Customer Reviews

Lost Echoes

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The great Texas writer, Joe R. Lansdale, is finally back with another mainstream novel, Lost Echoes, and boy is it a keeper! Though Mr. Lansdale has written other books and collections for the smaller independent presses, he hasn't had a mainstream novel out since Sunset and Sawdust. That was three years ago. I've been like a man in the hot, dry desert with no water to drink, trying to be patient as I eagerly awaited this author's next book. Like Stephen King and Dan Simmons, Joe R. Lansdale can write anything that he sets his mind to--horror, westerns, science fiction, fantasy, Texas noir, and award-winning mainstream novels like The Bottoms and A Fine Dark Line. Mr. Lansdale has been writing fiction for well over twenty years; yet, I've had to come to the hard conclusion that he's America's best-kept secret. That's the only answer I can come up with as to why he hasn't reached the point to where he's now a New York Times #1 best selling author. I've been devouring books for over forty-five years, and The Bottoms by Joe Lansdale is the absolute best novel that I've ever read. No brag, just fact. If you haven't read anything by this writer, then I urge to start with his newest novel, Lost Echoes, which will surely hook you with line and sinker as an absolute "Lansdale" fan. I'll tell you another thing to, this book would make one heck of a fabulous movie. Some of Joe's stuff has already been done by Hollywood--Bubba Ho-Tep and Incident On & Off a Mountain Road.

Lost Echoes is about a young man named Harry Wilkes (think Ashton Kutcher), who's working his way through college and trying to stay out of trouble. You see when Harry was six-years of age, he became sick with the mumps and developed a serious ear infection that affected a part of his brain. After he got better, Harry quickly discovered that if he were in an area where a violent crime had taken place and he heard a sudden sound, images of the past crime would unexpectedly fill his mind and he would see the actual event happen and the faces of everyone involved. In time, Harry found out that he could hardly go anything without this mysterious ability being triggered. When he tried to explain it his few close friends and to his parents, no one believed him except for Kayla, the first girl he ever loved. As he grew older, Harry had to turn to alcohol as a way of putting up a wall against these disturbing images that threatened his sanity. One night while in a bar with one of his childhood friends, Harry sees three guys take this drunk out the back door. He instinctively knows that the guys are going to beat up and rob the drunk and decides to try and stop it. Rushing out into the back alley, Harry witnesses something right out of a movie as the drunk takes on the three strangers in hand-to-hand combat and whips them all in just a matter of seconds. The drunk turns out to be Tad Peters (think of Bruce Willis), a former martial artist who lost his family in a tragic accident. Harry is curious about Tad's skills as a fighter. Recognizing a kindred spirit in the other, they quickly become friends. This eventually leads Harry into becoming Tad's student as they each try to help the other in dealing with his inner demons and drinking problem. It's also about this time that Kayla comes back into Harry's life. Kayla's now a cop, and she wants to find the people who murdered her father. She seeks Harry's help, which causes a whole chain of events to unfold. Harry soon realizes that the men who killed Kayla's father are also connected to other unsolved murders. It isn't long before these men find out about Harry and his special ability and decide to kill him and anyone else who might know their secret. There's going to be one hell of a free-for-all at the end when Harry, Kayla and Tad take on the vicious serial killers in a battle to the death with no mercy being shown by either side.

I stayed up till one o'clock last night to finish Lost Echoes. I'd reached a point to where I just couldn't wait another day to find out the ending. And it was worth it, too! This novel is Joe Lansdale at his best. His writing is smooth and fast paced with an easy Texas colloquial style that makes it seem as if the author is speaking directly to you with his words. The chapters are short with an inevitable hook at the end that makes you want to read just one more before going to bed. That's what caused me to stay up so late last night. The characters are drawn so vividly that they seem like people you've known in your own life with all of their strengths and weaknesses. Joe also knows how to set up the plot so that you're gradually reeled in like a fish at the end of a hook. And, more importantly, the author always delivers with a powerful ending that leaves you wanting to jump up and down like a monkey in a cage. See, I'm already starting to write like Joe! Lost Echoes is FUN with capital letters. It creates a wonderful addiction that makes you want to read more of Joe's novels and short stories. Man, this is what reading is supposed to be--FUN! You never feel cheated with a book by Joe R. Lansdale. Never! This is a writer who always gives his readers their money's worth, plus more. Buy Lost Echoes and treat yourself to an early Christmas present. You won't be disappointed. I can only hope that Hollywood has the good sense to turn this book into a movie.

