shewreads 's review for:

Bad Chili: A Hap and Leonard Novel (4) by Joe R. Lansdale

3.0

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As this is the fourth book in the series, I obviously enjoy reading about this duo, but more so I appreciate Lansdale’s efforts to broach often stigmatized topics. This round he’s made hate crimes against homosexual males the central conflict. Hap and Leonard, depicted as a pair oft down on their luck, are crude, gritty, and a bit unconventional but always noble in their pursuits. As the two try to solve the brutal murders of an undercover cop and Leonard’s ex, they continue to break conventional stereotypes one might attach to black and white best friends of 1980s East Texas, the former a homosexual Vietnam vet and the latter a heterosexual pacifist. So, thank you to Lansdale for continuing to use entertainment literature to both amuse and perhaps change a few minds.