Book Description
Since a mysterious childhood illness, Harry Wilkes has experienced horrific visions. Gruesome scenes emerge to replay themselves before his eyes. Triggered by simple sounds, these visions occur anywhere a tragic event has happened. Now in college, Harry feels haunted and turns to alcohol to dull his visionary senses. One night, he sees a fellow drunk easily best three muggers. In this man, Harry finds not only a friend that will help him kick the booze, but also a sensei who will teach him to master his unusual gift. Soon Harry’s childhood crush, Kayla, comes and asks for help solving her father’s murder. Unsure of how it will affect him, Harry finds the strength to confront the dark secrets of the past, only to unveil the horrors of the present. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Works on every level
I've followed Lansdale for twenty years-read his "Twilight Zone Magazine" short stories like a kid tearing into a Halloween bag of candy. So my expectations are high. Often-with other writers-that leads to disappointment. Not with Mr. Lansdale and especially Lost Echoes. The heroes aren't clean-cut, but they aren't nasties you're ashamed to like. There's a nice balance. Lansdale's dialog is wicked cool (but I agree with one of the other reviewers that it doesn't always click. I chock that up to not every attempt at being fresh is going to also be good. I'd rather have some duds than a book full of dull writing, which Lansdale has never put out). This one keeps you turning pages and the surprises are shocking.

Slow-moving
Joe Lansdale's books are always more about character vignettes than plot, and this book is no different. That said, it does takes a little longer before the plot kicks in -- 2/3 of the way through.A little too long, in my estimation.Another thing I noticed that bothered me a bit is that all the characters seemed to talk the same way, with the same manner of speaking. Maybe it's always that way with his books, but it stood out more for me this time.

That said, I still liked this book -- I *like* character vignettes.

Darkness on the Edge of Sound
Attempting a crime thriller with a supernatural twist is risky literary business, but prolific author Joe Lansdale has the chops to pull it off - barely.This is the story of Harry Wilkes, who thanks to a severe childhood ear infection is given the unwanted gift of hindsight triggered by sounds.Put Harry in the vicinity of a violent death and, if triggered by the right sound, an instant replay of whatever gruesome past event took place.Needless to say, neither a pleasant nor desirable talent, which sentences poor Harry to a life of carefully plotted places and activities in an attempt to prevent the next horror show.But after living a life trying to avoid his "sixth sense", Harry must eventually make the choice of confronting his nightmares in order to help Kayla, former crush of his east-Texas childhood and current rookie cop on the local police force - and still a "hottie".While somewhat reminiscent of M. Night Shyamalan's "Sixth Sense", or more recently, or Tom Piccarilli's bizarre "Headstone City", Lansdale's twist on a second sight is fresh and unique.

"Echoes" starts fast and furious, getting the reader riveted early, but about midway through slows and starts gets a bit muddy.The dialogue is uneven - snappy and darkly humorous at times, dull and uninspired at others.But for me, much of the slowdown can be attributed to Tad Peters, a middle-aged drunk who happens to be a Bruce Lee-class martial artist, independently wealthy, wholly unbelievable, and totally annoying.But we're to believe that the sodden Tad has the mojo to turn Harry's life around, get them both off the sauce, save fair Kayla, and clear her father's good name.But thankfully, just before Tad manages to sink this notable effort, Lansdale recovers and salvages the story with a climax worthy of the crackerjack beginning.All things considered, an off-the-beaten-track-kind of a book that while not without flaws is a worthy read.

Didn't live up to the description
This was an OK book, but it did not live up to the description given by Amazon or anyone else.It was old fashioned and slow, the characters were not really engaging enough and the plot never really picked up steam.This is the type of book that always makes me think I can write a better mystery, unfortunately.

Excellent, but not quite up to his usual standards
I couldn't grab this book quick enough when I saw it. Lansdale is an amazing writer, and as usual, this book was a joy to read.

As great as it was, it just wasn't quite as good as all of his previous efforts. It felt almost as if he had a deadline he had to meet and rushed through the story. Remember the differences between the short story "Mad Dog Summer" and the novel it eventually became, "The Bottoms?" It's almost a case of that. It feels like there are a lot of details missing from the book, and that we never truly get to meet all of the characters the way we usually do with Lansdale's works.

Now make no mistake - this is an excellent book. I would happily settle down with Lansdale's grocery list if he made it available - he is just that great of a writer. He's got a real way with words, and he isn't afraid to approach the darker territories. His dialogue is stunning - I think anyone who writes fiction could take a page or two from his books.

I did love this book, I would just have liked to see more detail and a more fleshed-out plot. ... Read more

Book Description
Dead in the West is the story of Mud Creek, Texas, a town overshadowed by a terrible evil. An Indian medicine man, unjustly lynched by the people of Mud Creek, has put a curse on the town. As the sun sets, he will have his revenge. For when darkness falls, the dead will walk in Mud Creek and they will be hungry for human flesh. The only one that can save the town is Reverend Jebediah Mercer, a gun toting preacher man who came to Mud Creek to escape his past. He has lost his faith in the Lord and his only solace is the whisky bottle. Will he renew his faith in himself and God to defeat this evil or will the town be destroyed? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Thumbs up.
First chapter starts off a slow, contemplated putting the book down half way through it. Second chapter picks up considerably. The book continues this momentium throughout. Overall a fun read.

Cowboys and Indians, Dead Style.
Dead in the West is a yarn about Reverend Jebediah Mercer, a preacher who has lost his faith and has come to Mud Creek, an east Texas town that has a curse on it.Not so long ago the townsfolk unjustly lynched an Indian Medicine man and butchered his mixed race wife.Before he died, the Medicine man cursed the town and now the dead have come back to life to extract revenge on Mud Creek's citizens, whether they were involved with the lynching or not.

Overall, the story is a very fast read and fairly entertaining.Good mixed genre stuff; it is more than just a step above "Dead West", a graphic novel that is quite similar to this work.In that story, we have the last surviving member of a tribe extracting revenge on the town of Lazarus for wiping out his tribe.A mysterious stranger comes to town and ends up getting mixed up in things, just like Reverend Jeb in this book.

One of the key differences is that this story is much more fleshed out and we are given some detailed characters, including the Reverend, a young stable boy he befriends, the town doctor, and his beautiful daughter.Reverend Jeb is a tortured soul who is trying to find his faith again and felt that he was called to this backwoods town by God for some reason and of course, since he is a crack shot and is willing to use his gun, like a sword, to smite the devil, we already know we are going to get some exciting action as Jeb faces off against the living dead as well as the demon possessed Indian that wants revenge on Mud Creek.

Joe Lansdale has a comfortable and tight writing style that makes the story fly by with ease.I read it in a couple of hours and enjoyed most of it.Certainly, there are some classic old west stereotypes with the characters, but that allows you to slip into the story comfortably.Despite the graphic novel mentioned above that is very similar, this work has to stand out as quite creative and unique.A fun time for anyone who enjoys undead fiction and/or old west tales.

A Western Zombie tale
I read World War Z recently and found it to be so enjoyable it put me in the mood for more apocalyptic zombie fiction. I had also recently read Joe Lansdale's "The Bottoms" and found it to be a moving, highly literate coming of age story. So I thought, "why not combine the two experiences and read a Lansdale zombie story?" So I ordered this book from Amazon based upon the other reviews and read it last night.

Hmmmm. This wasn't a literate novel like The Bottoms. In fact, it isn't even a novel. At 147 pages, with sparse text on each page, I am not even sure it stretches to novella. There is also little character development; the figures in the book are just stereotyped character sketches. There's the hard-drinking gun-toting preacher who doubts in God, the redneck town bully, the native indian curse, the elderly, good-willed town doctor, his beautiful daughter, the bullied teenager in need of a father figure, and the sheriff tormented by his failing to uphold justice through a lapse in character. The story is a pulp dime-store book and the cover art depicts it well. Now despite what may seem like a list of shortcomings, as long as you aware of what you are buying, I can see how this would be a pretty enjoyable read especially for the younger set. It has the feel and lfavor of a book directed at pre-teens or teenagers. Yes, the characters and story are simple, but if you are hankering for a fast-paced, quick read about zombies battling it out with dead-eyed gunslingers on a mission from God, then this one will hit the spot. The book doesn't pretend to be anything but what it is, an enjoyable pulp combining the zombie and Western genres for a fun little novella. It's kind of pricy for what you get, but if you can pick it up used and like these genres, you'll enjoy this romp.

