Reading Joe Lansdale is very addictive! Especially the Hap and Leonard books. This is the 10th book in the series (not counting the shorter novellas and stories) and as usual, it kept me turning the pages. I basically read this one in two sittings.
Hap and Leonard are hired by a black woman who lives across from their PI office to look into the death of her son. The boy was supposedly murdered by the police in the neighboring town of Camp Rapture where the police are all apparently dirty. The boy's sister was arrested by the police there for DUI but she had not been drinking. Nevertheless she was hauled into the station and handcuffed to a radiator with her pants pulled halfway down. The case leads Hap and Leonard to the projects in Camp Rapture where the boy was supposed to have been killed. There they meet a group of memorable characters including a young girl named Reba who is able to keep up with Leonard's line of bullshit and who Leonard ends up calling the "400-year-old vampire." But what else is going on in Camp Rapture? The pair find out that an old abandoned saw mill on the outskirts of town is where bad things happen. The mill includes a pond where bodies of dogs and possibly humans are dumped and because of its toxicity, the dogs that surface look like "rusty puppies."
As usual, this one was filled with the quota of off-color humor and loads of violence. And Leonard seems to have found a new love interest, a cop named Officer Carroll who he calls Pookie. Hap's girlfriend Brett and his newfound daughter, Chance, both have the flu throughout this novel so didn't play a very big role in it but since Brett is now the owner of the PI agency, I'm sure we'll be seeing more of her in the future. Lansdale also plugs his daughter, Kasey Lansdale, who is a country singer/songwriter a couple of times in the novel. I'll have to check her music out. But, I'm sorry to say, I'm getting very close to finishing all of the Hap and Leonard novels...only two left to go. Jackrabbit Smile is up next and I am looking forward to it!
Hap and Leonard are hired by a black woman who lives across from their PI office to look into the death of her son. The boy was supposedly murdered by the police in the neighboring town of Camp Rapture where the police are all apparently dirty. The boy's sister was arrested by the police there for DUI but she had not been drinking. Nevertheless she was hauled into the station and handcuffed to a radiator with her pants pulled halfway down. The case leads Hap and Leonard to the projects in Camp Rapture where the boy was supposed to have been killed. There they meet a group of memorable characters including a young girl named Reba who is able to keep up with Leonard's line of bullshit and who Leonard ends up calling the "400-year-old vampire." But what else is going on in Camp Rapture? The pair find out that an old abandoned saw mill on the outskirts of town is where bad things happen. The mill includes a pond where bodies of dogs and possibly humans are dumped and because of its toxicity, the dogs that surface look like "rusty puppies."
As usual, this one was filled with the quota of off-color humor and loads of violence. And Leonard seems to have found a new love interest, a cop named Officer Carroll who he calls Pookie. Hap's girlfriend Brett and his newfound daughter, Chance, both have the flu throughout this novel so didn't play a very big role in it but since Brett is now the owner of the PI agency, I'm sure we'll be seeing more of her in the future. Lansdale also plugs his daughter, Kasey Lansdale, who is a country singer/songwriter a couple of times in the novel. I'll have to check her music out. But, I'm sorry to say, I'm getting very close to finishing all of the Hap and Leonard novels...only two left to go. Jackrabbit Smile is up next and I am looking forward to it!
