent novel populated with some of the sickest, most disturbed people I hope I never meet. It is also excellently written, with several plots that converge at the end with a real bang. It's not all violence, of course; the characters are well drawn people who have faced desperate times, and I was drawn into their stories. And there are some good characters.

This is a book group read, and it will be interesting to discuss the character Arvin Russell, a young man I find to be basically sympathetic, despite some of his over-the-top actions. There are lots of characters to think on; we meet Willard Russell, Arvin's dad, first, and he's pretty disturbed. Then, enter Roy and Theodore, the cousins who are a traveling religious revival sort of show, and they seem even more messed up, and then there's the phoney, lecherous Rev. Teagartin, but no one tops Carl and Sandy, a couple who get their jollies picking up, abusing, and murdering hitch hikers. And of course there's crooked sheriff Bodecker, who just happens to be Sandy's brother.

Lots to talk about, and it's a well-paced thought-provoking tale.