It's 1911 and the townsfolk of Old Texas, Alabama, have had enough. Every Saturday night for a year, E. O. Smonk has been destroying property, killing livestock, seducing women, cheating and beating men, all from behind the twin barrels of his Winchester 45-70 caliber over-and-under rifle. Syphilitic, consumptive, gouty, and goitered?an expert with explosives and knives?Smonk hates horses, goats, and the Irish, and it's high time he was stopped. But capturing old Smonk won't be easy?and putting him on trial could have shocking and disastrous consequences, considering the terrible secret the citizens of Old Texas are hiding.
Biografie
Tom Franklin wurde in Alabama geboren; seine Eltern gründeten eine Kirche, in der wundersame Heilungen und Teufelsaustreibungen an der Tagesordnung waren; er studierte Englisch an der University of Arkansas, erhielt u. a. den "Edgar-Award" für seine Kurzgeschichten und lebt heute mit seiner Frau, der Schriftstellerin Ann Fennelly, in Oxford, Mississippi.
