Capsule book reviews in 255 characters or fewer. Ish. A reading diary (1st Jan 2019 onwards) by Eamonn Griffin.
Five novellas featuring Lansdale‘s series protagonists: murder and mayhem in East Texas. Bringing together the previously separately-published Coco Butternut, Hoodoo Harry, Sad Onions, The Briar Patch Boogie, and Cold Cotton, this collection finds Hap and Leonard facing middle age but still with plenty of fight in them. Recommended.
A longer review is here.
Note: advance copy provided by the publisher.
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My own books here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.
A young writer returns to his childhood hometown to reinvestigate his father’s suicide and his mother’s disappearance. A touch of Stephen King, East Texas-style, in this standalone novel which balances investigative thriller and the gothic with this writer’s concern for probing the underbelly of prejudice. Plenty to enjoy here: a solid, professional job all around from a modern master.
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My own books are here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.
A masked vigilante saves a boy from the Klan: a chase ensues. Smart, fast, violent, angry, and surprising pulp graphic novel. Fast and funny while unflinching in its depiction of racism, there’s a spot-on balance of telling it as it is and jazzing things up with high adventure. Recommended.
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My own books are here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.
A used-car salesman with an eye for opportunity gets in over his head with a woman. Lansdale’s new stand-alone novel is a beauty, a 1960s-set noir of the old school, and all the better for doing so, in taking a classic situation and treating it with respect. Laconic and spry as ever, Lansdale serves up another southern-fried treat. Recommended.
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My own books are here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.
Five stories featuring the young Hap Collins and Leonard Pine. Perhaps for completists and series fans only, but this is still great stuff. Tall tales of East Texas rambunctiousness and formative experiences, delivered in Lansdale’s effortless economic style. The book even features a few recipes from the yarns, contributed (in character) by Lansdale’s daughter Kasey. Recommended.
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My own books are here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.
Hap and Leonard fall foul of Hap’s ex and a scheme to retrieve the proceeds from a heist. Brisk, clean graphic novel adaptation of the first in the long-running series of Joe Lansdale novels. Captures the spirit of the books and characters well.
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My own books are here, if that’s your thing. Newest is noir thriller East of England.
Hap and Leonard protect a young woman from an East Texas crime family. The twelfth in the sequence is an action-oriented and brisk tall tale, leavened with Lansdale’s humour and by a real affection for the characters. A solid series addition.
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