Bone Dogs

Set amid the hardscrabble hills of West Virginia, Skipper’s third novel is a tour of trailer parks, lonely roads, and lost souls centering on Tuesday Price, a nom de guerre for downward-spiraling drunk Andrew Price. A brilliant outsider, Tuesday can’t hold a job or his life together, seeming determined to drink himself into an early grave. Constantly in the bag, Tuesday learns that Linda, his wife and sometimes trailer cohabitant, is unexpectedly pregnant, leading to his attempt to dry out and finally face a troubled past that includes a manic-depressive mother and a strict Pentecostal minister father. After another round of trouble, Tuesday lands in his deserted childhood home, intent on rebuilding it and himself. Skipper (The Baptism of Billy Bean ) moves easily in dark terrain, but he’s also conversant with redemption; the novel bears an odd sense of charm that has roots in authentic characters and Skipper’s ease of language. This is a flinty novel of troubled times for these troubled times. (Mar.)