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geekwayne's review
4.0
'Coco Butternut' by Joe R. Lansdale is another kooky adventure with Hap and Leonard. They always manage to find their way into the strangest circumstances.
This time around, the strangeness revolves around the mummified corpse of a prized family pet that is being ransomed. Hal and Leonard are brought in to help with the transaction. In typical Hal and Leonard fashion, things don't go as expected, which leads to death, dead bodies, and a trip to the pet cemetary to dig up more corpses.
I've only read a few stories with these two, but they are really great characters. I enjoyed this one, and while the solution wasn't all that great, it was all about the journey.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Subterranean Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
This time around, the strangeness revolves around the mummified corpse of a prized family pet that is being ransomed. Hal and Leonard are brought in to help with the transaction. In typical Hal and Leonard fashion, things don't go as expected, which leads to death, dead bodies, and a trip to the pet cemetary to dig up more corpses.
I've only read a few stories with these two, but they are really great characters. I enjoyed this one, and while the solution wasn't all that great, it was all about the journey.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Subterranean Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.
dantastic's review
3.0
When someone steals his mother's mummified dog, the beloved Coco Butternut, Jimmy Farmer hires Hap and Leonard to deliver the ransom. Too bad the dog won't be the only thing buried before the day is done...
I got this from Netgalley.
Coco Butternut is a Hap and Leonard novella set sometime after the events of [b:Honky Tonk Samurai|25820257|Honky Tonk Samurai (Hap and Leonard, #11)|Joe R. Lansdale|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442852361s/25820257.jpg|45677077] and [b:Briar Patch Boogie: A Hap and Leonard Novelette|28524568|Briar Patch Boogie A Hap and Leonard Novelette|Joe R. Lansdale|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1452622784s/28524568.jpg|48682738]. The boys are working for Brett at the detective agency when they catch the bizarre case of Coco Butternut.
Why would someone steal the mummified carcass of a wiener dog, you ask? Things get fairly complicated. Hap and Leonard are true to form, cracking wise and kicking ass, as are Brett and Chance.
It's a pretty slim book and I liked it but I wasn't blown away. I liked the callbacks to previous stories and the guys were in fine form but there wasn't a whole lot to the story. It felt like when you run into an old friend at the grocery store. It's fun catching up for a few minutes but then things get awkward. Do you shop alongside them? If not, what if you bump into each other again in the produce department?
Anyway. Coco Butternut was a fun Hap and Leonard novella but it was little more than an appetizer for [b:Rusty Puppy|29893673|Rusty Puppy (Hap and Leonard, #12)|Joe R. Lansdale|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1466170771s/29893673.jpg|50268845]. Three out of five stars.
I got this from Netgalley.
Coco Butternut is a Hap and Leonard novella set sometime after the events of [b:Honky Tonk Samurai|25820257|Honky Tonk Samurai (Hap and Leonard, #11)|Joe R. Lansdale|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442852361s/25820257.jpg|45677077] and [b:Briar Patch Boogie: A Hap and Leonard Novelette|28524568|Briar Patch Boogie A Hap and Leonard Novelette|Joe R. Lansdale|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1452622784s/28524568.jpg|48682738]. The boys are working for Brett at the detective agency when they catch the bizarre case of Coco Butternut.
Why would someone steal the mummified carcass of a wiener dog, you ask? Things get fairly complicated. Hap and Leonard are true to form, cracking wise and kicking ass, as are Brett and Chance.
It's a pretty slim book and I liked it but I wasn't blown away. I liked the callbacks to previous stories and the guys were in fine form but there wasn't a whole lot to the story. It felt like when you run into an old friend at the grocery store. It's fun catching up for a few minutes but then things get awkward. Do you shop alongside them? If not, what if you bump into each other again in the produce department?
