One of my favorite books from the past year was “Knockemstiff” by Donald Ray Pollock. This collection of short stories was set in a rural community in southern Ohio. Pollock knows how much I liked his book. The other day he suggested that I might enjoy “The Dart League King” by Keith Lee Morris.

Pollock says that “people will be reading ‘The Dart League King’ for years to come. I’d wager a 12-pack on it.” I had never heard of Morris so Pollock’s recommendation led me to a novel I probably would not have read otherwise.

The story unfolds on a Thursday night — dart night in Garnet Lake, Idaho. Most of the action revolves around a dart league having a match at a bar called the 321 Club.

Morris assembles a cast of characters who circulate through the tavern. Each character portrays the action taking place from his or her point of view. There’s almost a cinematic quality to the way time elapses. As each chapter opens the action is rewound an extra notch to the last moments from the previous chapter.

This technique gives the story a herky-jerky quality that becomes rather hypnotic. Morris ratchets up the heat and the friction until the tension is so tightly twisted that these characters and his readers are all just about ready to scream.

Morris imagines characters that are so real, so human, so vulnerable, so damaged, that we feel like we are learning the dirty little secrets we always wanted to know about people we have observed but never really understood.

There’s Russell Harmon. He’s the Dart League King of the title. Russell’s got a bit of a drug problem. He’s a small-time drug peddler working a job he hates, cutting down trees in the timber industry. His only happiness comes from being the best dart player in town.

Vince Thompson is Russell’s cocaine supplier. Vince is 42 years old and angry. Russell owes Vince a lot of money. As the dart tournament begins Vince is trying to decide whether he’s angry enough to do Russell serious harm.

Tristan Mackey is a member of Russell’s dart team. He seems to have everything going his way but he’s really just a huge mess. Brice Habersham is actually the best dart player in town. Brice has a big secret. And Kelly Ashton can’t decide between Russell or Tristan.

The most compelling characters — Russell, Vince, and Kelly — share a common bond; they miss their fathers. Vince, the enraged drug dealer, talks to himself in a nonstop stream of profanity that is somehow amazingly endearing.