First lines

[telophase]

Ran by Half-Price Books at lunch today and got rachelmanija another Joe Lansdale book, The Two-Bear Mambo, as part of my campaign to get her to read his Hap and Leonard mystery/suspense series*. Cracked it open while I was eating to pass the time, and was reminded yet again of rachelmanija's post on fabulous first sentences and why you should have them.

When I got over to Leonard's Christmas Eve night, he had the Kentucky Headhunters turned way up over at his place, and they were singing "The Ballad of Davy Crockett," and Leonard, in a kind of Christmas celebration, was once again setting fire to the house next door.

Does anyone here not want to read on after that?




* As you all should.

Comments

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I want to keep reading!

I live to serve...

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I wished he'd quit doing that. I'd helped him the first time, he'd done it the second time on his own, and now here I was third time out, driving up. It was going to look damn suspicious when the cops got here. Someone had already called in. Most likely the assholes in the house. I knew that because I could hear sirens.

Leonard's boyfriend, Raul, was on the front porch of Leonard's house, his hands in his coat pockets, looking over at the burning and the ass-whipping that was taking place, and he was frantic, like a visiting Methodist preacher who'd just realized the head of the household had scooped up the last fried chicken leg.

'A course I'm not gonna type in any more, but I figure you oughta be hooked by this point. XD

I just love how I can hear the Texas drawl to clearly in my head while reading Lansdale's writing.

Re: I live to serve...

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

Tempting...

Re: I live to serve...

[telophase.livejournal.com]

It's an excellent series, provided you like your fiction ... gritty, shall I say? XD

[cerusee.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm sold. What's the name of the first one?

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Savage Season. Then Mucho Mojo, The Two-Bear Mambo, Bad Chili, Rumble Tumble, and Captains Outrageous.

I didn't actually read SS first - I started with MM - and it wasn't any real problem. IIRC, SS also isn't one of my favorites. Don't worry too much if you have to read the first 3 or 4 out of order, since Lansdale does a good job of incluing what you need to know.

And be warned: massive on the violence. But it's often damn funny. XD

[cerusee.livejournal.com]

I'll poke around next time I'm at work. I'm back in the habit of reading, and I'll want some prose work besides Pratchett eventually. Thanks for the rec!

[telophase.livejournal.com]

:D COol. You just don't want to start with Rumble Tumble - RT and CO are, IMHO, not as good as the others, plus by that point enough backstory has accumulated that you'll feel a bit adrift.

[bpggle.livejournal.com]

* As you all should.

Seconded! They're a great sort of East Texas gothic.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I remember you were in Boston when I sent you a couple of these, so you could stop feeling homesick. XD

I can't really tell people to read them to get a taste of East Texas, because nobody knows where the reality stops and the cartoon violence starts, though...

[puppleball.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's the hard part. I grew up in the area Joe writes about (my parents are now living in the town he is from) and it creeps me out. As a kid, I've gone stomping about in many of the areas he talks about or can take a good guess on where he's basing things.