“He should write another book with these characters.”
That was my first thought upon finishing Joe R. Lansdale’s Savage Season. It was the first of his treasured Hap and Leonard series. Obviously, it was not the last book with the characters.
At the time I read Savage Season, I was already a Lansdale fan. The seeds were planted when I read a triple review of Joe’s books in Fangoria. It was written by the great genre journalist Stanley Wiater. We need more writers like Wiater and Douglas E. Winter. Especially in this era of vapid influencers
I took note of Lansdale’s name, positive I would like his work. In those days I liked all the critically-acclaimed writers. All that’s changed, too.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the brilliance of Joe R. Lansdale. It’s been thirty years since I first read him. My introduction couldn’t have been more perfect. It was The Drive-In, a mass market paperback, by God, from Bantam Books. I’ve been on board as a fan for the entirety of the forty ensuing years.
Savage Season and Cold in July came out almost simultaneously, first in a pair of sweet hardcovers from Mark Zeising press. Paperbacks quickly followed.
I remember it so well. Not willing to trust the distributors to get the titles on the WaldenBooks shelves, I had to speak to a human being and have them preordered to the local store. I lived directly across the street from a mall in those days, and I bought the majority of my books there.
I got the phone call while I was watching something on VHS. The movie is forgotten. I turned it off and practically ran out the door and to the mall. I raced into WaldenBooks like a madman and breathlessly told the cashier I was there for...SAVAGE SEASON! Already flustered by my enthusiasm, she dug through the preorders until she found mine. Her reaction is another indelible memory.
You may remember the original paperback cover. If not, I present it here. It’s one of the greatest covers in history. The lady took one look at it and, shocked and aghast, quickly dropped the book on the counter as if touching it would infect her. I, of course, was delighted.
Movie forgotten, I dug right into Savage Season.
Joe is such a powerful writer with intimately realized characters. In one page I felt I knew Hap Collins and Leonard Pine. They are a couple or rowdy cutups who may not live glamorous lives, but they know how to whup some butt.
Some writers, like King and Straub, have literary backgrounds. You can feel the influence in the work. There’s some of that in Lansdale’s writing, too, but to me the pulps come alive in his pages. I see Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard. There’s a generous dollop of Doc Savage and The Shadow. Most of all, especially in the case of Savage Season, the songs of Gold Medal noir novels sing loud and true. Jim Thompson, John D. McDonald and a dozen other crime writers lurk between the words of Joe’s books.
This isn’t to say Joe R. Lansdale is any kind of copycat. He has his own voice. There’s a colloquial Texas rhythm in his work. Joe is a descendant of the grand tradition of storytelling. His ancestors told them on the back porch, wetting their whistles, perhaps, with a spot of ‘shine. Tall outrageous tales, but with truth at their core.
Way back then I wrote Joe dorky fan letter care of Cemetery Dance magazine. He and his partner, David Webb, had a column called Trash Theater at the magazine. Was this a guy after my own heart or what?
I was thrilled when I got a letter in return. Not some insubstantial email or instant message, but a genuine paper letter in my mailbox. Joe thanked me and told me I could look forward to a book called Mucho Mojo in the near future.
I was certainly excited about that, but I had no idea Mucho Mojo was another Hap and Leonard novel. I wasn’t the only reader taken by the characters. Not by a long shot. I think Joe hisownself was smitten by Hap and Leonard as well.
Mucho Mojo came out, this time in a mass market hardcover. If anything it’’s a better book than Savage Season. Hap and Leonard were off and running.
The hits kept coming:The Two-Bear Mambo, Bad Chili, Rumble Tumble, and Captains Outrageous came out in rapid succession. I guess the boys, and Joe, needed a break, because it was eight long years before Hap and Leonard returned. I missed them, but that was okay. Lansdale gave us plenty of mighty fine books in the interim.
Hap and Leonard returned with a bang in Vanilla Ride, one of the strongest books in the series. It began a loose chain of novels that feature a deadly crime syndicate called the Dixie Mafia.
Joe banged out another seven novels in the following fifteen years like Hap and Leonard punching a workout bag. My favorite of this run is Sugar on the Bone. The latest novel is called Hatchet Girls.
Joe and the boys seemed inexorably tied together. There were also short stories and novellas featuring the characters. If that isn’t enough, an excellent, if too brief, series featuring the characters was made. It should have been more popular. I think it got lost in the miasma of Peak TV of the twenty-teen era.
