07/30/2018
Lansdale (Hap and Leonard) ranges far afield in this short but sharp collection of six stories in a variety of genres. Mysteries of the noir style predominate, with a brother and sister sent to retrieve their uncle’s corpse and instead chauffeuring his murderous partner (“Driving to Geronimo’s Grave”), and a bullied schoolboy learning self-defense from a retired wrestler (“Wrestling Jesus”). Horror comes with a Lovecraftian flavor, as survivors of a ship wrecked by an iceberg struggle against not only the cold but the otherworldly creatures that prey on survivors (“In the Mad Mountains”). Science fiction gets a turn with a post­apocalyptic coming-of-age tale of a girl off to rescue her family from rogue war machines that turned on their controllers (“Robo Rapid”). And saving the best for last, Lansdale adds to his history of black cowboy legend Nat Love, sending the marshal after four escaped murderers who also incur the wrath of one big, bad momma grizzly. Lansdale provides consistent entertainment for readers of all genres, not only in his fiction but also in the chatty intro and in afterwords of each yarn. Agent: Danny Baror, Baror International. (Nov.)

2018-07-31

Revenge is the predominant theme of this collection of short stories, each accompanied by Lansdale's (Jackrabbit Smile, 2018, etc.) commentary.

There is a note of both nostalgia and brutality that runs through these stories. Eras such as the Depression and the 1950s are evoked in terms that have less to do with naturalism than with popular iconography. The effect might not always be convincing, but it's pleasing. One of the stories, "The Projectionist," had its start in a project in which writers were invited to devise a short story inspired by an Edward Hopper painting. In some way, the loneliness that runs through Hopper's canvases runs through all these tales. There is a sense that connections, while deep, may be transitory, that self-reliance is the only constant in a world in which the ties of love, friendship, and family are subject to circumstance and death. That self-reliance is inescapably masculine—not as any rejection of women but simply because the protagonists are men. An exception is the title story, the best one here, in which the narrator's tough kid sister has a dangerous tongue and an even more dangerous aim. She's like Scout from To Kill a Mockingbird recast as hard, funny, and wised-up. The story itself is something like Flannery O'Connor's "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" reimagined as a piece of wish fulfillment. You'd have a hard time thinking of a story that seems a less likely candidate for a feel-good reworking, which is part of this new story's appeal.

A hard-nosed and evocative set of stories that carry a rough-hewn pleasure.