I prefer denser stories with more development. If you do as well, then let me heartily recommend World War Z if you want a zombie book, or if you want literature let me recommend The Bottoms, a book hauntingly reminiscent of an updated To Kill a Mockingbird. If you like pulps though, I thought this was a reasonably decent one.

Zombie in the Old West
Lansdale seemlessly blends motifs of the horror and western genre in this very short, fast-paced book.

However, I felt that Lansdale is trying to shock a little too hard in some of his passages (wait till you find out what kind of emotional baggage the preacher is carrying around), but also makes it seem a rather casual aspect of the plot.

The "zombies" have an interesting fusion of mythology attached to them and certain parts of the story seem to prefigure "From Dusk Till Dawn".

A great book and an excellent example of how the horror western can succeed when written like this.

The best of the best
For some strange reason Joe Lansdale often carried the tag of horror writer for many years which is peculiar since out of the 20 or so books of his, only "The Drive-In" and "Dead in the West" are horror novels.Many of his novels are either westerns, hard-boiled mysteries or strange combinations of both.Dead in the West is another unique crossover as only Lansdale can do, a short novel that seamlessly combines the western and horror genres to mold a "zombie western".Let it be said that Dead in the West is one of the best and most unique contributions ever to the horror genre.

Reverend Jeb Mercer is a man of god who has lost much of his faith due to the many unfortunate circumstances that have shaped his life.Every once in a while Jeb still communicates with the lord and this time He has sent Jeb to the East Texas town of Mud Creek on a mission, a mission about what Jeb is uncertain but he boards his mule, packs his guns and heads over to the sleepy desert town.Jeb will soon find out that the town has been cursed by an Indian shaman and that is why everyone in Mud Creek is turning into slow shuffling zombies.Can the Reverend, a man of god who has lost his faith, save the town from the dark pits of hell that await?

The ideas are great and truly original but it is Lansdale's writing that make this novel so exceptional.He has a way with words and with humour that just jump at you and make you stare at the page in disbelief.The dialogue is some of the funniest ever and all the words seem to flow seamlessly on the pages.This is one of those novels that is very hard to put down unfinished.On the surface, the plot seems like one of a pulpy dime novel but it has such a tight structure and sense of atmosphere that it becomes so much more.This book has more treasures in 120 pages than most books of 400 pages could ever think of having.

Most of the novel would be classified as a western until that is the invasion of zombies in the last 30 pages or so that turn it into a bloody, gory and extremely graphic zombie gut-muncher.This is one of those gems that should never go out of print and should obtain classic status but because of how unconventional it is will forever remain an obscure cult anomaly. If you are a fan of Joe or horror in general what are you waiting for?Hunt this book down, then settle into your favourite chair with a bowl of chili on the side and let Joe take you on for the ride of your life.
... Read more

Amazon.com
Joe Lansdale, author of several horror novels, Westerns, andsome outrageous thrillers, is something of a cult writer. The Bottoms,which may be the breakout book that moves Lansdale beyond the genre category, isa resonant and moving novel. Though there is a mystery at its core, it is atheart a coming-of-age story, with a more literary bent than Lansdale usuallydemonstrates.

Harry, an elderly man, tells the story of a series of events that occurred inhis 11th year, when the mutilated, murdered bodies of Negro prostitutes beganturning up in the county where his father was the local constable. Harry andTom, his younger sister, find the first one. Only their father, Jacob Crane,seems to care about finding justice for the victims, who are dismissed out ofhand as unimportant by the local branch of the Ku Klux Klan, which warns Jacoboff any further investigations. Harry and Tom think they know who'sresponsible: the Goat Man, a creature who's said to lurk beneath the swingingbridge that crosses the Sabine River, where the first body was found.In fact,the Goat Man has something to do with the murders, and the secret of who he isand what he really did is the key to the unsolved slayings. But that takessecond place to the artfully explicated character of Jacob and Harry's changingrelationship with him in the course of the loss of his boyish innocence. Thisis a masterfully told story and a very good read. --Jane AdamsBook Description
Joe Lansdale, author of several horror novels, Westerns, andsome outrageous thrillers, is something of a cult writer. The Bottoms,which may be the breakout book that moves Lansdale beyond the genre category, isa resonant and moving novel. Though there is a mystery at its core, it is atheart a coming-of-age story, with a more literary bent than Lansdale usuallydemonstrates.Harry, an elderly man, tells the story of a series of events that occurred inhis 11th year, when the mutilated, murdered bodies of Negro prostitutes beganturning up in the county where his father was the local constable. Harry andTom, his younger sister, find the first one. Only their father, Jacob Crane,seems to care about finding justice for the victims, who are dismissed out ofhand as unimportant by the local branch of the Ku Klux Klan, which warns Jacoboff any further investigations. Harry and Tom think they know who'sresponsible: the Goat Man, a creature who's said to lurk beneath the swingingbridge that crosses the Sabine River, where the first body was found.In fact,the Goat Man has something to do with the murders, and the secret of who he isand what he really did is the key to the unsolved slayings. But that takessecond place to the artfully explicated character of Jacob and Harry's changingrelationship with him in the course of the loss of his boyish innocence. Thisis a masterfully told story and a very good read. --Jane AdamsDownload Description
The talented voice of East Texas delivers a riveting, poignant, and suspenseful tale of a Depression-era serial murder seen through the eyes of a young boy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (80)

Great book!
This was a great book! It took a little while to get into the East Texas slang and language but after I did, it was a great story. The ending was a complete surprise, too - which is nice in a mystery.

A FANTASTIC READ!
I really enjoyed this book.The plot was great.The writing was a bit choppy (4 stars because I think this book, if not the author, could use a good editor), but maybe my version was different.I read it on an eBook.

Still, as another reviewer said, the descriptions made it like I was THERE.It helps that I'm from East Texas, and I'm familiar with the Sabine River and surrounding.

I FELT for the characters in this book, and it was MUCH more than just a story.It was a telling of a life, and I just wanted it to go on.I didn't want the book to end.The updates at the end were a nice touch, though.

All in all, a DELICIOUS story; one DEFINITELY worth owning.

This one surprised me...
It is sometimes something of a chore to find something worthwhile to read, especially after you have just read an exceptionally good book and don't want anything less worthy in your next one. I just finished World War Z a few days ago, which was as fun and entertaining a book as I have read all year, and I wanted another truly good horror book, or at least something that could make me stop thinking about my last book. I decided I wanted an award-winning book so googled "stoker awards" and "edgar awards" and saw that this book won best novel in 2001. A-ha! This should be good I thought, let's get this and get those zombies out of my head. So I did. And it was good. It wasn't anything like I thought though.

I started reading this after dinner and just kept reading until I finished around midnight. I thought this was a horror novel and that Lansdale was a horror writer. I am pretty sure he has written horror novels, but this isn't really one of them. Nevertheless the book did break the spell of World War Z and I was transported to East Texas in the heart of the depression in the 1930's where I meet Harry, an eleven year old boy growing up in the poverty of the time. This is very much his coming-of-age story, highly reminiscent of To Kill a Mockingbird, that follows Harry as he finds the corspe of a black woman who has been tortured and molested. Harry reports the crime to his father, the local constable and town barber. The crime happens again, and then yet again, and we begin to realize a serial killer is stalking women in the area. As the killer begins to stalk white women, racial violence, always simmering beneath the surface of the area, explodes to the grief of all. Harry, his family, and their lives are caught up and inextricably woven into this tale of sadness, discrimination, love, loyalty and learning one's space for oneself within the world.

