I've enjoyed many of Lansdale's "Hap & Leonard" novels, and when I learned that a TV series is about to air, I had to pick up this tie-in edition paperback at Barnes and Noble. It contains short stories from different sources, most of them new to me, and some bonus material about the series.

Later: Enjoyable collection, including the amusing interview by Lansdale of his two main characters, and the "Care and Feeding and Raising Up" section in which Lansdale describes how the series began.

Of the stories, my favorites include:

"Hyenas", which I'd read in a previous collection - it features Hap and Leonard at their badass best, trying to help a hapless fellow whose young brother got mixed up with a VERY bad crowd.

"The Boy Who Became Invisible" is a departure from the classic Hap-and-Leonard stories - it's a prequel, showing Hap as a schoolboy, where he reveals how his friendship with the class outcast, a boy suffering from parental abuse, takes a very tragic turn.

"Not Our Kind" is another prequel, but this one features a high-school-age Hap during the early days of his friendship with Leonard. "I don't know what it was about Leonard, but he brought out the double smartass in me. I figured if I was going to die, I might as well go out with a few good remarks." The two of them are at odds with some racist bullies, and at one point things look pretty bad for them - cue a marvelous rescue scene by some unlikely but terrific heroes. Perhaps my favorite story in this collection.

"Bent Twig" is another story I'd read in a previous collection, and one of the grimmer tales in this one. It features Hap's girlfriend Brett and her troubled - and troublesome, and always-IN-trouble daughter Tillie, whose most recent problems require major and risky effort from Hap and Leonard to rescue her.

Then there's "Death by Chili", which is short and amusing - and notable for its inclusion of Lansdale's own chili recipe!

Lots of violence (of course), lots of humor, and some wildly entertaining (and sometimes cringe-inducing) scenes. Classic Hap and Leonard!

[There's a TV Tropes page on the TV series, with references to the books.]

*** Update: January, 2017: Thanks to ghir for sending me a "WWH&LD" tote bag - "What Would Hap & Leonard Do?" - complete with armadillo! ***

I'm sending this to BCer HI77 in Florida, as part of a trade. Enjoy!

*** Released as part of the 2016 TV Series release challenge. ***

Two guys riding shotgun

with fire up their butts,
that's not just too much chili peppers.

This book has roped itself in the Tag Game! :)

ha ha... I THINK I tagged you with it? I feel so hare brained lately, I'm not a 100% sure. BUT, I'm pretty sure it was a tag. ;)


.... OH WAIT!

Now I remember! I traded Gorydetails for it, because I knew it was on your wishlist!

I still can't remember if I tagged you with it or not, but here it comes!

Yay, Hap and Leonard! Will have a go at this to tide me over until the show comes back. Includes reprints of a couple of older things that have been on my wishlist for a long time. And will share with hyphen8, too.

To TOC, 10/30/16.

Went to lunch at Little Village with TOC, and ghir fed me books. Again.

Thank you as always. :)

...and why am I not surprised that this book started with GoryDetails? :p

Reserved for perryfran as a wishlist tag.

A very enjoyable collection. I particularly liked the two prequel stories for what they showed about Hap-in-development...although "The Boy Who Became Invisible" is, in its own way, quite painful.

I do love the relationship between the two guys, and "Not Our Kind" is fun because it shows the beginning of their relationship, and gives Leonard's uncle Chester some good moments, too.

I'll call this my 2017 Texas read for NancyNova's 2017 50 States reading challenge.
2017 states read (7/51): AL ▫ CA ▫ IN ▫ MS ▫ NY ▫ TX ▫ VT

Headed out as a wishlist tag - enjoy!

Released for Secretariat's 2017 Never Judge a Book By Its Cover Challenge (week 4: cars & trucks) and Davros-10's 2017 TV Challenge.

USPS tracking: 9549 0104 3301 7032 1255 19
ETA 2/21/17

Thanks for sending Hap and Leonard my way as a wishlist tag! I've recently discovered Lansdale and really enjoy his writing. Also saw the first season of the TV series which was also enjoyable. Looking forward to reading this.