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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
Bad Chili
Hap & Leonard Book 4
Joe R. Lansdale
In a classic Lansdale move, Bad Chili begins with Hap & Leonard giving each other shit. These two get roasted!
A rabid squirrel jumps out of nowhere and chases the men around, ultimately biting Hap which sends him to the ER. He meets a bombshell woman with red hair and a no-bullshit attitude (because of course he does!).
Things take a sharp turn when he learns that his best friend is in some pretty serious trouble and is now missing.
Bad Chili doesn’t take itself too seriously. Hap and Leonard are always cracking wise, even in the darkest of times which keeps the reader at peak levels of entertainment. Hap’s new girl, Brett invites all kinds of sexual innuendos and flirty banter giving fans even more insight to Hap’s character as Lansdale continues to develop our duo into fully formed, flawed heroes.
"Life's like a bowl of chili in a strange café. Sometimes it's pretty tasty and spicy. Other times, it tastes like shit."
This is one of my favorites because it had a gentle, lighthearted touch, for the most part-a nice reprieve from the relentless mayhem of the previous three. But if book 5 totally goes there, I’m ready to buckle up and go for the ride. I’m invested. All in with this series.
Hap & Leonard Book 4
Joe R. Lansdale
In a classic Lansdale move, Bad Chili begins with Hap & Leonard giving each other shit. These two get roasted!
A rabid squirrel jumps out of nowhere and chases the men around, ultimately biting Hap which sends him to the ER. He meets a bombshell woman with red hair and a no-bullshit attitude (because of course he does!).
Things take a sharp turn when he learns that his best friend is in some pretty serious trouble and is now missing.
Bad Chili doesn’t take itself too seriously. Hap and Leonard are always cracking wise, even in the darkest of times which keeps the reader at peak levels of entertainment. Hap’s new girl, Brett invites all kinds of sexual innuendos and flirty banter giving fans even more insight to Hap’s character as Lansdale continues to develop our duo into fully formed, flawed heroes.
"Life's like a bowl of chili in a strange café. Sometimes it's pretty tasty and spicy. Other times, it tastes like shit."
This is one of my favorites because it had a gentle, lighthearted touch, for the most part-a nice reprieve from the relentless mayhem of the previous three. But if book 5 totally goes there, I’m ready to buckle up and go for the ride. I’m invested. All in with this series.
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Not my usual cup of tea for a mystery. Lots of shooting and vigilante behavior...
Ther e is a lot of violence when Hap and Leonard get involved in things. This time they get mixed up in the death of Leonard's boyfriend, a former wrestler, and a chili King. The lannguqge and the geography are very typically East Texas.
Hap and Leonard get drawn into more small-town mayhem when Leonard's ex-boyfriend Raul dies at the hands of some local entrepreneurs who are not just stealing grease from restaurants, they're also discovering the lucrative market for amateur VHS porn. Meanwhile, Hap manages to get bitten by a rabid squirrel, leading to a nurse whose life trajectory (including whacking her abusive ex-husband with a shovel and then setting his hair on fire) aligns companionably with his own.
We've arrived at the fourth book in the Hap and Leonard series, and Lansdale is still going strong. This was also the first time I was completely unfamiliar with the plot on beforehand. By which I mean, I originally watched the far too short-lived TV series based on the books, and the show got me interested in acquiring the books to read the source material. Each season was based on one of the books, so when I started reading these novels, I remembered the main plots from the TV show. However, it was canceled after season three, meaning only the three first books were adapted for the screen, so starting with this fourth novel, there is no longer any on-screen story to compare it to.
But only having this fourth story in written form does not make me lack anything, because Lansdale's writing is masterful. If you're like me and happened to see the TV show first, I'm sure you can understand what I mean when I say that it was very easy to imagine the fourth season in one's head while reading this.
One of the things I love about Lansdale's writing, is that although Bad Chili is "only" less than 250 pages long, he has a very compact delivery, thus managing to deliver a lot of story and character development within that frame without it coming across as rushed in any way. It also helps that readers should be familiar enough with Hap and Leonard by now, so Lansdale can sort of get straight to the point with regard to setting up their next adventure.
And he does so with ease and flair; very early in the first chapter, we get a delightful taste of Lansdale's sense of humor, in a moment that involves a rabid squirrel, but this seemingly out-of-the-blue moment also works seamlessly as a plot device to put the two main characters where they need to be for this book's mystery to present itself.
But speaking of whether readers are already familiar with the characters or not, though: While each novel has for the most part been a stand-alone story so far, there's still the occasional drip of backstory and references to previous moments which gives a natural sense of continuity without those paragraphs coming across as obligatory exposition. Nothing forced, just various things mentioned in passing in the dialogue that will make you go: "Oh yeah, I remember that." And on the off chance that a brand new reader happens to pick up this book first, those drips will get them slightly caught up so that they won't be completely lost and confused.
The banter between the characters is perpetually funny, and clever, and has such a natural flow. I found myself chuckling loudly many times, which isn't always the case for me even when I genuinely find something humorous in other novels. Unexpected quips, delightful sarcasm, and plain old bickering that makes you realize over and over that Hap and Leonard are soulmates in their own way, and all of it is so smoothly woven into the story that you get caught off guard and can't help but laugh sometimes, just like when talking to friends in real life.
As for the mystery in and of itself, Lansdale really does know how to build suspense, and provide some twists and turns that add that little extra grit and grime very befitting what is essentially a Southern noir story.
Speaking of which, it's a bit ambivalent that I finished this book specifically today (June 25, 2022), due to real-life events here in Norway on this day. Whenever I'm reading a book, I make notes along the way to keep track of things I want to point out for these reviews. And one thing I had noted down was that Lansdale has a knack for dealing with certain real-life themes within his aforementioned Southern noir universe in such a way that it both fits the story but also gets his own views across. His stories feature some really vile, prejudiced and bigoted characters, but they serve as a cautionary tale.