The mystery is really never that mysterious to us that are reading the novel. After all we are such much experienced with serial killers today. The characters in the novel though cannot discern the clues around them and that is part of what makes this such an effective novel. We watch as the protagonists struggle against ignorance, fear, prejudice, discrimination and pure lack of experience as their small world is shattered one woman at a time. The denouement is also very satisfying as Harry confronts the serial killer and as he explains his own perception of himself to Harry. This is a very tender book, very well-written, and very moving and effective. I can see why it won a best book award and I think most people would enjoy this novel very much.

This is a good starter novel if you don't know Joe
This is one of those books that I lend out to people if they have never heard of an author.(yes I actually have the books returned to me) the overall story is excellent, the characters are well defined and the whole thing moves along at a nice pace. It is nice to read a detective book where all the characters are neither handsome or wealthy but have to deal with crappy day to day things like everyone else. Give it a read. If you like this move onto his Hap & Leonard series which are a hoot. Those I don't lend out.

Exceptional Edgar Award Winning Book

I picked up THE BOTTOMS after it won the 2001 Edgar Award for Best Novel. Like someone else here said, this was my introduction to Joe Lansdale. However, it won't be the last book of his I read. It was excellent and very deserving of its Edgar Award.

It's not a typical mystery or suspense. A quote on the cover calls the book another "To Kill A Mockingbird," and in my opinion, the comparison fits. Yes, there is some bad stuff going on in this book. And yes, there are some action scenes that will keep you up really late. But in total, THE BOTTOMS is a rich, sometimes brutal, look at life in the South in the 1930s. It's told from the point of view of a twelve-year old boy, and it meanders like the mind of such a boy. Yet there is nothing slow about the book. You will be tempted to savor it, even while wanting to read faster. As a writer, I found myself fascinated by the wealth of detail and texture. Yet, I was never tempted to skim.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Mr. Lansdale did an exceptional job, and I'm looking froward to reading more of his work.

... Read more

Product Description
The Nightrunners is considered by many to be one of the best horror/suspense novels to date.It has had a passionate following for years. On its twentieth anniversary, Subterranean Press will release this novel as part of its Signature Series, in a volume that also contains stories that were inspired by, or drawn from, the novel while Lansdale waited for it to sell.The novel and stories have influenced numerous writers over the years, and are now gathered for the first time (with a new, never-before-published tale) in this unique tribute volume celebrating one of the most influential and award-winning writers of the last two decades.The God of the Razor will be designed as a companion volume to the Lansdale tribute anthology, Lords of the Razor, featuring a full color cover by TimothyTruman, and twenty full page black-and-white illustrations for the short stories and novel by Glenn Chadborne. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Joker's Gone Wild With an Airship
This is a Young Adult novel about one of the Batman's Greatest cases.Well, Greatest according to our young narrator, who admits he's a bit biased because he gets to help.

The story is pretty staight ahead actioner.Recently moved to Gotham City from East Texas, our your narrator decides to creep onto a rooftop to help a cat -- it's just the right thing to do.There, he stumbles onto a mystery.The Joker, Clown Prince of Crime, has himself an airship and he's up to no good!It's up to our hero (with a little help from Batman, all right a bunch of help) to figure out the sinister plot and put an end to it.

Fun, fun, fun.This novel reads like a great comic book, the kind of thing you just don't want to put down.Luckily, the size is such that you'll be done in an hour or two.Makes great reading aloud, too. ... Read more

Book Description
Florida Grange, Leonard's drop-dead gorgeous lawyer and Hap's former lover, has vanished in Klan-infested Grovetown while in pursuit of the real story behind the jailhouse death of a legendary bluesman's blackguard son.Fearing the worst, Hap and Leonard set out to do the kind of investigating the good ole boy cops can't - or won't - do. In Grovetown they encounter a redneck police chief, a sadistic Christmas tree grower, and townsfolk itchin' for a lynchin'.Add to this a dark night exhumation in a voodoo graveyard, a thunderstorm of Biblical proportions, and flat-out sudden murder.Hap and Leonard vow to face the hate and find Florida, even if Leonard has to put a hole in anyone who gets in the way.Besides, they've packed a lunch. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Classic Lansdale
Lansdale delivers another fine novel featuring Hap Collins and Leonard Pine, one of the oddest (and toughest) couples in mystery fiction.Hap, straight and white, and Leonard, gay and black, travel to Grovetown,Texas, a city that makes Johannesburg look like a bastion of racial unity.They are searching for Hap's ex-girlfriend Florida Grange, last seen there.Wisecracking all the way (even when they're getting the s**t kicked out of `em), the boys stir up a hornet's nest, and in the process learn some hard lessons about themselves and the nature of their friendship.

Two Bear evoked memories of the best of Robert B. Parker and John D. MacDonald.Parker, because of the dialogue, and MacDonald because of the characterization.Lansdale's characters are real people who can get hurt, even killed-- he really puts them through the wringer.Their adversaries aren't cardboard villains, twirling handlebar mustaches.Menacing and memorable, driven by hate, greed, prejudice, lust and ignorance, these folks are scary because you might meet them in real life.

In short, The Two Bear Mambo is classic Lansdale--a good, tough thoroughly enjoyable book that you will remember long after finishing.

Another Hap and Leonard Hit!
Books like these are what everyone should be reading. It's damn near a crime that they aren't, but I guess it makes those of us who ARE fans a special little group.

Lansdale is completely unafraid to do what he has to do to further his stories. That means people you like will die, or turn out to be bad folks. It means you can't get too comfortable and think you know what's going to happen when you settle down with one of Lansdale's masterpieces.

"Two-Bear Mambo" continues the Hap & Leonard friendship: a white heterosexual Democrat and a black homosexual Republican, respectively. The story begins on Christmas Eve, where Leonard is burning down the crackhouse next door for the third time. The two friends are approached by their police buddies and sent on a mission to track down their friend: Florida Grange - Hap's old flame and Leonard's lawyer. Grange was last seen in Grovetown, a real, live throwback to the heavily segregated racist '60's.

Of course, they leave right away, and once again start stirring up trouble and townfolk in the flooded little town. As previously mentioned, no one is ever who you think they are, and things are never what they seem.

Bravo, Lansdale.

Humor with a heavy dose of racism
Hap and Leonard just can't seem to keep themselves out of trouble. At the beginning of The Two-Bear Mambo, Leonard is yet again setting fire to the drug dealers' house next door. Their friend Lt. Hanson has to take them in just because, but when Hap's ex-girlfriend -- and Hanson's current squeeze -- Florida Grange goes missing, Hanson agrees to drop the charges if Hap and Leonard will go look for her in Grovetown, a burg in East Texas known for its violent Klan members, and where Florida was last seen.

The Two-Bear Mambo is so far the most unflinching in its portrayal of Southern racism. Grovetown is even worse than I could have imagined and Lansdale does not look away for a moment. Leonard is the obvious target, but Hap's association with him brings him into the fray of violence as well. And as for Florida: well, no one as yet has admitted to even seeing her...

My white Southern guilt was intensified while reading The Two-Bear Mambo; the characters, their ideas, and their violence are all-too familiar from my upbringing. So much so that I could barely even bring myself to read it in public, afraid of what the people around me -- seeing the N-word on nearly every page -- would think I was reading (as if the barely euphemistic title weren't embarrassing enough).

But the trademark Lansdale humor abounds in sarcastic remarks and in the first-person narration of Hap -- whose difference from the author himself seems to be getting less and less. Lansdale has said that he is very comfortable with the voice of Hap and the easy-going prose makes that obvious. Despite my emotional reaction to the book, I look forward to continuing the adventures of Hap Collins and Leonard Pine. I'm glad they can't keep away from trouble; if they did, I'd be reading some other book that isn't nearly as fun.

