I've read and enjoyed a few other Lansdale books but this is the first Hap and Leonard novel that I have read. It is also the first book in the series. I decided to read some of these because I have watched the first two seasons of the Hap and Leonard TV series which I really found enjoyable. This book is the basis for the first season of the show which followed the novel pretty closely but expanded on the story in some aspects.
This was a pretty quick read (I read it in one afternoon) and I liked it enough to want to read more in the series. Being the first in the series, this one provided some background on the pair, Hap being a straight white male who decides to go to prison rather that fight in Vietnam. While Leonard is a gay black man who did fight in Vietnam. Hap's ex-wife, Trudy turns up with a job for Hap that could net him a substantial amount of money and of course Hap insists on including Leonard in the adventure. They're out to find some cash from an old bank robbery that was left in the swamps of the Sabine River in East Texas. Hap grew up in the area and feels he can locate where the stash may be. Leonard goes along to try to keep Hap out of trouble and provide some expertise in diving even though he feels Trudy is a snake and can't be trusted. Things get complicated along the way and a lot of bloodletting ensues before it reaches its conclusion where you wonder if anyone will be left standing. Lansdale manages to make his characters believable for the most part and throws in a lot of humor along the way...a good mix with the extreme violence. I'll be looking forward to reading more in this series.
This was a pretty quick read (I read it in one afternoon) and I liked it enough to want to read more in the series. Being the first in the series, this one provided some background on the pair, Hap being a straight white male who decides to go to prison rather that fight in Vietnam. While Leonard is a gay black man who did fight in Vietnam. Hap's ex-wife, Trudy turns up with a job for Hap that could net him a substantial amount of money and of course Hap insists on including Leonard in the adventure. They're out to find some cash from an old bank robbery that was left in the swamps of the Sabine River in East Texas. Hap grew up in the area and feels he can locate where the stash may be. Leonard goes along to try to keep Hap out of trouble and provide some expertise in diving even though he feels Trudy is a snake and can't be trusted. Things get complicated along the way and a lot of bloodletting ensues before it reaches its conclusion where you wonder if anyone will be left standing. Lansdale manages to make his characters believable for the most part and throws in a lot of humor along the way...a good mix with the extreme violence. I'll be looking forward to reading more in this series.
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