Bad Chili: A Hap and Leonard Novel (4) (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) [Paperback]

Joe R. Lansdale (Author)

Book Description

Series: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard | Publication Date: May 5, 2009

With his trademark knack for gut-busting laughter and head-splitting action, Joe R. Lansdale serves up a bubbling cauldron of murder and mayhem that only he could create.Hap Collins has just returned home from a gig working on an off shore oil rig. With a new perspective on life, Hap wants to change the way he's living, and shoot the straight and narrow. That is until the man who stole Leonard Pine's boyfriend turns up headless in a ditch and Leonard gets fingered for the murder. Hap vows to clear Leonard's name, but things only get more complicated when Leonard's ex shows up dead. To the police it is just a matter of gay-biker infighting, but to Hap and Leonard murder is always serious business, and these hit a little to close to home.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"Don't you get a little tired working so hard to be folksy?" Hap Collins asks a colorful, clod-kicking private eye named Jim Bob Luke. "Naw," Jim Bob tells him. "I figure it's kind of an edge. People don't know what you're really thinking. They think you're just a shallow good ole boy." Nobody would ever think that about Collins, who looks like a long-haired '70s dropout and is seriously worried about the quality of his life. With his best buddy Leonard Pine--who aside from being black and gay is extremely tough and nasty in a firefight--Hap goes after the biker who first stole and then killed Pine's boyfriend. Jim Bob also gets involved in the chase, which converges on a corrupt local chili entrepreneur and a totally convincing Texas tornado. Two other Hap Collins books, Mucho Mojo and The Two-Bear Mambo, are available in paperback. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. After Leonard's boyfriend and the biker he has run off with are gruesomely murdered, Leonard turns to his (straight) buddy Hap for help clearing his name. So begins this fast and funny East Texas shoot-'em-up tall tale that brims with very adult (strong language, raunchy sex, sadomasochistic violence and pornography) and absurd (bizarre squirrel attack) themes. As Leonard and Hap soon realize that they are more prey than investigators, the plot grows increasingly complex and hilarious, heightened by Phil Gigante's pacing and performance that spans a masterful range from Hap's twangy narration to Leonard's basso and night nurse Brett's sassy purr. A Vintage paperback. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; Reissue edition (May 5, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307455505
• ISBN-13: 978-0307455505
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.7 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #472,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joe R. Lansdale is the author of over thirty novels and numerous short stories. His work has appeared in national anthologies, magazines, and collections, as well as numerous foreign publications. He has written for comics, television, film, newspapers, and Internet sites. His work has been collected in eighteen short-story collections, and he has edited or co-edited over a dozen anthologies. He has received the Edgar Award, eight Bram Stoker Awards, the Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the British Fantasy Award, the Grinzani Cavour Prize for Literature, the Herodotus Historical Fiction Award, the Inkpot Award for Contributions to Science Fiction and Fantasy, and many others. His novella Bubba Hotep was adapted to film by Don Coscarelli, starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis. His story "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" was adapted to film for Showtime's "Masters of Horror." He is currently co-producing several films, among them The Bottoms, based on his Edgar Award-winning novel, with Bill Paxton and Brad Wyman, and The Drive-In, with Greg Nicotero. He is Writer In Residence at Stephen F. Austin State University, and is the founder of the martial arts system Shen Chuan: Martial Science and its affiliate, Shen Chuan Family System. He is a member of both the United States and International Martial Arts Halls of Fame. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas with his wife, dog, and two cats.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS NOVEL IS THE MOST FUN I'VE HAD IN YEARS!, August 29, 2001

By 

Wayne C. Rogers (Las Vegas, Nevada United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bad Chili (Mass Market Paperback)