If you can find it, GET IT!
Sad to think this book is already out of print.This one is the third installment of the Hap/Leonard series and picks up where Mucho Mojo left off.The pair rush off to the aid of a friend, but pay the price for their outsize egos as they find themselves in a part of the South where the calendars seem to be set 30 years behind schedule. There are no quick, easy resolutions to be found and the Hap and Leonard at the end of the book are markedly different from the two at the beginning.As always, Mr. Lansdale's keen ability to understand and describe human nature is evident.Highly recommended!

A TOWN'S PURE EVIL ALMOST KILLS OUR TWO HEROES!!!!
THE TWO-BEAR MAMBO by Joe R. Lansdale continues the saga of Hap Collins and Leonard Pine where MUCHO MOJO left off.It starts out with Hap arriving at Leonard's house on Christmas Eve night.Blasting out of his friend's home is the music to "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" and Leonard is next door, kicking righteous butt and burning down the neighborhood crack house once again.The police pull Hap and Leonard in, but Lieutenant Marvin Hanson gets them off the hook, provided they do him a small favor.It seems that Hap's old girlfriend, Florida Grange (the one who left him for Hanson) took off to Grovetown, Texas to do an article on a black musician who supposedly hung himself while in the custody of the local police.Florida has suddenly vanished, and Hanson wants Hap and Leonard to pay a visit to Grovetown to see if they can find out anything.The only problem is that this particular Texas town is right out of the fifties and sixties.It's a viper's nest filled with Klansmen, led by Jackson Brown, who enjoy murdering the black folks and seem to be getting away with it.Both Hap and Leonard know that they're going to have their hands full just trying to stay alive as they attempt to investigate Florida's disappearance.Even together, as tough as they are, both men are going to find out that they've bitten off more than they can chew when they take on the populace of Grovetown.They'll find themselves in the middle of free-for-all that would put Billy Jack to shame and come very close to getting beaten to death.Both men will discover true fear for the first time in their lives and have to find a way of dealing with it as their injuries heal, if they want to be able to face each other again, as well as solve the mystery of what happened to Florida when they eventually return to Grovetown to face the evil of its people.THE TWO-BEAR MAMBO will give you a slightly different perspective of our two heroes this time around, making them more flawed and human.As tough as Hap and Leonard are, they're not invincible, and both of them come very close to death as they seek to right a wrong.They will find out things about themselves that will at first be difficult to face; yet, in the long run will make them stronger.Though a part of me knows that these two characters are fictional, the writing is so good that another part of me almost believes that they're real.These are guys that I'd simply love to hang out with, and it's a tribute to the talent of Joe R. Lansdale that he's created such believable characters...characters who are funny, skilled martial artists, almost always unemployed, who have the same kinds of problems with relationships that real people do, and who have a strong sense of honor and justice that gets them into trouble more often than not.Mr. Lansdale is able to do this because he has a unique skill in writing that comes off as being natural and down to earth, but is actually a master craftsman at work.He knows how to make each and every character in the novel come alive in ways I wish other authors could emulate.I never know how each book is going to end; and, quite often, I find myself stunned by who gets killed off.As you can probably tell, the "Hap Collins/Leonard Pine" series has swept me off of my feet in a way that few other books have, and it's one I can highly recommend to any reader who loves novels filled with action, humor, self-reflection, and characters that make you truly believe.I honestly don't know what I'm going to do after I read SAVAGE SEASON and then CAPTAINS OUTRAGEOUS.I wish I could sit down with Hap and Leonard, have a beer, and talk about this particular problem.Of course, I wouldn't get any sympathy from them.In fact, I'd probably have to spend an hour or more listening to their problems!! ... Read more

Book Description
When a group of friends decided to spend a day at the world's largest Drive-In theater horror fest, they expected to see tons of bloody murders, rampaging madmen, and mayhem - but only on the screen. As a mysterious force traps all the patrons inside the Drive-In, the worst in humanity comes out. Filled with Lansdale's razor whit and black humor, The Drive-In is a darkly humorous masterpiece! Collected here is the complete four issue series with bonus material including a new interview with Lansdale himself about the writing of The Drive-In. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

TRUE DRIVE-IN HORROR
The Adaptation of Joe Lansdale's "The Drive-In" is as much about humanistic horror as it is supernatural.A devious, and visceral lab experiment with humans as the test subjects.A group of young friends in Texas decide to spend an evening at the Orbit drive-in movie theater to see an all night long horror film festival with movies like "Evil Dead", "Dawn of the Dead", "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", and more, but the terror will soon turn all too real.Best friends Jack and Bob, along with sheepish Randy, and tough biker Willard think they're in for a long evening of horror classics and beer when the appearance of a meteor changes everything.Suddenly the four friends find themselves trapped in the drive-in with hundreds of other customers by an otherworldly force.They are virtually cut off from the rest of the world by a darkened sky and an impenetrable wall which virtually melts anyone who tries to leave.

Without any means of calling for help, and dwindling food supplies from the concession stand, it is the reactions of the captives that provide the true horror.Some rage forth to try and takeover the concession stand for themselves, others decide that end of the world sex is the way to go, while a fundamentalist Christian movement starts up preaching the way of God.Jack retreats into a shell and has to be pulled out of his self-imposed isolation by Bob who has a hidden stash of food in his car.Meanwhile Willard and Randy's relationship soon turns grossly symbiotic.The pair takes over the concession stand and are struck by a bolt of lightening which should have killed them both.Instead, the pair's bodies have become virtually fused together in a twisted, corroded form that now calls itself the Popcorn King.This demonic dark lord soon has most of the residents worshipping him as a God, even as he feasts upon their bodies.Bob & Jack soon realize that they may be the only hope of salvation for the survivors as they hatch a plot to destroy the Popcorn King.

Lansdale's original story is adapted by Christopher Golden who is probably best known for his Buffy the Vampire Slayer novels as well as writer of the Buffy comic for Dark Horse.He is aided greatly by the beautifully chaotic artwork of Andres Guinaldo who captures the drive-in in all its animalistic glory.The true horror isn't the demonic Popcorn King but seeing how humanity quickly degrades in the face of adversity.Typical, and outstanding Lansdale and a fine job by Golden and Guinaldo.The graphic novel also includes an interview with Landsdale.

Reviewed by Tim Janson
... Read more

Book Description
In the middle of a cyclone, beautiful, red-haired Sunset Jones shoots her husband Pete dead when he tries to beat and rape her. To Camp Rapture’s general consternation, Sunset’s mother-in-law arranges for her to take over from Pete as town constable.As if that weren’t hard enough to swallow in depression era east Texas, Sunset actually takes the job seriously, and her investigation into a brutal double murder pulls her into a maelstrom of greed, corruption, and unspeakable malice.It is a case that will require a well of inner strength she never knew she had. Spirited and electrifying, Sunset and Sawdust is a mystery and a tale like nothing you’ve read before. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

A Fun Read!!
Fun read with great characters and believable dialog.I like it when the main subjects are not perfect, have relatable traits, and are down to earth.The story has a couple of twists that make the book hard to put down.This is my first Joe R. Lansdale read and it won't be my last.Highly Recommended!

East Texas Heroine
Riley, an old farmer, doesn't think it's wise to take Peter Jones' wife to her mother-in-law since she is wearing Riley's shirt and packing Pete's .38, which she used to kill her husband.
The wind blew and Sunset Jones had had enough of her abusive husband. Marylin Jones, who owns three-quarters of the sawmill that keeps the town struggling along during the brutal depression in the East Texas hill country. Marylin pulls one and appoints her daughter-in-law to fulfill her husband's job as constable.
Joe R. Lansdale's noir tale of Jim Crow laws and the Klan has a surprise twist when Sunset takes her job seriously and wins against all odds. Not a lady to stay home and mind her knitting.
Lansdale is in a class by himself and worth every read from this talented, award winning author.
Nash Black, author of "Qualifying Laps" and "Sins of the Fathers."

