Bill has no job, no money and no mother '... his mother was dead and kind of freeze-dried in her bedroom'. She doesn't smell as bad as she used to, but her welfare checks are piling up and Bill doesn't feel smart enough to forge her signature. So he decides to rob a firecracker stand across the highway from his house, for cash and may be a few loud bangs into the bargain. The heist goes horribly wrong and Bill winds up on the run with a freak show. Could it be that Bill's loser days are over? Nope ... 'Should please Lansdale's many devoted followers . . . Fast, furious, finger-lickin' pages' The Times