Hap and Leonard are in deep with this latest installment. When an older woman asks for help discovering who murdered her son, Hap and Leonard find themselves in Camp Rapture investigating a crooked police department and a team of shower cap wearing thugs. When corrupt cops try to dress their criminal activity up into helping the youth, Hap smells something worse than the stinking mill pond where corpses turn rusty from the muck.

It's fascinating to read Lansdale's latest in the outstanding Hap & Leonard series while watching the TV version retell the stories of the first couple books. Either way, this is a crime fighting duo like no other.

The twelfth book in the thriller/mystery/action series Hap & Leonard, this one picks up immediately where the previous one left off – which is good, since that previous one ended on a hell of a cliffhanger, with Hap seemingly in the middle of dying. Well, he's all better now and while I didn't particularly expect the series to kill off its narrator and co-protagonist, I really could have used some more resolution to that particular plot development.

Ah, well. I don't read these books for their subtle plotting, I read them because the banter between Hap and Leonard never fails to make me laugh. For example:
"You do look cool in that fedora.” [Hap said to Leonard]
“Like I value your opinion.”
“But you do.”
“Do not.”
“Do.”
“So you like it?” he said.
“Stylish, brother. You found something that works for you. I know how hard that must be for you.”
“You’re still searching, though,” Leonard said. “Your daughter doing okay?”
“Yep.”
“That’s working out?”
“Except she and Brett [Hap's girlfriend] have the colds from hell. I think it might be flu. Brett actually asked that I stay at the office tonight. They are seriously infectious. And I don’t want that shit they got.”
“But you don’t mind sharing their germs with me?”
“I don’t have a single symptom,” I said. “And I’m keeping it that way. I’m actually kind of enjoying being on my own at the office. Well, there’s Buffy [the dog]. It’s nice for a change of pace. Me and Buffy can play checkers until late at night. She hasn’t quite got chess down yet.”
“You can stay at my place, asshole.”
“I’m fine at the office. John and you might get back together, and I’d rather not hear you fucking behind the wall. I can’t enjoy that. I keep thinking something is in the wrong hole.”
“Long as I’ve known you, you are still bothered by it?”
“Not the gay, just the act. I don’t want to hear it going on.”
“That’s the same.”
“How do you feel about heterosexuality?”
“Nothing against it, but it makes me kind of go eeew.”
“Now you get it.”
“I’m going to tell Brett you referred to her equipment as a hole.”
“I was just speaking in a general way.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Please don’t,” I said.
“I’ll consider on it,” he said.

In this book, they investigate the murder of Jamar, a young man supposedly beaten to death in a drug deal gone wrong, but whose mother swears that something more is going on. The plot expands to include a conspiracy of crooked cops, the sexual harassment of Jamar's sister, an illegal boxing ring, an abandoned sawmill, a bunch of incompetent hitmen, Leonard's new boyfriend, a sleazy lawyer, and a deliciously creepy explanation for the phrase 'rusty puppy'. There's a slender feel to all of it, like much of it is only there to provide a setup for the fanservice-y climax wherein Hap and Leonard are forced to publically fight each other to the death. But since I quite enjoy a bit of well-done fanservice, that's not really a criticism.

