The course of the book extends the techniques of his last, the Wild semi-sequel, Sailor's Holiday, being a collection of inter-connected novellas sharing characters, time, place and themes. The titular piece takes a Faulkner quote at the outset - "Women are impervious to evil" - and serves up the tale of Big Betty Stalcup and Miss Cutie Early (Gifford can always be relied upon for names to conjure with), a truly wild at heart lesbian Fundamentalist re-reading of Thelma & Louise as the two jailbirds take to the road with their self-penned Book Of Becoming - "EVERYBODY is a SINNER. If not for the eternal presence of Miss Jesus our Holy Mother and One True Companion we...would never be gived a Second Chance" - preaching their doctrine at the barrel of a gun, determined to educate at least one man before the end of the world.

In 'The Secret Life of Insects', sibling rival is stepped-up a notch with brother and sister duelling in rival ministries at odds over abortion rights, but all the time masking a dark family secret that will end in violence. 'The Ballad Of Easy Earl' is that of a black man who accidentally kills a cop in a bar brawl, leaving another seriously wounded, and taking it on the hoof to see his old lover and ultimately keep an appointment with destiny. And finally we learn the exact nature of 'The Crime Of Marble Lesson', the fourteen year-old's complicated family life, and her devotion to God and writing: "Stick close with me Jesus I am on your side forever."

The collection takes its title from Tennessee Williams - "There's something wild in the country/that only the night people know" - and paints a convincing portrait of the Deep South in all its gritty shapes and patterns - rape, incest, AIDS, poverty, racism - but without losing the essential sweaty romanticism of the country, the people and places. As with Wild At Heart and Sailor's Kiss, Gifford's tales oft take to the road across the region, in cars and on buses, in this road map of dreams and nightmares.

Usually drawn under the umbrella of the crime genre, Gifford's literary prose is spare and mercuric, recalling the terse novels of militant New York lawyer Andrew Vachss, and his sharp, crackling, essentially real ear for dialogue is worthy of no less than Elmore Leonard himself. He succeeds in cutting away the unnecessary from these stories, propelling them through a manic energy, alternately witty and harsh, violent and sentimental. The heart of Night People is a sticky, authentic atmosphere tinged with the occasional element of the surreal, bright lights and dark shadows, peopled by those to whom life seems more to happen than be lived. Barry Gifford par excellence, and a total delight.