Brian Asman on his eponymous site praises Joe R. Lansdale.

The reason I bring all this up is because Lansdale’s the kind of writer who can fuse all this stuff together, take a pulp framework and make it something more, tell us something real and true about the way we relate to each other, about the world around us. He does it again and again with the crime genre–I can’t imagine a better meditation on fathers, sons, and the perils of unconditional paternal love than COLD IN JULY. Lansdale’s the kind of writer I very much look up to, because he so effortlessly and constantly shows us that the genres we love can do it all, all the same emotional and philosophical heavy lifting that a doorstop by some dead Russian guy can. He’s so good at hooking us from an emotional standpoint that he can wait fifty or sixty pages to get going, and none of it feels like filler, it all feels like part of the story. He’s got an advantage, stylistically, for sure. But he also knows how to build a story where I’m primarily concerned about how Leonard’s going to learn to forgive his uncle, and how he’s going to forgive himself for not trying harder to make amends while his uncle was still alive.

GRIMDARK DAD express similar sentiments about COLD IN JULY.

As always, Lansdale delivers a book full of surprises, and incredibly vivid characters. COLD IN JULY is a book that goes to some really dark places, for sure. But it’s also balanced by Lansdale’s unique brand of humor & banter.

While D.K. HUNDT hasn’t read OF MICE AND MINESTRONE yet, he did share one comment on the John Coulthart cover.

I love that cover!

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY reviews the forthcoming More Better Deals.

Populated with an admirable array of laughable miscreants, this droll, savage novel is vintage Lansdale. The author’s storytelling powers remain as strong as ever.