Devil Red
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Booklist Review
Hap Collins and Leonard Pine are a couple of East Texas troublemakers who occasionally subcontract a little investigatory work because, well, sometimes they get to make trouble while investigating. Perfect! Marvin Hanson, a real private investigator, hands the boys a cold case involving a double murder in which both victims, who had something to do with a vampire cult (the crime scene was decorated with a devil's-head symbol), were in line to inherit serious money. Hap and Leonard aren't just tough. They're pretty fair investigators Leonard has taken to wearing a deerstalker hat and soon they have a shadowy group on their tail. An attempt is made on Leonard's life, and a vengeful Hap sets out to settle the score with an assist from Vanilla Ride, the sexy female assassin the boys encountered in their last case. Lansdale is funny, often profane, sometimes profound, and a master of the prolonged shootout. The Hap and Leonard novels are re-readably entertaining. Each time through reveals something that was missed earlier.--Lukowsky, Wes Copyright 2010 Booklist
Publisher's Weekly Review
In Lansdale's rollicking eighth Hap and Leonard novel (after Vanilla Ride), the East Texas crime-fighting duo, Hap Collins (white and straight) and his partner, Leonard Pine (black and gay), look into a two-year-old unsolved murder. They step into the usual hornet's nest of troubles when they spot a devil's head scrawled in blood in crime-scene photos. It's the tag of a merciless mass murderer who has tallied numerous hits across the country, and as their investigation broadens, the pair discovers that Devil Red---who could be one of the countless criminals they've cheesed off in previous capers-is now hot on their trails. Lansdale delivers his patented blend of hard-boiled mayhem and laconic humor, leavened with reflections on mortality, morality, sex, and brotherhood. There's enough seriousness to make this novel stand far apart from run-of-the-mill thrillers-and enough comedy to have readers laughing through the blood spatters. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Library Journal Review
It's easy to imagine a young Joey Lansdale, aged about 12, huddled under the covers, reading the Hardy Boys by flashlight. Right then, he knows that someday he will write like that, and so he has. This eighth Hap and Leonard mystery (following Vanilla Ride) opens with the duo investigating a series of murders in their patch of east Texas. Each murder site is signed with a drawing of a red devil's head (a nice Hardy Boys touch), and suspects are as thick on the ground as pine needles before the adrenaline-stoked shoot-out of a conclusion. Nobody's better at smacking us with the look, feel, and smell of derring-do. Along the way, there is the usual camaraderie, banter, and sex (this is the Hardy Boys for the 21st century, after all). VERDICT Lansdale has deservedly swept up nearly every award for genre writers there is, and fans will welcome this latest addition to the canon. For those unfamiliar with the series, and mercifully free of delicate sensibilities, with a hankering for smart, and smart-mouthed, adventure yarns, there's a lot here to relish.-Bob Lunn, Kansas City, MO (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Reviews
Hap Collins and Leonard Pine are a couple of East Texas troublemakers who occasionally subcontract a little investigatory work because, well, sometimes they get to make trouble while investigating. Perfect! Marvin Hanson, a real private investigator, hands the boys a cold case involving a double murder in which both victims, who had something to do with a vampire cult (the crime scene was decorated with a devil's-head symbol), were in line to inherit serious money. Hap and Leonard aren't just tough. They're pretty fair investigators—Leonard has taken to wearing a deerstalker hat—and soon they have a shadowy group on their tail. An attempt is made on Leonard's life, and a vengeful Hap sets out to settle the score with an assist from Vanilla Ride, the sexy female assassin the boys encountered in their last case. Lansdale is funny, often profane, sometimes profound, and a master of the prolonged shootout. The Hap and Leonard novels are re-readably entertaining. Each time through reveals something that was missed earlier. Copyright 2011 Booklist Reviews.
Library Journal Reviews
It's easy to imagine a young Joey Lansdale, aged about 12, huddled under the covers, reading the Hardy Boys by flashlight. Right then, he knows that someday he will write like that, and so he has. This eighth Hap and Leonard mystery (following Vanilla Ride) opens with the duo investigating a series of murders in their patch of east Texas. Each murder site is signed with a drawing of a red devil's head (a nice Hardy Boys touch), and suspects are as thick on the ground as pine needles before the adrenaline-stoked shoot-out of a conclusion. Nobody's better at smacking us with the look, feel, and smell of derring-do. Along the way, there is the usual camaraderie, banter, and sex (this is the Hardy Boys for the 21st century, after all). VERDICT Lansdale has deservedly swept up nearly every award for genre writers there is, and fans will welcome this latest addition to the canon. For those unfamiliar with the series, and mercifully free of delicate sensibilities, with a hankering for smart, and smart-mouthed, adventure yarns, there's a lot here to relish.—Bob Lunn, Kansas City, MO
[Page 85]. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.Publishers Weekly Reviews
In Lansdale's rollicking eighth Hap and Leonard novel (after Vanilla Ride), the East Texas crime-fighting duo, Hap Collins (white and straight) and his partner, Leonard Pine (black and gay), look into a two-year-old unsolved murder. They step into the usual hornet's nest of troubles when they spot a devil's head scrawled in blood in crime-scene photos. It's the tag of a merciless mass murderer who has tallied numerous hits across the country, and as their investigation broadens, the pair discovers that Devil Red—who could be one of the countless criminals they've cheesed off in previous capers—is now hot on their trails. Lansdale delivers his patented blend of hard-boiled mayhem and laconic humor, leavened with reflections on mortality, morality, sex, and brotherhood. There's enough seriousness to make this novel stand far apart from run-of-the-mill thrillers—and enough comedy to have readers laughing through the blood spatters. (Mar.)
[Page ]. Copyright 2010 PWxyz LLC