Daniel Woodrell is able to lend uncanny logic to harsh, even criminal, behaviour in his wrenching first collection of short fiction. Desperation – both material and psychological – motivates his characters. A husband cruelly avenges the murder of his wife’s pet; an injured rapist is cared for by a young girl, until she reaches breaking point; a disturbed veteran of Iraq is murdered for his erratic behaviour; an outsider’s house is set on fire by an angry neighbour. There is also the tenderness and loyalty of the vulnerable in these stories – between spouses, parents and children, siblings and comrades in arms – which brings the troubled, sorely tested cast of characters to vivid, relatable life.