Hap and Leonard find more trouble

books:

	• Bad Chili Joe R. Lansdale The Mysterious Press/Warner Book, 1997 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 23 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Nature Gone Wild

I only recently re-read this book after a few years and was struck by how FUNNY it is! Arguably the funniest in the Hap/Leonard series, its also pretty dark in many ways, and quite gory as well. Rabies plays a key role in both the beginning and conclusion to this story, in a weird - and oddly satisfying - circular construct. The plot involves Hap's quest to clear Leonard of possible murder charges. There's also what seems to be an underlying theme - with vivid descriptions of torture, gay-bashing for entertainment, mad animals and a violent storm - of nature, in all of its forms, gone wild. Joe Lansdale is somehow able to convey humor even while proving once again that HUMAN nature is still the baddest mf on the block (okay, that storm is pretty bad. But human nature runs a very close second here, trust me!). A must-read.

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Perfect entertainment!

I love Joe R. Lansdale; I think he is the best writer ever to put words on paper. He should be knighted or something. The Hap and Leonard series is pure joy from start to finish. I love both of them, their beautiful friendship, their humor and the outrageous situations they manage to get themselves into. As always, this novel has incredibly well-written prose, hilarious lines and situations and wonderful suspense and action. You really care about the good guys--I always want to hug them!--and yell yee-haw when the bad guys get their asses kicked. The best thing about these books, is that there is also a serious, sometimes wistful tone underneath it all. Sometimes you cry a little. Sometimes you want to hide from the evil of the bad guys. But mostly you just laugh! Perfect!

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This Chili's an acquired taste

Reading the "first sentence" and "statistically improbable phrases" above may just tell you all you need to know about whether or not this book is for you. This is, if I've got it right, the fourth in the Hap/Leonard series, and while the characters still manage some surprises, they haven't advanced much; Lansdale has to rachet up the action a bit to keep our interest.

But plot is secondary to characterization here, and these characters are stock Lansdale: leather-tough, casually obscene and unabashedly hard-boiled, but with generous dollops of self-doubt and existential angst beneath their battle-scarred exteriors.

Not quite as much fun as Mucho Mojo, the prior entry in the series, this tale requires a bit more suspension of disbelief and tolerance for brutality. But experienced Lansdale readers will find this a worthy effort.

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Good Ole Hap and Leonard

Man, I just love the Hap and Leonard series. Lansdale's dialogue is hysterical, and somehow the situations these characters keep finding themselves in doesn't feel forced at all. They're the greatest losers that ever lived (on page anyway).

Once again, our heores must solve a mystery surrounding the death of Leonard's boyfriend, and eek out the source of some gay bashing videos that have been circulating at local video stores. Along the way we deal with a self proclaimed Chili King, an ex wrestler who likes to hook people testicles up to car batteries, a nurse with a penchant for lighting people on fire, a particularly rabid squirrel, and then some.

Perhpas my favorite part of this novel is the introduction of Joe Bob, a gun totin', gun slingin' private Detective who accompanies Hap and Leonard on their quest. I hope he returns in the next novel becuase he's just a great character.

My only gripe about this particular book in the series is that the end falls a little flat. Lansdale goes for reality more than cliche'd entertainment..but you know what, I would have preferred the cliche at the end.

Still, it's a terrif book , and fast paced enough to read in a single day. Lansdale is truly the king of Mojo.

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Hap and Leonard find more trouble

Long time friends Leonard Pine and Hap Collins are out in the woods, taking target practice and talking about an unfortunate turn in Leonard's love life (his lover, Raul, dumped him for another man, "Horse D**k" McNee). Without warning, a rabid squirrel explodes from the trees and attacks, zeroing in on Hap. The squirrel bites Hap on the right forearm before Leonard can kill it with his car. Hap, hospitalized for insurance reasons, starts treatment to prevent the onset of rabies.

Hap makes the best of his hospital stay, but is puzzled by Leonard's failure to visit. A friend on the police force explains why: shortly after Hap checked in, Leonard invaded a biker bar, beat the crap out of Horse D**k McNee, and fled. Unfortunately, Horse Dick later turned up dead, making Leonard a prime suspect. Hap, ignoring his doctor's wishes, and foregoing the chance to flirt with sexy nurse Brett Sawyer, checks out of the hospital to find his friend and clear his name.

Leonard does not remain a suspect for long, as he and Hap hook up and do what they do best, by which I mean they stir up trouble. They discover that Horse Dick was an undercover cop who apparently was investigating the producers of a series of stalk and rape movies in which gangs terrorize, then sodomize, unsuspecting gay men. Their investigations turn up Raul's corpse, and lead them to Charles Arthur, the self described "Chili King", who appears to be behind the movies and the killings.

Proving that a deck can have as many as three wild cards, Lansdale involves private detective Jim Bob Luke (who first appeared in Lansdale's brutal novel Cold in July) in the action. Investigating the case from another angle, Luke rescues Hap from an extremely tight spot (Hap's privates are wired up to a car battery at the time), and joins the pair as they close in on the lowlife behind all the mayhem. Luke adds a comic and savage element to the novel, helping propel it to a harrowing and surprising climax.

If you are a horror/suspense fan, I hardly need to sing Lansdale's praises--his distinctive voice and powerful storytelling are evident on every page. Like previous entries in this series (Savage Season, Mucho Mojo and The Two Bear Mambo), Lansdale uses Hap and Leonard's antics to counter the grim events occurring around them. Two of mystery fiction's more memorable characters, Hap and Leonard have a great talent for finding, then evading, trouble. An East Texas version of Travis McGee and Meyer, their philosophical discussions and wiseass humor will keep you laughing.

The highlight of the book is Jim Bob Luke, who gives new meaning to the phrase "larger than life." Luke steals every scene he's in (and some he isn't), leading me to speculate that Lansdale might inaugurate a new series featuring the hard boiled private eye. I, for one, would welcome it--hell, I'd welcome anything that puts more Lansdale books in my sweaty little hands.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Hap Collins and Leonard Pine, the popular Texas heroes of the best-selling The Two-Bear Mambo, embark on a picaresque adventure down South when Leonard is named the prime suspect in connection with the murder of a local good ol' boy. Tour."

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