The red hair is no lie
Joe R. Lansdale is in a genre all-his-own, a genre that for the most part focuses on East Texas and the characters who populate that neck of the woods. He sometimes writes with an eye on horror, and because horror wears many disguises, from zombies to child abusers to abject poverty itself, Mr. Lansdale's subject matter is often diverse and multi-faceted. But what remains unchanged throughout all his tales is the masterful story-telling, rich with human suffering and endurance. I sometimes feel as if I am reading an Erskine Caldwell or a John Steinbeck novel when reading Mr. Lansdale's work, though not because of style, mind you (Mr. Lansdale has a distinct style unique to him only), but because of the time-lines in American history in which these stories unfold, time-lines where poverty often plays a pivotal role in the story's primary conflict and resolution. Writing with an economic turn of word in _Sunset and Sawdust_, Mr. Lansdale captures an era in which practicing frugality was not an option but a necessity forced on a good many people across America, just as it is today in these inflationary times.

_Sunset and Sawdust_ unfolds during the Depression Era thirties in a sawmill town called Camp Rapture, a place peopled with the kinds of quirky characters Joe Lansdale is famous for creating. The first line in the book reads: On the afternoon it rained frogs, sun perch, and minnows, Sunset discovered she could take a beating good as Three-Fingered-Jack. And indeed our main character, Sunset Jones, does take a beating in more ways than one in this flavored tale about overcoming the odds. As the novel opens, red haired Sunset is living up to her crown-of-fire namesake when she takes one beating too many from her abusive husband Pete Jones, and shoots him in the head with his own .38, right when a mean cyclone is hitting the house, tearing it to shreds around her. (This is East Texas near the Sabine, where it can rain frogs and sun perch, and if the sheer heat, humidity, and bugs don't drive you crazy, an abusive husband certainly can, with or without tornadoes.)

Bruised and bloody from the severe beating she's taken Sunset staggers from the wreck of her home, nearly naked with a shard of broken glass embedded in her shoulder and Pete's revolver still dangling from her hand, and wanders out into the road. An old farmer named Riley, who is passing by in a wagon just then, sees her, offers her his shirt, and takes her to her mother-in-law's home when she requests the ride, though not without first commenting to her that he doesn't think it's a good idea to go to Marilyn Jones's under the circumstances. And while town matriarch Marilyn Jones is incensed over her son's killing, she eventually calms down and declares an uneasy truce between herself and Sunset by appointing Sunset the new constable of Camp Rapture, replacing the deceased Constable Pete Jones.

Equipped with her dead husband's .38 revolver holstered at her waist, Sunset undertakes her new job in earnest, surprising everyone in the process, most of all her mother-in-law, Marilyn. Moreover, when Sunset encounters the oil drenched bodies of a woman and an infant buried in a farmer's field in Camp Rapture, she dares to investigate the murders -- all this in the face of roiling opposition from the town leaders and mill workers, many who are Klan members intent on making Sunset accountable for Pete's death.

Some of the characters in _Sunset and Sawdust_ are Hillbilly, a charming ne'er-do-well hobo whom Sunset deputizes; Zendo, a farmer growing the best crops in the bottomlands where the oil drenched bodies are discovered; and Two, a nefarious, psychotic killer who almost seems supernatural, he's so creepy. But these are only a few of the many peculiar backwoods characters who people this engaging novel-with-a-social-message. Rich throughout the telling is Joe Lansdale's original and unflinching talent for turning prose into colloquialisms and dialogue into prose you will not soon forget.

Highly recommended reading.

Comedy Western
"Sunset and Sawdust" is fun to read, you will finish it quickly, root for the good guys (if you can trust `em), and look forward to seeing the movie version in the theater. The plot has twists, too many for willing suspense of disbelief, but maybe that's Landsdale's intent. The language is rich and transports the reader to the dusty hellhole (?) that was depression-era Texas.While some characters are cartoonish ("Two"), Sunset is well conceived and vividly drawn - a shoe in for a famous actress.

Poorly written and often in bad taste
Sunset and Sawdust is a mystery that takes place in East Texas during the Depression.Sunset Jones kills her abusive husband and becomes constable of the logging camp in his stead.When a dead baby is discovered, she begins an investigation that uncovers greed and villainy in the political structure and put her, and all she cares about, in grave danger.

The book jacket calls it a "wildly energetic novel--galvanizing from first to last".What the publishers call "energetic", I call overly fast paced to the point motion sickness; furthermore, I was galvanized to nothing except annoyance.Landsdale's descriptive style is generally crass and rude. Why use just a word when a cuss word or vulgar word can be put in.For example, a dying man thinks, "Goddamn, taken from behind, that's not right, not me, I'm always ready, but goddamn, I feel it, a knife in my back, tight as a bull's dick in a chicken's ass".Such needless vulgarity cheapened the scene, which should have been moving, as well as making it unrealistic.The overusage of "pussy", "bitch" and "dick" and over-focus on sex and attractive women made this appear to the be the work of a hormonal teenager.

Also unrealistic were some of the personal interactions.They seem stilted and fake, and in the case of Sunset and Lee, simply wrong.I found it extremely difficulty to believe that she could accept and trust him that quickly.With other relationships, the dynamics (Two and McBride for instance, or Hillbilly's ability to snow everyone he met) did not have the ring of truth.

In addition, Landsdale's use of run-ons, lack of conjunctures and overall poor writing skills were simply tiresome.This is the writer that has won six Bram Stoker Awards as well as three other awards?Perhaps I've caught him on a bad day.All I can say is that his style is not to my taste and the only thing that kept me reading was curiosity about the murder.I shouldn't have wasted my time, as the outcome followed true to the rest of the book and was a great disappointment. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

LOVE HORROR,HATED THIS BOOK
People are trapped in a drive-in while attending a horror marathon. As times passes the people become more and more crazy. There's also a monster that has taken over and all this is supposedly the result of aliens trying to make their own low-budget horror film. Sounds great! There's no way one could go wrong with this. Ah but wrong I was indeed. This thing is horrible and by the end I was sick at the thought that I actually paid money for this book and took the time to read it. Its just people doing random weird and violent things at a drive-in. Even the "creature" mentioned on the back of the book is a disappointment since all it is is 2 people that got melded together (not a spoiler since you're there for its creation) . As for the aliens, they only make an appearance in a very brief dream sequence. The whole part about them trapping these people to make a movie really just seems like an afterthought thrown in to make the story (or lack thereof) somewhat understandable. Even the climax is one of the most disappointing I have ever had the displeasure of reading. As tempting as this book may seem to be, avoid it. Plus, keep in mind I actually like the movie "Dead End Drive-In" a lot so this book is REALLY awful.

All hail the popcorn king!
This has got to be one of Lansdale's strangest stories.One Friday night at a drive-in in Texas something comes out of the sky and nothing is going to be the same.Everything beyond the fences of the drive-in disappear andas the popcorn and candy run out strange things start to happen.A new godis born and his name is the popcorn king.

This story is extremelyoriginal, fast-paced, full of interesting characters and great dialog. Ithas everything; bad movies, cannibalism, monsters, aliens, and a few othersurprises. ... Read more

Book Description
Hideously disfigured during a bungled firecracker stand hold-up, Bill joins a traveling freak show to evade police. He doesn't stand out too much among the dogmen, bearded women, hermaphrodites, and the mysterious frozen man whose sinister aura seems to link them all.Download Description
Hideously disfigured during a bungled firecracker stand hold-up, Bill joins a traveling freak show to evade police. He doesn't stand out too much among the dogmen, bearded women, hermaphrodites, and the mysterious frozen man whose sinister aura seems to link them all. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Frozen By The Freezer And Burned By The Girl!!!
This movie is about one of life's losers, Bill Roberts. Bill's mother has died andhe doesn't want to forge her signature on her Welfare Checks. Furthermore she has left her house to an Animal Shelter in her Will. Instead of hiring a lawyer and contesting the Will (like any sane person) Bill decides to rob the fireworks stand and is soon caught up in a murder. He flees into the woods and become part of a travelling Carnival where he meets Gidget who is one cold hard hearted lady.Gidget has Murder on her mind and justifies her actions by being self aware that her and Bill are both "Rotten to the core". This book is highly entertaining and I would rank it as one of Joe R. Lansdale's best.