I was twenty-nine when I read Savage Season. I feel like I’ve grown old with Hap and Leonard. My bet is Joe feels the same way. Hap and Leonard though? Decades have passed and they don’t seem a whole lot older. Technology changed in the books and the years have passed. It’s a chronological conundrum, but one I am happy to love. One thing I learned early on from reading series books like Doc Savage and Sherlock Holmes, you have to suspend your disbelief and hold on for the ride.
Hap and Leonard have been through more than their share of scrapes. They’ve been beaten, tortured, banged-up, battered, shot, and tormented. They deserve a rest. I get it. I never got in grand adventures like the boys, but a life in a machine shop beat my body up in numerous ways. I need a break too. I’m ready to put my feet up and enjoy life.
Just as I’m sure Joe R. Lansdale needs one. He’s been with Hap Collins and Leonard Pine for a long time. Joe wisely knows it's time to quit. It hurts and I wish it wasn't so. Saying goodbye is always hard. The final Hap and Leonard novel, Petrified Dreams, is coming in October. I’m not ashamed to say it gets me choked up.
These characters have become part of my life. I’ve laughed, thrilled, cringed, and cried along with Hap and Leonard. Petrified Dreams is going to be an emotional experience.
I am embarking on a massive re-read of all the Hap and Leonard books. I want to be really primed when Petrified Dreams is in my hands.
I’ve read Savage Season, I think, three times. I listened to the audiobook once and the first season of the series is based on the book. I read it again yesterday, practically in one sitting, and it’s still as gripping and enjoyable as the first time I was introduced to Hap and Leonard.
This is like bidding farewell to Bill Pronzini’s Nameless Detective and F. Paul Wilson;s Repairman Jack. I followed and loved these characters for many years and many books. I miss them desperately, just as I will miss Hap and Leonard after I've tunred the final page in Petrified Dreams.
Oh, strapping myself in and riding the books along with Hap and Leonard is going to be fun. Bittersweet fun, sure, but I've learned to take the bitter with the sweet.
Maybe if we’re all nice Joe will gift us with a short story featuring Hap and Leonard every now and then. I can hope, but if he’s done with the characters, I’ll respect it. I owe him that much, at the very least.
Written by Mark Sieber
That was my first thought upon finishing Joe R. Lansdale’s Savage Season. It was the first of his treasured Hap and Leonard series. Obviously, it was not the last book with the characters.
At the time I read Savage Season, I was already a Lansdale fan. The seeds were planted when I read a triple review of Joe’s books in Fangoria. It was written by the great genre journalist Stanley Wiater. We need more writers like Wiater and Douglas E. Winter. Especially in this era of vapid influencers
I took note of Lansdale’s name, positive I would like his work. In those days I liked all the critically-acclaimed writers. All that’s changed, too.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the brilliance of Joe R. Lansdale. It’s been thirty years since I first read him. My introduction couldn’t have been more perfect. It was The Drive-In, a mass market paperback, by God, from Bantam Books. I’ve been on board as a fan for the entirety of the forty ensuing years.
Savage Season and Cold in July came out almost simultaneously, first in a pair of sweet hardcovers from Mark Zeising press. Paperbacks quickly followed.I remember it so well. Not willing to trust the distributors to get the titles on the WaldenBooks shelves, I had to speak to a human being and have them preordered to the local store. I lived directly across the street from a mall in those days, and I bought the majority of my books there.
I got the phone call while I was watching something on VHS. The movie is forgotten. I turned it off and practically ran out the door and to the mall. I raced into WaldenBooks like a madman and breathlessly told the cashier I was there for...SAVAGE SEASON! Already flustered by my enthusiasm, she dug through the preorders until she found mine. Her reaction is another indelible memory.
You may remember the original paperback cover. If not, I present it here. It’s one of the greatest covers in history. The lady took one look at it and, shocked and aghast, quickly dropped the book on the counter as if touching it would infect her. I, of course, was delighted.
Movie forgotten, I dug right into Savage Season.
Joe is such a powerful writer with intimately realized characters. In one page I felt I knew Hap Collins and Leonard Pine. They are a couple or rowdy cutups who may not live glamorous lives, but they know how to whup some butt.
Some writers, like King and Straub, have literary backgrounds. You can feel the influence in the work. There’s some of that in Lansdale’s writing, too, but to me the pulps come alive in his pages. I see Edgar Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard. There’s a generous dollop of Doc Savage and The Shadow. Most of all, especially in the case of Savage Season, the songs of Gold Medal noir novels sing loud and true. Jim Thompson, John D. McDonald and a dozen other crime writers lurk between the words of Joe’s books.
