The World Made Straight by Ron Rash

 This book seemed as though it might be some sort of Appalachian Noir type stuff, something on the lines of what David Joy's been doing, all criminals in the mountains of the American Old South. And it is, though it's really not as ... taut, mostly, as Joy's novels. There are historical elements, things from the US Civil War, floating to the surface between the chapters, as well as elements of the various characters' backstories--threads that seem to imply there are family connections at least some of the characters don't know about. Most of the slack in the novel probably comes from the time skips, as the novel slides past weeks or months. The characters are reasonably well-differentiated, and the dialogue works, but the narrative prose kinda lies inert. Not an entirely engaging read, though it does have things it wants to say about getting out of poverty, and violence.