A review of Hyenas by Joe R. Lansdale

Hyenas by Joe R. Lansdale
Subterranean Press, 2011, 100 pages
Signed, numbered, limited edition--$45.00
Trade hardcover--25.00
Book review by Wayne C. Rogers

Okay, I did enough whining about the cover of Hyenas by Joe R. Lansdale in the last posting. Now, it's time to talk about the book, or novella, plus the added short story, The Boy Who Became Invisible. First of all, let me say that I purchased the signed limited edition from Subterranean Press for $45.00. My numbered copy is 399, so I don't know if there are any limited editions left or not. You'll need to contact Subterranean to find out. I do know there are copies of the Trade Hardcover available at both Subterranean and Amazon.com. This copy is less expensive, but it isn't signed by Hisownself (the great Joe Lansdale).

Hyenas begins with Hap Collins driving over to the Big Frog Club to help his buddy, Leonard Pine. Leonard, who's black, a Vietnam Vet, and ready to take on the world has just been in a fight with three guys, beating them like bongo drums. They made the mistake of using the "N" word in reference to him, which was probably the worse thing you could do to piss Leonard off, unless you were trying to kill him. Anyway, Leonard quickly threw one of the men over the bar, stuck another's head through a sheet rock wall, and chased the third man out into the parking lot and tap danced on his body for several minutes. Hap finds his close friend sitting out on the curb in front of the club, while the police check out the guy with his head stuck through the wall. Everybody thinks its funny. Even Hap checks it out.

The situation changes for Hap and Leonard when one of the beaten men offers them a job. He wants them to rescue his younger brother from a gang of bad guys who rob banks. The boy's young and doesn't seem to have much on top, thinking the bad guys are really his friends and care about his welfare. Wrong! The older brother sees things for what they are, knowing something bad will eventually happen to his kid brother. He was in the Big Frog Club trying to hire to two men to save his brother when they started the fight with Leonard. Of course, after Leonard whipped them like icing on a cake, he quickly decided that Leonard might be better suited to accomplish the impossible. And, as we know, Leonard seldom gets into any situation without Hap covering his back.

The boys have to think about the offer over some Vanilla cookies and Dr. Peppers. They soon find out that the gang is run by a large, mountain-size of a man called Smoke Stack. Only a couple of foolish East Texas boys would even think about taking on Smoke Stack, but Hap and Leonard never said they were smart, only skillful and inventive. To see some form of justice achieved, they're going to have to go mano-a-mano against Smoke Stack and his gang, but if anybody can do it, it's them.

The added short story, The Boy Who Became Invisible, deals with Hap Collins at a younger age. During his teen years, he had a friend named Jesse, who was shunned by everyone. Hap saw a little of himself in Jesse and became his friend. Together they played Tarzan out in the woods and did other things together. Once high school started, however, Hap began to pull away from Jesse, not wanting to be an outcast amongst his other classmates. Jesse never said anything to Hap about it, but when a couple of the high school students start harassing Jesse, he finally decides that enough is enough and takes matters into his own hands.

Well, as I've been saying for the past month, the boys are finally back. Hyenas gives us a sweet taste of Hap & Leonard in preparation of Joe's full-lenght novel, Devil Red, coming out on March 15th. I've been a fan of the Hap & Leonard series for over a decade and can't say enough good things about their novels. I love these guys and could read a novel every week if Joe would write them.

What these books do is display Joe's brilliance as a master craftsman with the written word. His prose is sharp and pure East Texas noir, luring you into the story like putting nickels into a video poker machine. It doesn't take much before you find yourself addictive to it, and that's exactly what happens with a reader and Joe's fiction. Pure addiction! While a large part of Joe's stories are dramatic and action filled, many of them also contain East Texas humor, especially the Hap & Leonard series. If you've ever met Joe in person or seen him on a video giving an interview, you will always see the twinkle of merriment in his eyes as if he's just heard a new joke and he's dying it to tell everyone. This definitely comes out in his Hap & Leonard series. One moment you're in a tension filled scene, and then the next you're laughing at loud at something Hap or Leonard has said. Few authors can accomplish this with their writing and make it seem natural and effortless. Joe certainly can. He always manages to pull it off like a blinding fast punch to the throat.

Allow me to also say that the characters of Hap Collins and Leonard Pine are fully developed so that these East Texas boys live and breathe in our mind's eyes. To me and other fans, Hap and Leonard are real and live not too far from Joe's actual home in East Texas. Everytime I read a Hap/Leonard novel, I automatically think of Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson in the roles. That says it all in my opinion.

So, if you want some high quality Texas writing that's intermixed with humour and violence, then pick up an Hap/Leonard novel. Be sure, however, to have plenty of Vanilla cookies and Dr. Peppers around, or you might just make Leonard mad. We don't want that, do we?