This is where I'm getting to my point; Lansdale has previously dealt with racism in these novels, and this time, the main plot also deals with homophobia. Some of the gay-bashing described in this story seems extreme, but then you have a real-life incident like the recent mass shooting by a gay bar in Oslo, causing a scheduled Pride parade to be canceled as a safety measure, not only making you realize that these horrible things really do happen, but also proving why these things are so important to talk about in the first place.
In other words, as much as I applaud Lansdale's knack for humor in his delivery, I also applaud his ability to shed some light on important topics in his own way. And Bad Chili has only gotten me even more excited to continue reading this series.
But only having this fourth story in written form does not make me lack anything, because Lansdale's writing is masterful. If you're like me and happened to see the TV show first, I'm sure you can understand what I mean when I say that it was very easy to imagine the fourth season in one's head while reading this.
One of the things I love about Lansdale's writing, is that although Bad Chili is "only" less than 250 pages long, he has a very compact delivery, thus managing to deliver a lot of story and character development within that frame without it coming across as rushed in any way. It also helps that readers should be familiar enough with Hap and Leonard by now, so Lansdale can sort of get straight to the point with regard to setting up their next adventure.
And he does so with ease and flair; very early in the first chapter, we get a delightful taste of Lansdale's sense of humor, in a moment that involves a rabid squirrel, but this seemingly out-of-the-blue moment also works seamlessly as a plot device to put the two main characters where they need to be for this book's mystery to present itself.
But speaking of whether readers are already familiar with the characters or not, though: While each novel has for the most part been a stand-alone story so far, there's still the occasional drip of backstory and references to previous moments which gives a natural sense of continuity without those paragraphs coming across as obligatory exposition. Nothing forced, just various things mentioned in passing in the dialogue that will make you go: "Oh yeah, I remember that." And on the off chance that a brand new reader happens to pick up this book first, those drips will get them slightly caught up so that they won't be completely lost and confused.
The banter between the characters is perpetually funny, and clever, and has such a natural flow. I found myself chuckling loudly many times, which isn't always the case for me even when I genuinely find something humorous in other novels. Unexpected quips, delightful sarcasm, and plain old bickering that makes you realize over and over that Hap and Leonard are soulmates in their own way, and all of it is so smoothly woven into the story that you get caught off guard and can't help but laugh sometimes, just like when talking to friends in real life.
As for the mystery in and of itself, Lansdale really does know how to build suspense, and provide some twists and turns that add that little extra grit and grime very befitting what is essentially a Southern noir story.
Speaking of which, it's a bit ambivalent that I finished this book specifically today (June 25, 2022), due to real-life events here in Norway on this day. Whenever I'm reading a book, I make notes along the way to keep track of things I want to point out for these reviews. And one thing I had noted down was that Lansdale has a knack for dealing with certain real-life themes within his aforementioned Southern noir universe in such a way that it both fits the story but also gets his own views across. His stories feature some really vile, prejudiced and bigoted characters, but they serve as a cautionary tale.
This is where I'm getting to my point; Lansdale has previously dealt with racism in these novels, and this time, the main plot also deals with homophobia. Some of the gay-bashing described in this story seems extreme, but then you have a real-life incident like the recent mass shooting by a gay bar in Oslo, causing a scheduled Pride parade to be canceled as a safety measure, not only making you realize that these horrible things really do happen, but also proving why these things are so important to talk about in the first place.
In other words, as much as I applaud Lansdale's knack for humor in his delivery, I also applaud his ability to shed some light on important topics in his own way. And Bad Chili has only gotten me even more excited to continue reading this series.
More good fun from Joe Lansdale. If you are a Lansdale fan, you probably already know and love Hap and Leonard. If you aren't--if you like a quick-paced modern(ish) western with real characters, razor sharp dialogue, laugh-out loud humor, extreme tension, and mega-violence, pick up Hap and Leonard!
Take a moment and ask yourself what's worse: getting fired from your bouncer job for peeing on someone, then losing your boyfriend after you threaten his side-boyfriend, a biker, who turns out to be an undercover cop, who turns out to be a corrupt undercover cop, running two different deal trying to make three different people frame you for a triple homicide... or getting bit by a rabid squirrel.
Yeah, I'd take the squirrel, too. Why Hap's stuck in the hospital, waiting for shots in the least convenient way, Leonard is getting terribly mixed up in two different crime rings for about three different reasons. So Hap leaves AMA with a cute nurse's phone number and the two of them start snooping around until, after Leonard's house gets tossed, Hap gets kidnapped and tortured by a former professional wrestler. He's rescued by one Jim Bob Luke who does a little PI work and ass kicking when he's not being an East Texas hog farmer.
Meanwhile, Charlie's wife has left him and Raul's gone for good. What are Hap and Leonard (and Brett!) to do? Oh, you know, fight the bad guys with rabies and a .38 special, then survive a tornado. Like bros do.
Yeah, I'd take the squirrel, too. Why Hap's stuck in the hospital, waiting for shots in the least convenient way, Leonard is getting terribly mixed up in two different crime rings for about three different reasons. So Hap leaves AMA with a cute nurse's phone number and the two of them start snooping around until, after Leonard's house gets tossed, Hap gets kidnapped and tortured by a former professional wrestler. He's rescued by one Jim Bob Luke who does a little PI work and ass kicking when he's not being an East Texas hog farmer.
Meanwhile, Charlie's wife has left him and Raul's gone for good. What are Hap and Leonard (and Brett!) to do? Oh, you know, fight the bad guys with rabies and a .38 special, then survive a tornado. Like bros do.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No