katepowellshine's review against another edition
2.0
I was disappointed with this. Sure, it has all the fast-paced action and down-home, irreverent humor I've grown to love and expect in a Hap and Leonard book, but I was bothered by the way the violence was addressed. Initially, I was relieved read about how Hap, a man who went to prison to protest the war in Vietnam, was finally growing more and more uncomfortable with the level of violence he was regularly meting out. Things did escalate from self-defense quite a bit over the previous seven books. So it was particularly frustrating to me that his reluctance to continue the violence was resolved (whoops, spoiler!) by him being faced with a clear-cut case of the law failing to stop some of the most awful, horrible people. In other words, the whole story felt like a justification for violence. Which is seriously WEAK.
pbanditp's review against another edition
3.0
It was a good Hap and Leonard story but it felt like all the other ones
ericgaryanderson's review against another edition
5.0
Hap and Leonard ride again! Always a pleasure.
baggman's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Watched the cable TV series a couple (?) years back and rather enjoyed it. Haven’t read any Lansdale stuff before and thought I’d give it a whirl. I will not read any Lansdale stuff again.
verkisto's review against another edition
4.0
Devil Red and its predecessor, Vanilla Ride (apart from having similar-but-different -- and somewhat silly -- titles), are the first Hap & Leonard novels published by Knopf. Knopf also published Lansdale's well-received historical crime novels, and while the artistic level of these last two Hap & Leonard books aren't quite up there with Sunset and Sawdust, they're definitely a step up from what the two main characters were up to when they were under Mysterious Press. To me, Knopf is a more literary publisher, to the point where even their more genre titles and authors have a bit more elevation than what I find from other publishers.
Devil Red begins like most Hap & Leonard novels begin: our two main characters are out doing an odd job out of the kindness of their hearts, and the events turn pretty violent. Said odd job begins a chain of events that pits them against some heavy duty antagonists, and with the help of their usual gang of friends, Hap and Leonard go up against them, despite the odds not being in their favor. This time around, it involves a series of murders surrounding a vampire cult from a couple of years ago.
Cason Statler and Camp Rapture, both from Leather Maiden, make an appearance here, which was sort of odd. There's nothing in any of Lansdale's crime fiction to make you think that they're set in an individual universe, and the lack of anything supernatural means that these could all be "real world" novels, but since there's never been any crossover between his books before, aside from Leather Maiden taking place in the same town as Sunset and Sawdust (albeit a good 70 years in the future), this one caught me by surprise. Towns have been mentioned before, and I'm pretty sure Camp Rapture has already been mentioned in the Hap & Leonard series, but Cason isn't just a mention or a cameo; he has a full-blown part in the investigation and the plot. He doesn't get involved with the nitty gritty of the story (this is, after all, a Hap & Leonard novel), but without him, the story doesn't progress. I'm not sure if that means anything beyond Lansdale just wanting to see how these characters interact, but it does make me wonder if we're seeing the last of Hap and Leonard in full novels.
The themes of these last two novels has been heftier, with Hap seriously thinking about his life and what he's doing with it. He's always been a more introspective character, who's not always comfortable with some of the terrible things he has to do, but Vanilla Ride and Devil Red delve more deeply than the series has in the past. I wonder, again, if this is some sign of the end of the series all together, with Cason possibly moving in to replace them, but that theme has made these novels feel more significant. It also doesn't hurt that these last two novels have been more like a true pair of novels to be read in sequence, and not just standalone books with the same characters. I said with Vanilla Ride that the books could be read pretty much in any order, but Devil Red proves me wrong.
The series overall is worth reading for anyone who likes gritty, witty, realistic crime fiction, but these last two books bring the series to a pinnacle. I could easily see him ending the series here or continuing it, either way, though I won't lie; I hope he's going to continue telling us what kind of trouble Hap and Leonard get up to. Lansdale's always been a good writer, but it's been within the last ten years or so where he's really become a great one.
Devil Red begins like most Hap & Leonard novels begin: our two main characters are out doing an odd job out of the kindness of their hearts, and the events turn pretty violent. Said odd job begins a chain of events that pits them against some heavy duty antagonists, and with the help of their usual gang of friends, Hap and Leonard go up against them, despite the odds not being in their favor. This time around, it involves a series of murders surrounding a vampire cult from a couple of years ago.
Cason Statler and Camp Rapture, both from Leather Maiden, make an appearance here, which was sort of odd. There's nothing in any of Lansdale's crime fiction to make you think that they're set in an individual universe, and the lack of anything supernatural means that these could all be "real world" novels, but since there's never been any crossover between his books before, aside from Leather Maiden taking place in the same town as Sunset and Sawdust (albeit a good 70 years in the future), this one caught me by surprise. Towns have been mentioned before, and I'm pretty sure Camp Rapture has already been mentioned in the Hap & Leonard series, but Cason isn't just a mention or a cameo; he has a full-blown part in the investigation and the plot. He doesn't get involved with the nitty gritty of the story (this is, after all, a Hap & Leonard novel), but without him, the story doesn't progress. I'm not sure if that means anything beyond Lansdale just wanting to see how these characters interact, but it does make me wonder if we're seeing the last of Hap and Leonard in full novels.
