A tale of malevolence and violence set in rural West Virginia, the locale Benedict has made his own, dogs of god tells of Tannhauser, a crazed backwoodsman turned tyrannical drug lord, and the odd cast of characters - gun runners, federal agents, corrupt cops, local eccentrics, drifters - enticed into his destructive orbit. Innocently into their midst comes a young man called Goody, whose reputation as a formidable amateur boxer pits him against one of Tannhauser's goons in a bare-fisted boxing match - a fight that Goody realizes too late will require more than just a knockout to win.As in all of Benedict's fiction, the writing is explosive and colorful, full of the rhythms of Appalachian speech, and the action takes place on the unsettling border between the absurd and the terrifying. dogs of god unquestionably proves what so many have already said: that Pinckney Benedict is one of the outstanding voices of his generation. Read Less