JUST WHO ARE THE FREAKS?
Joe Lansdale is a marvelous writer; I have enjoyed most of the books I've read of his.FREEZER BURN is certainly full of Lansdale's trademark humor and unusual scenarios, but ultimately it loses ground in the story of Bill Roberts and his involvement with Frost's freakshow.The story is filled with sexual innuendo, thoughts, and acts; Gidget is reminiscent of Kathleen Turner in Body Heat, and other femme fatales.Bill comes across selfish and uncaring at times, and when he does care, it's not enough.He's definitely a man ruled by his sexual satisfaction.Lansdale keeps the plot interesting, although the end is basically a downer, and one wonders how else Lansdale could have resolved it...guess this was the only way.Well written but not satisfying.

A HILARIOUS NOVEL ABOUT ADULTERY AND MURDER!!!
First, let me talk for a moment about the writings of Joe R. Lansdale.I'm now totally addicted to this remarkable East Texas author.I think his novel, THE BOTTOMS, is one of the true masterpieces of modern American literature.I love the "Hap/Leonard" series and could read a new novel about these two hilarious and utterly heroic characters every week, if Mr. Lansdale could write the books fast enough.I've read his novellas THE BOAR and THE BIG BLOW and have wondered why a mainstream publisher didn't pick up these two great little books.I've also read his children's story, SOMETHING LUMBER THIS WAY COMES.So far, I've enjoyed every piece of writing by him that I have read.FREEZER BURN is no exception.Though certainly different from the above books, it nevertheless is pure Lansdale at his best.This is the story of Bill Roberts, a low life who simply doesn't know any better.He's been living with his dominating mother for a long time, and when she finally dies, he decides to keep her body in the bedroom so that her social security checks will continue to come in.The only problem with the plan is that Bill is unable to successfully forge her signature on the checks.So, with a handful of checks he's unable to cash, a raucous smell permeating the house, and a couple of cans of beets in the kitchen cabinet left to eat, Bill makes the less-than-lucid decision to rob the firecracker stand across the street on the fourth of July with the help of two equally stupid acquaintances, Fat Boy and Chaplin.Like everything else in Bill's life, the robbery goes terribly wrong.The owner of the firecracker stand is murdered and then Fat Boy (he encounters a nest of water moccasins in the swamp!!!!) and Chaplin are killed in the getaway.Bill hides out in the Bottoms for a day or so, feeding the mosquitoes with his face, avoiding the poisonous snakes, and praying the law doesn't catch up with him.When he eventually comes out of hiding, he sees a carnival in a nearby field and goes to them for help.The owner of carnival, Jack Frost, takes Bill in and allows him to stay until he's completely healed from the mosquito bites, and then offers him a job.This carnival is special.It's filled with freaks: Conrad the Dog Man, U.S. Grant the Bearded Lady, the two-head Buckwheat, pin heads and punk heads, midgets, and the Ice Man.Even Frost has a hand growing out of his chest.The only other normal person (except for a couple of nasty roustabouts) besides Bill is Gidget, the wife of Jack Frost.Gidget-blonde, beautiful, sexy, and as deadly as one of those cottonmouths in the Bottoms-is every husband's worse nightmare.Over a period of weeks, Bill gradually begins to see Frost and some of the other freaks in the carnival as human beings, but it isn't his destiny to be a nice guy.Gidget has other ideas for him.It isn't long before she seduces Bill with her body and talks him into helping her kill Frost so that they can take over the carnival.Of course, like Bill's other endeavors, the plan to kill Gidget's husband will have its drawbacks and pitfalls, and nothing will turn out quite as he expects.FREEZER BURN is definitely not for everyone.I think the reader has to have a rather bizarre sense of humor and a willingness to allow the author to take him/her down a path that may seem somewhat weird to the average person, yet is actually a journey about life and what it means to be different, not to mention what goes around, comes around.This novel is Mr. Lansdale's homage to James M. Cain's THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE, using the themes of lust, adultery, and murder, only with a slightly different twist.Though funny from beginning to end (yes, I have a rather bizarre sense of humor about life), this novel is also filled with poignant insights into how people treat those who are different.I also think that Mr. Lansdale is a firm believer in karma.When people do bad things, it always comes back to bite them in the butt sooner or later.I will say that the finale of FREEZER BURN is a downer; yet, I don't see how the author could've ended it differently.The story could only have one final outcome and still remain true to the very nature of who Bill Roberts and Gidget Frost actually are.If you're looking for a happy ending, this isn't the book to read.If, however, you're looking for a book that will shock you, tickle your funny bone, and make you think about prejudice in all of its sad and unhealthy forms, then this is the one to buy.

Lansdale retells 'Freaks' as a comic roman noir.
Bill Roberts is a laconic and none to smart loser that decides to rob a firecracker stand just across the street because his mother is now dead and stinking up the place and he cannot get the nerve up to forge her social security checks to get the money, which he is just about out of.With two cohorts helping him out, the robbery goes well for about two seconds.Then things go south in a hurry.Four corpses later, poor Bill stumbles out of the swamp and into a traveling carnival Freakshow run by a kind hearted man with a hand growing out of his chest and his femme fatale wife.Hoping to hide out until things cool down in the real world, Bill takes a job there and waits for the proper angles to present themselves.Gidget, the blonde bombshell wife of the show's owner, has some plans of her own as well as some very nice angles to get them done.

Freezer Burn is largely a retelling of the film 'Freaks' as a comedic roman noir.Chock full of unsavory characters that view humane behavior as stupid and weak, this is certainly not a novel for all tastes.Longtime Lansdale fans will be delighted to see him brush up on his darker roots, the ones responsible for The Nightrunners and the black as tar noir nightmare The Night They Skipped the Horror Show.Others used to the trace of nobility found in his most recent work will wonder why he wasted his time telling the tale of such an unlikable sociopath anti-hero.Being a nearly twenty year Lansdale addict I heartily recommend to his longtime fans as well as to those who just like dark hearted noir with a goofball twist.

Very Odd Mixture, But Ultimately Vintage Lansdale
I wasn't sure what to think of _Freezer Burn_ when I started it.The characters were just a bit too wild to really register.

Then, about the time the protagonist, Bill, realizes that he's starting to have unusual feelings (love, friendship) for Conrad the Wonder Dog, and Frost, the leader of a small freakshow he's hooked up with following a botched robbery, I realized that I was starting to feel all warm inside, too.

It takes a great writer to create a character like Bill--someone you'd normally cross the street to avoid--and make you care about what happens to him.I know that other reviewers didn't feel the same way, but I was right there, rooting for the poor guy the whole way.

If anything, the downbeat, noirish finale, which I should have seen coming, came as a bit of a surprise, even though we've all seen this a thousand times before (think _Double Indemnity_ or _Body Heat_).

