The stories in this book are incredibly well-written. The descriptions of rural southern living were heartbreaking and a little familiar, although uglier than anything I ever experienced myself. I found the women characters to be little more than props to all the men in these stories. The title story, poachers, read like a season of Fargo and would make a terrific thriller plot.

As is often the case with short story collections, I was drawn to some tales more than others. The introduction, which is a story in and of itself, establishes the tone of the book quite nicely by relating a piece of author's personal history and state of mind. However it does the job so well that my expectations for the collection ran a little too high. I didn't feel that sense of connection again until the fourth story, "Blue Horses." The others that stood out for me were "A Tiny History," which features characters introduced earlier, about two friends who each believe the other's wife would be the more fulfilling partner; "Dinosaurs," about a father-son relationship and a stuffed rhino; and the highly touted title novella "Poachers." It's not that the others aren't worthwhile, but they didn't grab me to the same degree. As a whole, the stories in Poachers are by turns comical, voyeuristic, tragic, dark, and heroic. 3.5

If I hadn’t read Franklin’s work previously wouldn’t have pick this one up ([b:Hell at the Breech|214340|Hell at the Breech|Tom Franklin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1332556246s/214340.jpg|207505] remains my favourite of his books). I guess the author was aiming at “gritty” and “poignant” however it came across as violent for its own sake, bleak and depressing examples of brutality featuring two-dimensional characters.
I managed to finish it but I strongly disliked this collection, except for “Grit” (3 stars) and “Poachers” (2.5 stars) I regret the time I spent reading it. Definitely this was not a good choice for me.
Warning: some of the stories include animal cruelty.
1.5 stars

'Alaska' was my personal favourite from the collection. Haunting vista of the South.

Economical character development, plus some of the darkest stories and the worst luck anyone's ever had. Gets at some of the things I love about the weird, broken South, and why people here behave the way we do sometimes.