Speaking of, I also loved the new character of an eight-year-old girl who becomes involved in the mystery (warning for various language issues):
The little girl came over. “You think you’re bad, don’t you?” She said this to Leonard.
“Baby girl, I don’t think, I know I’m bad.”
“Them boys hold grudges,” she said.
“Do they now? Well, that’s going to worry me for days. Who the hell are you? ”
“Reba. I was named after a white lady that sings.”
“Yeah?” Leonard said.
“Mama liked that cracker shit. I don’t. I like me some real music. I mainly go by Little Woman.”
“You just made that up,” Leonard said.
“Startin’ now, then.”
“I like Reba,” Leonard said. “I mean the singer, if that’s who you’re talking about. You I don’t like at all, you little snot-nosed pile of rat shit.”
“Leonard,” I said. “Kid.”
“This ain’t no kid. That there is a fucking four-hundred-year-old midget vampire.”
“Fuck you,” Reba said.
“Fuck you too,” Leonard said.
“You ain’t black at all?”
“What the fuck color am I? This look like shoe polish to you?”
“Uncle Tom is your color.”
“Yeah, well, you want to stay in the goddamn projects and wear your own shower cap and house shoes and whine about the Man keeping you down, you go on and do it. Me, I spit in the Man’s fucking face, tell him it’s face wash, and he’s got to like it.”
“I hope you get et up by a tiger,” she said, walking away.
“Not likely,” Leonard said.
“Leonard, really? You’re going to pick a fight with a kid?”
“She started it. Ancient midget-ass motherfucking vampire.” He yelled out to her then. “I hope your fucking tricycle has a flat.”
She kept walking away, and without looking back, she stuck her hand up in a fist, extended her middle finger.

I suspect (and sincerely hope) that she will become a recurring character, which makes me very happy. Though really I want Leonard to adopt her so they become a mean angry kick-ass family of crime solvers.

It's not a deep book, but sometimes deep is not what I want. For funny, light-hearted entertainment, you could hardly do better.

I read this as an ARC via NetGalley.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1978409088

Classic Landsdale. Another fine entry in this popular series.

Rusty Puppy by Joe R. Lansdale is the twelfth book in the Hap and Leonard series. Fortunately, even those new to the detective series will find this installment reads extremely well as a stand-alone. Lansdale does a seamless job of fleshing out the personalities and back story of each of the characters without bogging down the pacing of the storyline. As detective partners and best friends, Hap and Leonard serve as the Ying to the other’s Yang. Their complementary personalities allow them to solve the murder of Louise Elton’s teenage son, Jamar, while dodging corrupt policeman, old enemies and slow witted henchmen. Of particular note is the feisty, 11 year old, Reba. Raised in the projects, the cynical little girl serves as a subtle foil to Leonard’s hardened persona.

Hap and Leonard are at it again. This new book in the series finds Hap a bit out of sorts since his near-death experience in the last book. Leonard’s love has gone again causing his consumption of vanilla cookies to increase. The woman across the street from their office has had a son murdered possibly by the corrupt police and she wants them to look into it for her. As usual the boys step on some toes leading to violence and mayhem. Our lads come out on top of course and solve the crime. They meet up with a number of interesting characters one of whom helps them solve the mystery. She is a smart-ass 14 year-old street-wise girl from the projects, or as Leonard calls her, a 400-year-old vampire. Naturally the boys are very taken with her and when she runs into trouble because she knows too much they are incensed and set out to get even.

Joe Lansdale has a really good formula going here and this latest book doesn’t disappoint. The repartee between Hap and Leonard is delightfully funny. On the surface they should not be acquaintances, much less best friends/brothers. They are very violent men, but that violence is only visited on the evil people. They care about the downtrodden and do their best to right the wrongs visited on the people that seek them out for help. I always enjoy the Hap and Leonard series and look forward to many more to come.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rusty Puppy is the latest entry in the Hap and Leonard series by Joe Lansdale.

The pair are hired by the lady across the street to help find her son's murderer. The local cops are not only unhelpful, they are suspected of being involved. As always, the pair are happy to help and find themselves involved with corrupt lawmen, scuzzy lawyers and a foul-mouthed, 400 year old midget vampire. (You'll see.)

I believe the main draw for these books is the back and forth between Hap and Leonard and this book is no exception. I found myself laughing out loud quite a bit and with everything going on in the world today, I welcomed the respite.

There's also a killer fight scene towards the end of the book that loyal readers won't want to miss.

Hap and Leonard lovers should enjoy this volume of the series just as much as the rest of them, if not just a smidge more. Highly recommended, especially to fans of the series!

*Thanks to Mulholland Books and NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*