Heck, I would have been happy just following Bill's adventures with the freakshow for a few more hundred pages.I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it highly, though it's obviously not for all tastes. ... Read more

Book Description
Hap Collins, chicken plant guard, saves a young woman. However, no good deed goes unpunished when he takes his best friend Leonard on a Caribbean cruise. Misbehaving at a lobster dinner, the two are abandoned in Mexico, where Leonard is saved from armed attackers by a geriatric fisherman and his lovely daughter-currently involved with a Mexican mobster and a practicing nudist. Trying for once to stay out of other people's business, Hap returns to East Texas but is overwhelmed when he learns of the senorita's murder. Not taking it lying down, he and Leonard return to Mexico to even the score.Download Description
Hap Collins, a chicken plant guard, saves a young woman from an attacker, and her father, the owner of the plant, rewards Hap with a large cash bonus. No good deed goes unpunished, however, and when Hap decides he and his best friend Leonard should take a cruise to Mexico and the Caribbean, their troubles begin. Leonard, angered by coat-and-tie rules at an on-board lobster dinner, causes the two to be removed from the ship in Mexico, where in short time Leonard buys an ugly hat, is knifed by an off duty policeman, and is saved from armed attackers by a geriatric fisherman and his lovely daughter. The daughter turns out to have a past that involves a Mexican mobster who's a practicing nudist and has a seven-foot tall lackey who resembles a sumo wrestler. Trying for once to stay out of other people's business, Hap is overwhelmed with regret when the senorita is murdered, and the evil that haunted her follows him home to East Texas, resulting in the death of one of Hap's closest friends. Hap is hot for revenge, and he, Leonard, and Jim Bob Luke, a hog-raising private eye, return to Mexico to even the score. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Lives up to most of the hype
I was looking for a mystery with a comic touch and this delivered.It is my first Landsdale book and I plan to try others in the Collins and Pine series.I actually laughed out loud several times.The author keeps the story moving and even though the main characters have some superhero characteristics you can ignore that and sit back and enjoy the fast moving story.A realistic take on Mexico doesn't hurt.All in all a good read.

Good stuff
Joe Lansdale is one of the few writers who can make me laugh till I cry. That's a rare gift, and he did it to me again with this book. Here, Lansdale keeps it going with his dynamic duo, the fairly happy-go-mostly-unlucky Hap Collins and Leonard Pine. In this story, Hap becomes a hero, gets rewarded, and he and Leonard take a cruise. To make a long story short, they end up in Mexico, where they meet a fisherman who owes a great debt; his beautiful (and dutiful) daughter; a walking gargantua, and a nudist Mexican gangster who'd like nothing more than to make a big bowl of gaucamole, with Hap and Leonard as the main ingredients.

Captains Outrageous is truly outrageous and fun. I'll be looking for more from this very talented author.

An ugly story that killed my soul
I picked this up because it was supposed to be funny."Joe R. Landsdale is sure to keep you laughing," said the quote from Publishers Weekly right on the cover.So I figured I'd give it a try.

Man, this is one mean-spirited, depressing piece of fiction.There is so much violence, cruelty, and negativity in these pages that I could only get halfway through it.I guess I'm just too sensitive because I can't have characters being tortured, beaten, and abused in graphic detail and then just turn around and laugh at some stupid joke.

And the jokes aren't even very good.

Sadistic tale
I think like many book series, you can't start mid-series. I read many glowing reviews of this book and most of them mention the previous books. Coming into this fresh (I'd not heard of Joe R. Lansdale), the characters and the plot seemed very thin, although the earlier books probably established these elements. When I first started the book, it seemed like a strange amalgam of political correctness, graphic violence, and Fletch-like irreverence. As the story progresses, however, dreadful scene piles on dreadful scene until the book comes across as truly sadistic.

There is an ugly American (Billy) who seeks to humiliate a Mexican girl in the most unpleasant and crude matter. The reader endures many pages of this behavior. I suppose these scenes are intended to justify Hap and Leonard brutally assaulting this guy again and again and again. Finally, Hap literally spreads his own feces on Billy's face, beats him, and makes him stand in the corner. And then does it again. This comes in a scene right after our "heroes" discover a girl that's been dismembered with a machete. The reader is treated to an explanation of where the individual pieces of the girl are located about the hotel room. The graphic violence continues up until the final chapter of the novel.

Oh, did I mention that the book opens with a brutal beating of another girl whom Hap saves?Unfortunately for the girl, Hap doesn't save her until after she's been repeatedly raped, had her face "stomped in," her nipple bitten off, jaw crushed, teeth knocked out, and lost an eye.

Wow. Is this a fun read? I guess it's not my cup of tea.

HAP HAZARD
Poor Hap Collins and Leonard Pine...no matter what they do, they always come out involved in a messy, stinky situation.Once again, Joe Lansdale's "amateur" sleuths find themselves embroiled in murder and mayhem, and it all starts with a good deed.At his new job at the chicken factory, security guard Hap prevents the murder of a wealthy young woman by a crazed maniac.Her millionaire father shows his appreciation by giving Hap a check for a hundred thousand dollars.Leonard, now with his new love John, tells Hap they should go on a cruise..no real reason, just that they've never been on one before.Needless to say, this vacation turns into a nightmare when Leonard mouths off at the concierge and they find themselves stranded in a little fishing town.Enter a beautiful woman, her poor father, some wealthy tourists and we begin our tale of murder and deceit.Lansdale continues his gift for natural dialogue and unique, but believable, situations.We meet a crime lord and his seven foot bully, Hammerhead.It seems sometimes that Lansdale can be a little cruel in his treatment of some of his subordinate characters (Billy for example), and he tends to overdo the sexual innuendo and the sexual encounters.But it's a man's world, and Lansdale knows it.At least the lovely if foul mouthed Brett Sawyer is back, and by the end of the book, who knows..wedding bells?
A fine entry in this well executed series. ... Read more

Product Description
The endlessly inventive mind of Joe R. Lansdale whips up yet another batch of stories to amaze, surprise, and entertain you.His new offering covers a lot of territory, producing what may be his best short story collection yet.One tale concerns an East Texas mule race in the early 1900s that proves to be an unexpected turning point and learning experience for the main character, a lifelong loser. It also chronicles the unusual circumstances of the race, which include a friendship between a rare white mule that can run like the wind, and his friend, a loyal, spotted pig.Another tale drops us into the disturbed mind of a mass murderer and his friendship with the shadows.Two others stories reintroduce us to the supernatural adventures of Reverend Rains, the flawed hero from Lansdale's cult favorite novel, Dead in the West. Here ghouls prowl and werewolves howl.There's a poetic collaboration with Melissa Mia Hall about the nature of loneliness and loss that echoes back to science fiction stories of an earlier time, as well as a famous, award winning novella reprinted here for the first time in several years about a clutch of unusual crime solvers.Read about a world where the dead almost rule, and venture into an alternate universe that is the background for perhaps the strangest tale of all, an adventure concerning an earnest and horny steam shovel named Bill, and his challenge to do the right thing at all costs.It's the usual wild and crowd pleasing display of what has become a subgenre of modern literature as only Joe R. Lansdale can present it: Tales Lansdalien.Welcome to his world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Don't Call Him Joe; Call him MoJoe now; this book is that good!!!
In The Shadows, Kith and Kin, Joe R. Lansdale attempts to show you that you've got something in common with either the strange, bizarre, sick, or horrific. Each story seems to take on characters that do unholy things or characters who are so far outside of the realm of normalcy that it doesn't seem possible that there is any point of writing about them:they're too d**n waked out for anyone to believe in them. But then MoJoe Hisownself not only makes you believe in them, he makes you pull for them, cheer for them, pray for them, and even cry for them. You'll get pulled into their world in spite of the distance between you and them and you both come out better for it. The only story reprinted in this collection is the 1992 Bram Stoker winner, "The Events Concerning a Nude Fold-Out Found in a Harlequin Romance," which considering it's so good isn't a bad thing for someone coming to Lansdale for the first time. Even if you've read it before, it's so good it begs for rereading. My favorite story is Joe's take on both The Little Engine That Could and Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel which he calls "Bill, the Little Steam Shovel." Bill here has to learn to believe in himself, see? He's got to believe that he can work, that he has a Dave who will care for him, that he's got a place in society, and, above all, that he can get some bumper from Miss Maudie. Along the way he's befriended by the wise and tuckered-but-tough steam shovel, Gabe, an unforgettable and kind and wonderful character. This book was heavily advertised as the return of Reverend Jebidiah Rains, whom we haven't seen sense the genre-generating novel, Dead in the West. Here we get him in two tales:"Deadman's Road" (a morality tale about hateful and recalcitrant sinners who have no human compassion and the sacrifice that some times has to be made for God's moral order) and "The Gentleman's Hotel" (a Lansdale type of action-packed, true love story mixed with werewolves that would make Lon Chaney, Jr. jealous -- they're probably just as foolishly arrogant as Chaney was, too). You also get two post-Apocalypse tales, "The Long Dead Day" and "Alone." Both are sadly and woefully nihilistic and rival Harlan Ellison's A Boy and His Dog, even coming in under word-weight. It's like watching a bantam-weight battling a heavyweight and taking him the full count. Then, of course, you've got a white-trash, down-home, Southern-fried tale that regales its reader with brilliantly cooked up mishaps:"White Mule, Spotted Pig." The opening tale, from which the collection takes its name, is a truly scary story about a young man that decides to become a sniper in a college's bell tower; realistically scary and woefully timely. Joe Lansdale has never been better in creating well-crafted prose than he is in this collection. The book itself, stitched together by the Subterranean Press, is simply pretty:the boards are covered in nice, dark green cloth and the end papers are textured, (nice)rust orange, and there is even a signature page with Joe's sig. The full-color cover by Mark A. Nelson is a classic, depicting scenes from four of the stories. This is a great addition to Joe's oeuvre, and it proves that he is still hitting homeruns every time he steps up to bat.

