We’re still some two months away from the August publication of THINGS GET UGLY: THE BEST CRIME STORIES OF JOE R. LANSDALE and the positive reviews have begun to roll in such as these from Andrew Gulli at The Strand Magazine and David Writes and Draws. Paul Finch includes (without comment) the book among Dark treats coming between now and 2024. Lansdale, his ownself, contributed Humour in Fiction to Crime Fiction Lover.

SIGNED copies of THINGS GET UGLY: THE BEST CRIME STORIES OF JOE R. LANSDALE are available for pre-order from Murder by the Book.

As Matt Damon’s character Sonny Vaccaro says in his final climactic pitch to Michael Jordan in AIR, “the rest of us just want a chance to touch that greatness.”

When you read THINGS GET UGLY, you will do just that.

The Strand Magazine

My friends, mark down August 16, 2023, on your calendar, app, post-it note, written it in lipstick on your medicine cabinet mirror, or however you keep track of such things—that’s when THINGS GET UGLY: THE BEST CRIMES STORIES OF JOE R. LANSDALE releases. You’ll want to take the day off, settle into a comfortable chair (or onto a barstool, you do you) with a tumbler of good scotch within reach, and prepare yourself to get lost in one of the best collections of crime fiction I’ve ever read.

David Writes and Draws

Humor in fiction is not writing a story and having a few jokes inserted, or writing jokes and then writing a story around them.

Fact is, stories that are mostly jokes aren’t stories. The idea of inserting humor into crime fiction, or any kind of fiction, isn’t the idea. The idea of blending humor into it ‘naturally’ is the more workable and satisfying method. It’s a blend, not a fruit salad.

Crime Fiction Lover