Joe R. Lansdale takes us into the echoes of evil with a protagonist whose childhood ear infection gives him psychic power he doesn't want. To Harry Wilkes, harsh, explosive images of violence and death linger in the places they occurred -- and he can see and hear them with searingly realistic impact -- private movies in his skull that threaten to madden or demoralize him.

Lansdale does the unusual by taking a mystery down the horrific corridors of ghost-like replays and keeps it destructively alive by upping the threat to his modest hero, to his women, and to his closest friend. A steady sprinkling of humor, an interlacing of lust and romance, an NYPD style of abreviated dialogue, and a visceral sense of foreboding sees us through to a satisfying, high-stakes climax that makes it worth the pain of getting there.

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Attempting a crime thriller with a supernatural twist is risky literary business, but prolific author Joe Lansdale has the chops to pull it off - barely. This is the story of Harry Wilkes, who thanks to a severe childhood ear infection is given the unwanted gift of hindsight triggered by sounds. Put Harry in the vicinity of a violent death and, if triggered by the right sound, an instant replay of whatever gruesome past event took place. Needless to say, neither a pleasant nor desirable talent, which sentences poor Harry to a life of carefully plotted places and activities in an attempt to prevent the next horror show. But after living a life trying to avoid his "sixth sense", Harry must eventually make the choice of confronting his nightmares in order to help Kayla, former crush of his east-Texas childhood and current rookie cop on the local police force - and still a "hottie". While somewhat reminiscent of M. Night Shyamalan's "Sixth Sense", or more recently, or Tom Piccarilli's bizarre "Headstone City", Lansdale's twist on a second sight is fresh and unique.

"Echoes" starts fast and furious, getting the reader riveted early, but about midway through slows and starts gets a bit muddy. The dialogue is uneven - snappy and darkly humorous at times, dull and uninspired at others. But for me, much of the slowdown can be attributed to Tad Peters, a middle-aged drunk who happens to be a Bruce Lee-class martial artist, independently wealthy, wholly unbelievable, and totally annoying. But we're to believe that the sodden Tad has the mojo to turn Harry's life around, get them both off the sauce, save fair Kayla, and clear her father's good name. But thankfully, just before Tad manages to sink this notable effort, Lansdale recovers and salvages the story with a climax worthy of the crackerjack beginning. All things considered, an off-the-beaten-track-kind of a book that while not without flaws is a worthy read.

I really admire Joe Lansdale's writing talents, but LOST ECHOES is definitely one of his lesser books. I found it an entertaining, well-written diversion, but little more than that.

LOST ECHOES is essentially a thriller with a supernatural twist. It's hero is a young man with the ability to see visions of violent crimes that have been committed in the past. It starts off quite well, when Lansdale describes the young man's discovery of his power and how it affects his childhood and young adulthood. Lansdale really excels at telling a coming-of-age story, and all the early scenes of this novel are quite compelling.

But LOST ECHOES falters after the midway mark, when Lansdale tries to introduce a half-baked murder mystery plot that is filled with a lot of unbelievable events and coincidences. As always with Lansdale, the dialogue is funny and well done, but the characterization is rather two-dimensional in spots, and I thought many of the supporting characters were underdeveloped. This book also has quite a bit of romance in it, but none of it is well done or convincing -- women just fall over the main character for no good reason.

I think Lansdale was trying to write something more light-hearted and fun here, and I think LOST ECHOES does succeed at that level. This is a fine entertainment that doesn't take itself too seriously. Still, if you never read Lansdale before, my strong advice is to read THE BOTTOMS, which has a better plotline and far more convincing characters.

