Photo: Karen Lansdale

The first review for Joe R. Lansdale’s forthcoming HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE comes courtesy of DANGEROUS DAN’S BOOK BLOG.

Using Hap and Leonard driving around and telling stories as a framing device, HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE is a mosaic novel about the early life of Hap Collins. Some of the stories are about Hap, some are about Hap’s father and Hap just narrates. They’re all told in the much-revered Joe Lansdale style.

As near as I can tell, I’ve only read three of the stories before, although I could be wrong about that. As a mosaic novel, BLOOD AND LEMONADE  works very well and does a lot to show how Hap, and in some cases Leonard, have been shaped by the events of their early lives.

Lansdale’s beer and tailgate style of storytelling gives him a unique voice and feels like it was written specifically for my ears. There is comedy, fist fights, and even some horror in the form of a ghost story, showing the depth and versatility of Lansdale’s style.

TOM HOLLAND’S TERROR TIME declares “February 2017 belongs to ‘Hap and Leonard.’”

The Super Bowl, The Walking Dead, and now Hap And Leonard in both the literary and TV world. These are the things we have to embrace and rejoice over come February 2017 with a new novel and the season 2 premiere on Sundance.

The new Hap And Leonard novel, RUSTY PUPPY which releases on February 21st 2017. This latest novel in the saga covers Hap, a former 60’s activist and self-proclaimed white trash rebel,as he is recovering from a life-threatening stab wound, Louise Elton comes into Hap and Leonard’s PI office to tell him that the police have killed her son, Jamar. Months earlier, a bully cop pulled over and sexually harassed Jamar’s sister, Charm. The officer followed Charm over the course of the next couple of months, leading Jamar to videotape and take notes on the cop and his partner. The next thing Louise hears, Jamar got in a fight and is killed in the projects by local hoods. It doesn’t add up: he was a straight A student, destined for better things, until he began to ask too many questions about the racist police force. Leonard, a tough black gay Vietnam vet and Republican, joins Hap in the investigation, and they stumble upon the racial divides that have shaped their Eastern Texas town. But if anyone can navigate these pitfalls and bring the killers to justice, it’s Hap and Leonard. Filled with Lansdale’s trademark whip-smart dialogue, colorful characters, and relentless pacing, RUSTY PUPPY is Joe Lansdale at his page-turning best.

Scott Montgomery at MYSTERY PEOPLE names HONKY TONK SAMURAI the best book of the year.

Hap & Leonard are back as private eyes in a case that involves a used car/escort/blackmail ring, a transgender pimp, and inbred cannibal assassins. Not for the feint of heart, politically correct, easily offended, or those who have anything against shoot-outs, great dialogue, and fun.

THE MYSTERIOUS BOOKSHOP original Hap and Leonard short tale HOODOO HARRY is currently available.

When Hap Collins and Leonard Pine first see the bookmobile, it’s barreling down the middle of a country road, seconds before it smashes into their car. When they come to, they learn that the young boy driving the bus has died in the crash. Then they discover several bodies, hidden in the bookmobile’s rear compartment. Does one of them belong to the woman known as “Hoodoo Harry,” one-time mobile librarian, who’s been missing for the past several years? And are the child corpses the same kids who disappeared from the impoverished town where Hoodoo Harry lived? Armed only with the evidence contained in the now-destroyed bookmobile, Hap and Leonard set out to hunt the murderous culprit, risking their lives to make the children of Nesbit, Texas, safe to read once more.

Available in signed numbered ($50) or lettered ($100) hardcover, or in paperback.

For more info about HAP AND LEONARD: BLOOD AND LEMONADE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story