Joe, The Reverend and Harlequin Fold-Out
Another five stars collection of (partly) unreleased tales by Hisownself.
Do not miss the return of Reverend Jebidiah Rains from "Dead in the West" his smoking guns fight again against Evil!
Another interesting issue is the reprinting of the novellette "The Events Concerning a Nude Fold-Out Found in a Harlequin Romance": pure Lansdale, yummm...
But all the contents are outstanding so be sure you'll have a good read. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Start with two best friends who practice martial arts in their free time: one a straight white guy, the other a black gay guy.Add a conniving ex-wife in a blue-jean miniskirt. Throw in half a million in a muddy creekbed somewhere near the Sabine River in East Texas. Add an ex-radical from the '60s and two naive idealists who want to save the world. Mix them all together in a half-assed plan, season with double-crosses, and then top it off with a hilarious and chilling drug dealer named Soldier. Bloody mayhem a la Lansdale. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

White Trash Splatter Detective w/a Moral
This is the story of a friendship, Hap Collins's & Leonard Pine's, that goes awry when Hap decides to take up an ill-fated adventure that hearkens back (at least in his mind) to the sixties, a time of "love and peace and social upheaval," a time when love "and God had given us a ray of light, and in its glow, wonderful things happened." It is all a story of maturity:Hap's maturity. After facing betrayal, murder, physical pain and suffering beyond measure, he comes back around again to this ethical and moral belief:"[T]o lose my idealism, to quite believing in the ability of human beings to rise above their baser instincts, was to become old and bitter and of no service to anyone, not even myself." In this first novel of the Hap & Leonard series, Lansdale proves beyond any doubt that all those awards he's been given of late have long been overdue. All the splatter-punk and white-trash themes and all-too, down-home humor that we know him for are here in full force, and they are rendered in such a powerful and loving and carefully planned way, that we are very aware we are in the presence of a powerful and truly literary force. (BTW, the edition picture here is published by London-based Phoenix books paperback. For less money, you can get cheaper editions, ex-libraries and even the Ziesing 1990 hardcover first edition.)

I hate the word "thriller" but....
This was the second of Lansdale's novels I'd read, and it's a great intro to Hap and Leonard (these guys appear in several novels of his at this point).

The characters are not only very well-rounded and fully realized, but I felt like they were old friends of mine by the time the book was done.

More so, the writing style is just so much fun; the man's got these wonderful turns-of-phrase, and, unlike so many books today, it's not "Written for the screen." It's an actual book. There's more than just dialogue on these here pages.

Good stuff.Only 3 stars b/c "Mucho Mojo" and "Two-Bear Mambo" are even better.

The start of something beautiful
There's little to be said of the Hap and Leonard novels other than they are immensely entertaining, witty, and fast paced. Lansdale's voice is at times hilarious, and at times poignant. There are real souls to these characters, and you really care about them.

In this first installment, Hap and Leonard find themselves in the middle of a treasure hunt gone awry. It's a very short novel that can be read in a day if you've got the time. Plot-wise, it's not as good as Rumble Tumble or Mucho Mojo or the others, but it relies heavily on character development, and that is always a good thing.

Like Elmore Leonard, Lansdale's cast of characters are bizzare to the nth degree, yet despite their zaniness, he manages to make them human. This has got to be my favorite Buddy series. Always gets me laughing.

Lansdale's First Hap & Leonard Book
"Savage Season" kicks off the six-book series featuring Hap Collins and Leonard Pine against the backdrop of rural East Texas.The writing is gritty and very noir and reminisicent of Jim Thompson. Of the other three I have read so far, this one was the best.

Warmly recommended
The first in an amazing series involving Hap Collins and Leonard Pine, two most unlikely heroes (though heroes they are). The author performs a powerful magic that transforms a tale with a violent twist about characters that are theoretically undesireable into something unique and hard to put down or forget.Furthermore, should you never laugh out loud when reading this and don't feel moved to buy one of the other Hap & Leonard books I'll be surprised.The story, set in East Texas, is about a treasure hunt, Hap's old girl and much more.Caveat: this is perhaps the weakest of the series - it still rates 5 stars. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (3)

Wonderful stuff
Joe Lansdale has the stuff. He's one of the most entertaining writers I've ever had the pleasure of reading, and he never fails to make me laugh...no faint praise indeed, since most writers lack that ability. Lansdale has a special mojo (no allusion intended). He simply clicks. The magic comes right to you, right off the page. It surrounds you, sweeps you up like a Texas tornado, whaps your noggin a few times, then drops you, sometimes gently, sometimes not. When the ride is over you're bumped a bit, but you're left with a smile on your face and you've got a hearty appreciation for a good ride.

Many of Lansdale's short stories revolve around people who aren't very nice to begin with (though not at all uninteresting)who have things happen to them that are, uhm...not very good. These events happen in a progressive manner, starting with not so good and ending in downright terrible. (See the stories "The Mule Rustlers" and "Screwup" in this collection and you'll know what I mean). The rest of the stories in Mad Dog Summer are no less riveting, no less entertaining. So read, enjoy, and be amazed.

The longer, the better
As a fan of Joe R. Lansdale, I look forward to each new release with relish. Sometimes, however, these releases are difficult for a man of modest means to acquire, especially when several of Lansdale's works are published by small press publisher Subterranean Press. For a standard hardback release, Mad Dog Summer and Other Stories has a rather high price tag: $40 retail (Amazon and other sellers often offer a discount, but even that is usually not enough).

So imagine my surprise when I came across this signed limited edition collection of eight fiction pieces (four short stories alternating with four novellas, each with an introduction from the author "hisownself") in the library! I couldn't have been more excited, literarily speaking. Mad Dog Summer and Other Stories turns out to be a bit of a mixed bag, however. Although I like Lansdale's short work, in general its more uneven than his novels. The same occurs here: Two of the four short pieces fall short of ideal, which all four novellas are worthy of celebration.

"The Mule Rustlers" is all about taking fictional revenge on whomever stole Lansdale's own mule years ago. It has a lot of the same great features of other Lansdale fiction, but the unfair ending leaves a bad taste. "Screwup," on the other hand, is pure fun to read. A loser gets in over his head and spends the rest of the time just digging himself deeper while trying to get out of trouble. There's not much in the way of backstory or character development, just one event after another leading up to an ironic, but entirely appropriate, ending, but you won't care. (This is the second story Lansdale has written with his wife, Karen. The first, "A Change of Lifestyle," is available in Bumper Crop.)

"Veil's Visit" was written with Andrew Vachss, a practicing lawyer as well as a writer, who wanted the opportunity to fictionally "defend" Leonard Pine (of Lansdale's Hap and Leonard series of novels) of a crime he committed in more than one of those books. It's short and has an obvious agenda, but until the next Hap and Leonard novel comes along, it's do. Later, Lansdale remembers his mother, and how she influenced his life, in "O'Reta, Snapshot Memories." Like the title says, it's not a