Now, I love Joe, and any new story from him is a cause to celebrate, but I felt that "Lost Echoes" was definitely a lesser effort. The idea of traumatic events trapped in sound is a great hook, but the story is weak and the characters are nowhere near as colorful as his usual cast. Some of the pivitol action is as cliched as old movie serials, but without the sense of over-the-top fun that is Joe's trademark. I've turned a lot of people into fans of Joe's work, but I wouldn't start anyone out by loaning them this one. I'd rank "Lost Echoes" a little higher than "Freezer Burn" but it is nowhere near the wild ride of "Mucho Mojo" or "Two Bear Mambo," nor as thoughtful as "A Fine Dark Line" or "The Bottoms."

Joe Lansdale's new book is a blast to read. Just settle back in and get ready to have a dose of realistic heroes, weird powers, martial arts madness, and some of the most fun dialogue you'll run across this year.

College student Harry Wilkes has the unnerving ability to "hear" ghosts. Not talk to them or whisper to them. But to see how they met their violent deaths in the last few minutes of their lives. With this power, he's often privvy to some hellish sights and suffering, and to secrets that other people would prefer to stay buried--with the dead.

After having the mumps as a kid and getting a bad ear infection, Harry starts hearing ghosts. Violently murdered ghosts most of all. As he grows up, after leaving his home, he isolates himself in a small house that he lines with egg cartons to insulate it from outside noises that might set off one of those close encounters with the dead that he's not overly fond of.

Slowly but surely, Harry turns into an alcoholic and ends up meeting Tad Peters, a martial arts expert with his own guilt to carry. They end up becoming friends and it's this friendship that really makes the book work. Lansdale is at his best describing the lives of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary circumstances. He never fails to deliver outstanding dialogue and characters that are just like people the reader knows.

The mystery comes a little late in this one, but when it does it's a doozy. It also forever alters poor Harry's life. Although beginning at a casual pace, readers aren't going to be able to put the book down during the last third of the tale.

The book is an enjoyable and fast read from cover to cover. The characters are straight from the heart of Texas and one step over into the Twilight Zone.

I couldn't grab this book quick enough when I saw it. Lansdale is an amazing writer, and as usual, this book was a joy to read.

As great as it was, it just wasn't quite as good as all of his previous efforts. It felt almost as if he had a deadline he had to meet and rushed through the story. Remember the differences between the short story "Mad Dog Summer" and the novel it eventually became, "The Bottoms?" It's almost a case of that. It feels like there are a lot of details missing from the book, and that we never truly get to meet all of the characters the way we usually do with Lansdale's works.

Now make no mistake - this is an excellent book. I would happily settle down with Lansdale's grocery list if he made it available - he is just that great of a writer. He's got a real way with words, and he isn't afraid to approach the darker territories. His dialogue is stunning - I think anyone who writes fiction could take a page or two from his books.

I did love this book, I would just have liked to see more detail and a more fleshed-out plot.

A childhood illness results in Harry Wilkes having visions of violent events triggered by sounds. These visions only occur in the exact location of the violence. Harry's parents try to help him, but as a young adult Harry mainly copes by carving out safe routes avoiding any known spots that induce visions.

Kayla, Joey, and Harry were friends as children. And, both were with Harry when he had his first vision of a murder. Harry grows up with Joey, but avoids his house and later his apartment as too much violence has occurred in both spots. He loses touch with Kayla, but her returning as a cop to their hometown draws him into working with her to determine whether her dad committed suicide or not.

There is some great dialog in this book, especially by Tad. Tad is a drunk that Harry watches do some amazing martial arts. They bond together in trying to stay sober as Harry has found drinking numbs his visions. Here is an example of Tad's insights from page 81 of the paperback edition, "That's what they're supposed to live their life by, but no, they like the God of the Old Testament, the mean, judgmental one, before he was on Zoloft".

I don't particularly like mysteries that are solved through supernatural help. This probably biased me against this book. I felt there were too many coincidences as well. For example, Harry's college girlfriend's house is walking distance from where he grew up with Kayla and Joey, but he's never met or even heard of her. I also didn't really get a sense of place from the book. I know it is set in East Texas somewhere, but it could have been any small town.

I started reading this book with high expectations. I've only read one other book by Joe Lansdale and that was The Bottoms. I remember that book as being very good and extremely scary. I usually reread books that I think are very good at some point, but that book was so scary I put it on my shelf and did not get it down again. The childhood nightmare theme resonated with me. If you've never read any of Lansdale's work, I'd recommend The Bottoms over Lost Echoes.

