BORN FOR TROUBLE – FURTHER ADVENTURES OF HAP AND LEONARD BY JOE R LANSDALE

17/3/2022

Review by David Watkins

Joe Lansdale should need no introduction for regular readers of this website. For the uninitiated though, Lansdale is a genre all by himself. He has written, amongst others, horror (The Drive In), really weird stuff (The Drive In 2), historical (Paradise Sky), loads of short stories, and, of course, the series of books featuring Hap and Leonard. You never quite know what you’re going to get with a Lansdale book, although cracking characters and wonderful dialogue are present and correct in every one. He’s a hell of a writer, one of my favourites, just to let you know upfront how the rest of this review will go.

Hap and Leonard are possibly his most famous creations and feature in around a dozen novels, many short stories and novellas. They even got their own TV series that ran for three seasons (it was on Amazon Prime but is not currently free - in the UK at least).

This new release collects previously released novellas: specifically, Coco Butternut, Hoodoo Harry, Sad Onions, The Briar Patch Boogie and Cold Cotton. As each have been available previously, the value of this book will depend on whether you’ve purchased any. I hadn’t, so when this excellent collection became available for review it was an easy decision.

I had to force myself to slow down and savour each story – this is binge worthy stuff! It’s like having old friends come to stay (as Lansdale alludes to in his introduction) – you have a moment of panic when you’re not sure you have anything in common anymore, but before long, the beers and vanilla cookies are flowing and you’re into great dialogue and jokes. This is absolutely the case here - I haven’t read Hap and Leonard since The Elephant Of Surprise (released nearly two years ago) but Lansdale absolutely nails the good-natured arguments and banter between old friends (one white, one black, one white, one straight, one gay, one Democrat, one Republican, one who avoids violence and the other welcomes it – and it’s not the way round you think).

My favourite story was The Briar Patch Boogie. It has great dialogue throughout, but especially in the opening section, and is full of despicable people doing despicable things. Events do not go smoothly for our heroes, and whilst it is a little too obvious that nothing too bad will happen to them, a large part of the fun is seeing how they will get out of the situation. In fact this ‘plot armour’ is the only negative about each story – you know nothing too bad is going to happen to the heroes, but this is a criticism that can be levelled at any long running series.

If you are a fan already, this is easy to recommend. If you only know H&L from the TV show and are looking to get started on the books, then this is a fine place to start. However, if you’re a complete newcomer, you might miss the bond between the characters and so would be better off with one of the longer books. Bad Chilli is superb, but really, any of the early novels would do the job.

Everyone should have a little Hap and Leonard in their lives.

Heartily recommended.

Born for Trouble: The Further Adventures of Hap and Leonard
by Joe R Lansdale

When you meet him, Hap Collins seems like just a good ol' boy. But even in his misspent youth, his best pal was Leonard Pine: black, gay, and the ultimate outsider. Together, they have sort of found their way as partners in crime-solving--and at least as often, as hired muscle.

As Hap wrestles with his new identity as a husband and father, and Leonard finds love in a long-term relationship, the boys continue their crime-solving shenanigans. They grapple with a stolen stuffed dog, uncover the sordid secret of a missing bookmobile, compete in a warped version of the Most Dangerous Game, regroup after Hap's visit to the psychologist goes terribly awry, and much more.

So sit yourself back and settle in--Born for the Trouble is East Texas mayhem as only the master mojo storyteller Lansdale could possibly tell.

About the Hap and Leonard short story series
Hap and Leonard
Hap and Leonard: Blood and Lemonade
The Big Book of Hap and Leonard (digital only)
Of Mice and Minestrone
The classic Hap Collins and Leonard Pine mystery series began in in 1990 with Savage Season. Hap and Leonard made their screen debuts in the three season Hap and Leonard TV series, starring Michael K. Williams (The Wire), James Purefoy (The Following), and Christina Hendricks (Mad Men).

David Watkins lives in Devon in the UK with his wife, two sons, dog, cat and two turtles. He is unsure of his place in the pecking order: probably somewhere between the cat and the turtles.

He has currently released three novels, (The Original’s Return, The Original’s Retribution and The Devil’s Inn) and has a short story in the werewolf anthology Leaders of The Pack. His most recent release is the short story Rhitta Gawr available as part of the Short Sharp Shocks! Series from Demain Publishing.

Website: www.david-watkins.com
Twitter: @joshfishkins
Amazon: author.to/DavidWatkins