This isn’t to say Joe R. Lansdale is any kind of copycat. He has his own voice. There’s a colloquial Texas rhythm in his work. Joe is a descendant of the grand tradition of storytelling. His ancestors told them on the back porch, wetting their whistles, perhaps, with a spot of ‘shine. Tall outrageous tales, but with truth at their core.
Way back then I wrote Joe dorky fan letter care of Cemetery Dance magazine. He and his partner, David Webb, had a column called Trash Theater at the magazine. Was this a guy after my own heart or what?
I was thrilled when I got a letter in return. Not some insubstantial email or instant message, but a genuine paper letter in my mailbox. Joe thanked me and told me I could look forward to a book called Mucho Mojo in the near future.
I was certainly excited about that, but I had no idea Mucho Mojo was another Hap and Leonard novel. I wasn’t the only reader taken by the characters. Not by a long shot. I think Joe hisownself was smitten by Hap and Leonard as well.
Mucho Mojo came out, this time in a mass market hardcover. If anything it’’s a better book than Savage Season. Hap and Leonard were off and running.
The hits kept coming:The Two-Bear Mambo, Bad Chili, Rumble Tumble, and Captains Outrageous came out in rapid succession. I guess the boys, and Joe, needed a break, because it was eight long years before Hap and Leonard returned. I missed them, but that was okay. Lansdale gave us plenty of mighty fine books in the interim.
Hap and Leonard returned with a bang in Vanilla Ride, one of the strongest books in the series. It began a loose chain of novels that feature a deadly crime syndicate called the Dixie Mafia.
Joe banged out another seven novels in the following fifteen years like Hap and Leonard punching a workout bag. My favorite of this run is Sugar on the Bone. The latest novel is called Hatchet Girls.
Joe and the boys seemed inexorably tied together. There were also short stories and novellas featuring the characters. If that isn’t enough, an excellent, if too brief, series featuring the characters was made. It should have been more popular. I think it got lost in the miasma of Peak TV of the twenty-teen era.
I was twenty-nine when I read Savage Season. I feel like I’ve grown old with Hap and Leonard. My bet is Joe feels the same way. Hap and Leonard though? Decades have passed and they don’t seem a whole lot older. Technology changed in the books and the years have passed. It’s a chronological conundrum, but one I am happy to love. One thing I learned early on from reading series books like Doc Savage and Sherlock Holmes, you have to suspend your disbelief and hold on for the ride.
Hap and Leonard have been through more than their share of scrapes. They’ve been beaten, tortured, banged-up, battered, shot, and tormented. They deserve a rest. I get it. I never got in grand adventures like the boys, but a life in a machine shop beat my body up in numerous ways. I need a break too. I’m ready to put my feet up and enjoy life.
Just as I’m sure Joe R. Lansdale needs one. He’s been with Hap Collins and Leonard Pine for a long time. Joe wisely knows it's time to quit. It hurts and I wish it wasn't so. Saying goodbye is always hard. The final Hap and Leonard novel, Petrified Dreams, is coming in October. I’m not ashamed to say it gets me choked up.
These characters have become part of my life. I’ve laughed, thrilled, cringed, and cried along with Hap and Leonard. Petrified Dreams is going to be an emotional experience.
I am embarking on a massive re-read of all the Hap and Leonard books. I want to be really primed when Petrified Dreams is in my hands.
I’ve read Savage Season, I think, three times. I listened to the audiobook once and the first season of the series is based on the book. I read it again yesterday, practically in one sitting, and it’s still as gripping and enjoyable as the first time I was introduced to Hap and Leonard.
This is like bidding farewell to Bill Pronzini’s Nameless Detective and F. Paul Wilson;s Repairman Jack. I followed and loved these characters for many years and many books. I miss them desperately, just as I will miss Hap and Leonard after I've tunred the final page in Petrified Dreams.Oh, strapping myself in and riding the books along with Hap and Leonard is going to be fun. Bittersweet fun, sure, but I've learned to take the bitter with the sweet.
Maybe if we’re all nice Joe will gift us with a short story featuring Hap and Leonard every now and then. I can hope, but if he’s done with the characters, I’ll respect it. I owe him that much, at the very least.
Written by Mark Sieber
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