Synopsis/blurb......
Hap and Leonard may never go fishing again.
A rustic get-away turns into a life or death dash through an East Texas cypress swamp.
They encounter a victim of camo clad hunters that classify sport in a whole different way.
A head start is as fair as it gets as Hap and Leonard are thrown in the woods and must run for their lives. Their wise-cracks may be sharper than the hunter's arrows, but not as deadly.
Another shortish read at just over 50 pages and another good time had with Lansdale's irrepressible double act, Hap and Leonard.
Our dynamic duo are away fishing and there's the usual banter between the pair - complaints about the accommodation, the crappy coffee, who ate all the cookies, the leaky boat, etc. The moaning stops long enough for a hike in the woods and the discovery of a near-dead woman with an arrow through her body. With her dying breath she tells her tale. She's a working girl and was hired, but was repeatedly raped by the group then hunted.
Her pursuers show up, Hap and Leonard make scarce, then after witnessing the decapitation of the corpse, determine to achieve some measure of justice for the lady. Legal or otherwise. The hunters become the hunted.
A bit graphic and gruesome, fast-moving, great dialogue, tense scenes of confrontation laced with black humour, interesting characters, fantastic setting, not too long - what's not to like?
4.5 from 5
Joe R. Lansdale has penned nearly a dozen novels in the series, with a few novellas and a couple of collections of short stories featuring the pair. Plus a gazillion other things. His latest Hap and Leonard drops in March - Jackrabbit Smile.My last encounter was Dead Aim about a year ago.
Lansdale's website is here.
Read in January, 2018
Published - 2016
Page count - 56
Source -Kindle Unlimited
Format - Kindle
I do like some banter and wit in my stories, Col, especially if the story itself is dark. Not sure the gruesome parts are for me, but the story itself sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteLansdale also writes horror and fantasy in addition to crime fiction, so it's not surprising that gruesome elements sneak into his crime on occasions. Enough here to remark upon it, but it doesn't overpower the story in my opinion.
DeleteI've read a couple of this series in my time - and a 50-page novella is always attractive.
ReplyDeleteI do like this odd-couple. I do need to get back to the full length books as well though.
DeleteHey Col – I have some Hap & Leonard on hand. Haven’t gotten to them yet, but the stories sound like great fun. (I’m catching up here with posts I missed while under the weather.)
ReplyDeleteHope you're feeling better Elgin. I do like this pairing from Lansdale. There's always some mischief when they're around!
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