The themes of these last two novels has been heftier, with Hap seriously thinking about his life and what he's doing with it. He's always been a more introspective character, who's not always comfortable with some of the terrible things he has to do, but Vanilla Ride and Devil Red delve more deeply than the series has in the past. I wonder, again, if this is some sign of the end of the series all together, with Cason possibly moving in to replace them, but that theme has made these novels feel more significant. It also doesn't hurt that these last two novels have been more like a true pair of novels to be read in sequence, and not just standalone books with the same characters. I said with Vanilla Ride that the books could be read pretty much in any order, but Devil Red proves me wrong.
The series overall is worth reading for anyone who likes gritty, witty, realistic crime fiction, but these last two books bring the series to a pinnacle. I could easily see him ending the series here or continuing it, either way, though I won't lie; I hope he's going to continue telling us what kind of trouble Hap and Leonard get up to. Lansdale's always been a good writer, but it's been within the last ten years or so where he's really become a great one.
verbalken's review against another edition
2.0
The characters and the banter were fun, but the mystery and suspense elements were weak.
mikedeab63's review
3.0
I hadn't read a Hap & Leonard before this and it probably affected my reading of this one just a bit. I think I missed out on some of the pathos and surely missed out on some of the Vanilla Ride sequences.
Still, the pair remain more of the unique PIs being written today and the dialogue alone is worth the time to read. Sometimes verging on screwball, sometimes biting commentary, Lansdale smartly lets it do the heavy lifting in defining these characters.
The plot itself largely happens to the them or is told to them and I wish we had a little more time with the antagonists. After a bit of a meandering start (which I might have enjoyed more had I known these characters a bit more) it slams to a bloody and brutal conclusion.
Still, the pair remain more of the unique PIs being written today and the dialogue alone is worth the time to read. Sometimes verging on screwball, sometimes biting commentary, Lansdale smartly lets it do the heavy lifting in defining these characters.
The plot itself largely happens to the them or is told to them and I wish we had a little more time with the antagonists. After a bit of a meandering start (which I might have enjoyed more had I known these characters a bit more) it slams to a bloody and brutal conclusion.
guiltyfeat's review
4.0
Another bawdy and bloody tale featuring Hap Collins and Leonard Pine. There are no taboos here but there is a disturbingly high body count in a novella running right around 200 pages. Every post mortem bowel evacuation is evocatively detailed as Hap & Leonard fumble around in the dark tripping over dead bodies trying to find a serial killer. Not for the squeamish, but bags of fun for everyone else.
vkemp's review
4.0
Hap and Leonard are back and creating chaos all over East Texas. After their encounter with Vanilla Ride, they now face an even more deadly assassin, Devil Red. Marvin Hanson has started a detective agency and he hires Hap and Leonard to investigate the murder of two young people in a park. As Hap and Leonard work on the case, they uncover links to multiple murders all over the country and determine a serial killer is on the loose, signing his work with a painted red devil's face. Leonard is wearing a deerstalker hat and Hap is pondering on his life. I adore Joe R. Lansdale's musings on life behind the Pine Curtain, mortality and weird people. Read these books if you want to laugh out loud while wincing at how close to the bone he cuts.
nigellicus's review
5.0
Hap and Leonard unite the great cultural and political American divide, with Hap the white straight bleeding heart liberal and Leonard the black, gay hang-'em-high conservative, bonded together forever by a sense of friendship that encompasses love, duty, honour, justice, brotherhood and all that good shit. I think a fairly heavy case can be made that they deserve to be a lot more iconic. One day they'll make a TV series out of the books as good as Justified if not better and the dream will come true halleluia.
Investigating a double murder unsolved by the police, our heroes find out more that they want to about vampire cults, are reluctantly drawn back to the Dixie Mafia and become the target of a world-class professional assassin. Along the way, Leonard has to deal with a break-up and Hap has to cope with a sudden rush of PTSD. Then there's all the usual violence, mayhem, scatalogical humour and general smart-arsery that makes these books such a liberating shot of adrenaline straight to the heart. So damn good the damn good has to wear a coat and tie.
Investigating a double murder unsolved by the police, our heroes find out more that they want to about vampire cults, are reluctantly drawn back to the Dixie Mafia and become the target of a world-class professional assassin. Along the way, Leonard has to deal with a break-up and Hap has to cope with a sudden rush of PTSD. Then there's all the usual violence, mayhem, scatalogical humour and general smart-arsery that makes these books such a liberating shot of adrenaline straight to the heart. So damn good the damn good has to wear a coat and tie.
More...