Anyway. Coco Butternut was a fun Hap and Leonard novella but it was little more than an appetizer for [b:Rusty Puppy|29893673|Rusty Puppy (Hap and Leonard, #12)|Joe R. Lansdale|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1466170771s/29893673.jpg|50268845]. Three out of five stars.
verkisto's review
3.0
The award for the most ridiculous book title of 2017 is ... Coco Butternut! Yes, I know it's only mid-February (well, it is as I write this. It appears this is going to be scheduled for publication in July, so greetings from the past!), but I'm fairly certain that, of all the books I'll read this year, this one will win the prize. It's just a little ridiculous.
It's not irrelevant, though, since the name of the book refers to a prize-winning dachshund, which you can see on the cover over there. He's long dead, as long as his owner, but when someone digs up the mummified dog and uses him as ransom, the deceased owner's son pays a hefty amount to get him back. Of course, this isn't Hap and Leonard's first rodeo, and neither is it our first time reading one of their books, so this event spawns an investigation into the dognappers that gets more and more complicated.
This is a formula that Lansdale uses in his Hap & Leonard books, but his stories never feel formulaic. Coco Butternut takes us through familiar locales, with a familiar cast of characters, with his familiar brand of storytelling, meaning that those of us familiar with all that are going to have a good time. This doesn't mean we'll find it to be the gosh-darned bestest book read EVAR, but it does mean we'll have fun while on the ride.
I've noticed that Lansdale is beginning to show more of the other characters in this series instead of relying on just Hap and Leonard, and in some ways, this is good. It gives the series a fresh feeling, especially with Brett, who's becoming more and more a full-fledged character and less Hap's girlfriend. Chance, Hap's daughter, is another story. Here, she feels wooden, shoehorned into the story as an obligation and not as a necessity. I can't remember her character being much more than that in her previous appearances, but I can't say that for certain. Either way, here she feels like a distraction.
Coco Butternut is a bit better than Hoodoo Harry, but not quite as good as Briar Patch Boogie. These Hap & Leonard novellas don't have the same kind of punch as the full-length novels in the series, but they're a nice snack to have between courses of the main meal. Fans will like it; those new to the two characters would be better off starting at the beginning of the novels.
It's not irrelevant, though, since the name of the book refers to a prize-winning dachshund, which you can see on the cover over there. He's long dead, as long as his owner, but when someone digs up the mummified dog and uses him as ransom, the deceased owner's son pays a hefty amount to get him back. Of course, this isn't Hap and Leonard's first rodeo, and neither is it our first time reading one of their books, so this event spawns an investigation into the dognappers that gets more and more complicated.
This is a formula that Lansdale uses in his Hap & Leonard books, but his stories never feel formulaic. Coco Butternut takes us through familiar locales, with a familiar cast of characters, with his familiar brand of storytelling, meaning that those of us familiar with all that are going to have a good time. This doesn't mean we'll find it to be the gosh-darned bestest book read EVAR, but it does mean we'll have fun while on the ride.
I've noticed that Lansdale is beginning to show more of the other characters in this series instead of relying on just Hap and Leonard, and in some ways, this is good. It gives the series a fresh feeling, especially with Brett, who's becoming more and more a full-fledged character and less Hap's girlfriend. Chance, Hap's daughter, is another story. Here, she feels wooden, shoehorned into the story as an obligation and not as a necessity. I can't remember her character being much more than that in her previous appearances, but I can't say that for certain. Either way, here she feels like a distraction.
Coco Butternut is a bit better than Hoodoo Harry, but not quite as good as Briar Patch Boogie. These Hap & Leonard novellas don't have the same kind of punch as the full-length novels in the series, but they're a nice snack to have between courses of the main meal. Fans will like it; those new to the two characters would be better off starting at the beginning of the novels.
charshorrorcorner's review
4.0
Coco Butternut is a fun Hap and Leonard novella in which they are working for a man trying to get back his dead, mummified dog. Yep, dead and mummified. Therein lies the Lansdale humor for which this series is known.
