"Believers" is Charlie Baxter at the top of his game: totally unassuming grace and a compassion for his characters that makes reading these stories a fulfulling experience.The first story in this collection, "Kiss Away", is up there with Joyce Carol Oates's "Where are You Going, Where Have you Been?" and Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" on my list of the all-time most haunting short stories which leave the reader feeling vaguely terrified.