I've always been fond of stories by Joe Lansdale when you can find them in the bookstore. I was browsing around and found this one as it's a new novel.

You're not going to find anything particulary scary or creepy in this book. This is a novel of a young man coming to age with a supernatural gift and how he deals with this gift. The characters are believable and I really enjoyed the characters transformation from timid child to man.

I think there's a small plot flaw in the book however. And it wasn't enough to make me downgrade my review from a 5. I was a little bit surprised that there were some characters introduced that really don't have any effect on the outcome of the novel. What's more, they are dropped out completely towards the end. I was left with a feeling of "what happened to them?" when I finished the book.

Good pacing, good visuals, great story.

There is an ageless quality to the beginning of Joe R. Lansdale's novel, Lost Echoes. The opening to the main narrative - which arrives only after a newspaper clipping and a brief retrospective thought from the novel's lead character - has a quiet sense of timelessness that could lead a reader to believe that this story could be taking place at any time in the latter half of the 20th century. An ill child awakens from a fevered sleep and wanders through a quiet house in the dark, reveling in his innocence by watching drive-in cartoons through his living room windows, parents all the while unaware. The sweetness of this picturesque scene is soon stripped away, when this single incident leads to a new talent that will haunt this child, young Harry, for much of his life.

The idea is fairly simple: the story of a young man, who, as a result of this childhood illness, sees and hears what is not there. Or, rather, what once was there, but has long since lapsed into the forgotten memories of countless villains and their hapless victims. Where Lost Echoes differs from a bevy of other paranormal thrillers is that the focus is not on the hero learning to use his gift to save the day, but rather learning to cope and bear the weight of knowing, seeing and feeling what others have left behind.

The novel is broken into three basic components, all centered around the story's major player, Harry: a battle against the self, a battle against alcoholism and a twisted little mystery that draws both together. These major components of the story arc are oddly segregated, with the mystery crime-drama aspect relegated to the last and least important position. While the mystery of an accidental suicide that could be a murder, wrapped in the perfumed cloud of a returned childhood crush, is intriguing, it plays only a supporting role to the real drama of the traffic hero Harry's battle with his alcoholism and the terrifying visions - the title lost echoes - that come to him carried on waves of seemingly harmless sound.

This is in itself an intriguing idea, bring realism to the idea of a human being plagued by haunting visions of the past. Visionaries, psychics and mediums are a dime a dozen in fiction of a paranormal bend, but rarely do they possess such depth and reality. Lansdale presents Harry as sympathetic figure, plagued by visions he does not want and cannot stop. He is no sage mystic, using his supposed sight when and if he feels it necessary; he is just a tired, overwrought kid, attacked daily by a barrage of horrible images, vestiges of the inhumanity man wreaks upon himself and others. The evil med do, the author seems to subtly remind, can never truly die away, and while most can forget it with the passing of time, there are some, like Harry, who can never ignore it. He must deal with everything the rest of us leave behind; all of our fears, our horrors and our hates, invading the life and mind of the young man.

Unable to escape his gift - or, rather, curse, as Harry himself seems to see it - he draws himself into an obsessive compulsive cocoon of padded walls, planned `sage routes' and avoidance. Anything he cannot control, Harry drowns in a flood of liquor, numbing his senses and halting the flow of the echoes that torment him. It is only after meeting a fellow barroom regular - an older man, perhaps representing the only future Harry will have if he continues on his self-destructive `safe' path - and an unscheduled deviation from his normal routine that Harry begins to believe that there must be a better way. Enter Tad, a middle-aged martial arts master gone to seed, who drinks a nightly tribute to his own sad memories, a startling contrast to young Harry, who instead uses the alcohol to blot out and numb away everyone else's lingering echoes. Together, the two embark on a quest to regain their control - find their centers - over their own lives.

Lansdale creates the world through Harry's eyes - or, better, his ears; readers find the idyllic quiet of what seems to be modern day small town perfection shattered by the silent reverberating screams left only for Harry to see. Hidden here, and perhaps everywhere, are the dirty little secrets and softly spoken lies that are the underbelly of even the happiest of settings.