Hap and Leonard are now a family affair, what with Hap's partner Brett and Hap's daughter Chance. Together they try to solve the mysteries of dead dog blackmail. What a hoot!
I'm looking forward to season two of the show, as well as catching up on the Hap and Leonard books that came out before I was aware of them. It won't spoil anything to read this short novella out of order. It will definitely make you laugh out loud a few times and who can't use a little laughter in their lives?
Recommended!
*Thanks to Net Galley and the AWESOME Subterranean Press for the e-ARC of this novella in exchange for my honest review. This is it.*
Hap and Leonard are now a family affair, what with Hap's partner Brett and Hap's daughter Chance. Together they try to solve the mysteries of dead dog blackmail. What a hoot!
I'm looking forward to season two of the show, as well as catching up on the Hap and Leonard books that came out before I was aware of them. It won't spoil anything to read this short novella out of order. It will definitely make you laugh out loud a few times and who can't use a little laughter in their lives?
Recommended!
*Thanks to Net Galley and the AWESOME Subterranean Press for the e-ARC of this novella in exchange for my honest review. This is it.*
lauriereadslohf's review
3.0
3 1/2 Stars
Hap and Leonard (and their two accomplices) return for another zany caper. Forever short on funds, the two agree to another weird job. The deceased body of a beloved wiener dog has gone missing from the cemetery and the dognapper wants cash or else . . . Hap and Leonard step in to make the exchange.
Sure sounds easy enough to me. All they need to do is hand over the cash, grab the dead dog and collect their pay day. Nothing is ever that easy with these two. Unable to leave well enough alone, they discover things they shouldn't know and find themselves wrapped up in a little mystery that they can’t let alone.
I’ve missed a few Hap and Leonard books somewhere along the way and now they are apparently running a PI service with Hap’s girlfriend and his grown daughter Chase (where’d she come from?!). This was a little disconcerting but it’s my fault for reading the series out of order, as I do. The characters are smart-asses as always but they didn’t seem to have that dark sarcastic edge to their insults that used to make me laugh, almost out loud. This installment was also pretty tame when it came to the violence and I never felt as if any of our leads were in grave peril.
It was entertaining but a little too tame for my expectations.
Audiobook Challenge: Book #6 Not an audio
HA Mount TBR Challenge: Book #10
HA Pages Read Challenge
2017 Horror Reading Challenge Book #8
See this and the rest of the crap I write at my blog.
Hap and Leonard (and their two accomplices) return for another zany caper. Forever short on funds, the two agree to another weird job. The deceased body of a beloved wiener dog has gone missing from the cemetery and the dognapper wants cash or else . . . Hap and Leonard step in to make the exchange.
Sure sounds easy enough to me. All they need to do is hand over the cash, grab the dead dog and collect their pay day. Nothing is ever that easy with these two. Unable to leave well enough alone, they discover things they shouldn't know and find themselves wrapped up in a little mystery that they can’t let alone.
I’ve missed a few Hap and Leonard books somewhere along the way and now they are apparently running a PI service with Hap’s girlfriend and his grown daughter Chase (where’d she come from?!). This was a little disconcerting but it’s my fault for reading the series out of order, as I do. The characters are smart-asses as always but they didn’t seem to have that dark sarcastic edge to their insults that used to make me laugh, almost out loud. This installment was also pretty tame when it came to the violence and I never felt as if any of our leads were in grave peril.
It was entertaining but a little too tame for my expectations.
Audiobook Challenge: Book #6 Not an audio
HA Mount TBR Challenge: Book #10
HA Pages Read Challenge
2017 Horror Reading Challenge Book #8
See this and the rest of the crap I write at my blog.
cspiwak's review
3.0
I always enjoy Hap and Leonard. I thought I wa Ted a little less mayhem and more plot, but I was wrong. The detective agency , while it gives a rational explanation for their exploits, feels too “small” for Hap and Leonard. They are a force of nature. Some humor , as always, outlandish plot involving pet cemetery and battles involving backhoes
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