Things Get Ugly: The Best Crime Fiction of Joe R. Lansdale by Joe R. Lansdale

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Whether read cover-to-cover or in single, intermittent bites, this collection of Lansdale's short stories will mesmerize and entertain.M

>Things Get Ugly, a collection of some of author Joe R. Lansdale's best crime stories, is not for the faint of heart; each story is raw and gritty, handcrafted by a master storyteller. They will mesmerize, shock, and sometimes deliver a gut punch, but satisfy and entertain; they definitely do.

The book contains nineteen stories hand-picked and introduced by Lansdale, relating what prompted him to write the story or how it came to be, and his background explanations are good reading on their own. I laughed out loud over his remarks preceding the very first story, The Steel Valentine, and it sets the tone for the entire collection.

âI do remember that I originally wrote it for a crime Valentine anthology, and it was rejected because it offended the editor. It was good to know I hadn't lost my touch.â

Each story is a gem, telling an unfiltered and dark tale of human interaction. No punches are pulled, and there's blood and gore and death. Their telling is riveting, and I couldn't, nor wanted to, put the book down. From the first selection to the last, I was gripped by a desire for more and resented any interruptions to my reading. No, Joe hasn't lost his touch.

I recommend THINGS GET UGLY to Lansdale fans and new readers who enjoy grittier, tougher tales of crime and the darker side of human relations.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Lone Star Book Blog Tours.

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