After having read Joe R. Lansdale's beautiful and poignant novel, THE BOTTOMS (everybody should read this!), I decided to back track and try some of the books in his 'Hap Collins/Leonard Pine' series, starting with BAD CHILI. I hate to say it, but after just one novel, I'm now addicted to these two fascinating and utterly delightful characters. I found myself laughing so hard in the first four pages of this novel that I started crying and then got stomach cramps. I can't believe it's taken me so long to finally pick up a book by this fantastic author. I must've had my head buried in a hole of sand for the last seven years. What's BAD CHILI about? Well, it's about Hap Collins and Leonard Pine (a couple of schmucks as Leonard would say of himself and his friend) who find themselves getting caught up in the most outrageous and dangerous situations, usually because they're trying to help someone. Hap is white, in his mid-forties, hates violence, dislikes guns, tries to stay within the law, has a bald spot on the back of his head, and is generally the calmer of the two. Leonard is black and homosexual, trained in the martial arts, tougher than any five guys put together, and the first to lose his temper. When Hap returns home after working on an off shore oil rig for several months, he and Leonard go out into the woods to shoot cans and play catch up on each other's life. It isn't long before a big, mean squirrel with rabies comes bouncing out of the woods and chases Hap around the field before finally latching onto his arm. While Hap goes to the hospital, Leonard attempts to find his boyfriend, Raul, who's left him for another man. Both Raul and his new lover end up dead, and Leonard is blamed for their murders. This leads Hap and Leonard on a quest to find out whom the real killer is, not to mention the person behind a sex/video ring who films homosexuals being beat up by several guys and then sexually abused by them. Hap will encounter one of the most dangerous and biggest men he has ever met'a slightly deranged ex-wrestler who likes to apply electricity to a person's genitals before beating them to death with a baseball bat. If Hap thought the squirrel was deadly, waits till he meets Big Man Mountain! BAD CHILI is the most fun I've had with a novel in an extremely long time. I immediately loved the characters of Hap and Leonard, feeling as if these were two guys I'd like to know in real life. I couldn't get enough of the bantering between the two of them. Both men proved to be tough hombres who knew when to cross the line for payback. These are guys you'd want covering your back, or tracking down the killers after you're dead. They're like dogs with a bone that won't let go, no matter what the cost. Hurt them or one of their friends, and they'll track you down to the ends of the earth to get a little helping of revenge. Brett Sawyer, a... nurse, who long ago bonked her husband on the head and then set him on fire, is Hap's new love interest, and she's just as tough as he is. Then, there's Jim Bob Luke, a professional P.I. who reminded me just a little bit of Steven Seagal in his ability to go in and take out the bad guys in less than thirty seconds with no mercy shown. Mr. Lansdale's writing in BAD CHILI is like a cold Corona going down on a hot Texas day'it makes you sigh with pure happiness when the last drop is finally swallowed. The story has more twists and turns than the Sabine River; and, as my late grandpappy would say, the trials and tribulations that Hap and Leonard go through would be enough to make a preacher cuss. BAD CHILI is definitely the real thing. It's the kind of book that adds a strong sense of joy to one's life and makes a reader glad that he's alive to have these kind of experiences. Needless to say, I've already purchased the rest of the books in the series and intend on reading all of them within the next week or so. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS MAN IS AS TWISTED AS A TORNADO!!!, April 27, 1999

By 

Lorrie Irby - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bad Chili (Mass Market Paperback)

My husband introduced me to this twisted novelist, his characters are Texan w/ out being hicks, and the mystery has you turned everyway but loose. If you don't find something funny or offensive on every other page, then you aren't human and you don't have a funnybone. If you want a change of pace with 2 captivating characters and incredible storylines, then this book won't disappoint. If you're easily offended by deviant sex, vulgar language and gruesome death scenarios, drop this book and run. Otherwise, "Bad Chili" is the bomb!!!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars joe lansdale. Otherwise known as GOD., February 20, 2004

By 

"anamoly" (edgewater, nj United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bad Chili (Mass Market Paperback)

Wow. Where to begin? If you dont know joe lansdale is I suggest you fly to a bookstore (or website because his stuff is hard to find) and bring your checkbook. Youll need it.

I wouldnt feel right if I didn't review one of Lansdales books. As I think he is the best american writer by far writing at this point-probably the world.

Basically anything you read by this guy is gonna knock your socks off. Bad Chili is better than anything Elmore Leonard is doing, better than anything Tarantino or these kind of suspense, thriller, shock creators is doing.

Simply put his dialogue is so true it hurts, his pacing is faster than the concord, and his plotting is smart and sophisticated.

I just hope Hollywood doesnt get a hold of him because theyll rob the soul of his stuff.