Mucho Mojo

The second Hap and Leonard book is more of a mystery where the first was a suspense thriller, however it is about the same packed with irreverent but sometimes thoughtful dialogue and bad taste humour and bonecrunching violence.

Leonard inherits a house from his Uncle Chester, who he loved but whose homophobia spoiled their relationship in later years. Hap joins him in fixing the house up for sale, and in the process starts sleeping with Leonard's lovely lady lawyer, though her drive and ambition and his general relaxed waywardness may prove incompatible. Also his whiteness. A grisly discovery under the floorboards leads to a dark and disturbing investigation into child disappearances as Leonard tries to clear Chester's name, even if show more only for his own sake. Chester left clues, the product of a mind in decay, and Hap and Leonard struggle to make sense of them all, while Hap struggles just to keep hold of his new girlfriend.

This is where the series really hit its confident stride, its voices established, its poverty-stricken, racially divided milieu, its anything-can-happen attitude, its commitment to pure storytelling and everyday strangeness and bizarre, even surreal encounters with the stupid and the depraved and sometimes both. Incredibly fun and entertaining all the way. show less

Sometimes it happens with me. I’m reading a book, often two, even enjoying both, and I come across a book I’d read long ago and--zap!--I’m in reread mode. Hence my reintroduction to Mucho Mojo. Not that the rereading wasn’t in order. It’s next in line to be adapted for the TV series on the Sundance Channel, and it had always been my favorite Hap and Leonard anyway. Reason enough. So this reading just happened ahead of schedule. But, even though it was second entry in the series, Mucho Mojo was my first exposure to both the East Texas duo and their creator, and the first of anything, particularly a positive experience, often magnifies in your memory. I started this book wondering if it was as good as I remembered. Turns out it show more was better.

The first in the series, Savage Season, was intended to be a one-off, so there were other characters to service. Subsequent novels are a search for new facets within your now-familiar heroes. But a sequel, four years later yet, allowed Lansdale the leisure to dive deeper in every conceivable way. It’s all there: story, character, atmosphere, philosophy, romance, friendship, prejudice, action, and much more.

The setup is perfect. It allows us to step right into their lives. Leonard inherits a house from a recently deceased uncle, and with Hap at his side, they discover a child’s skeleton. Hap--white, straight, Liberal--wants to call the police immediately. Leonard--black, homosexual, Republican--knows what will follow: a sensational crime in the poor, black section of town; blame Uncle Chester and close the case. But Hap has concerns that Uncle Chester might just be guilty, and Leonard knows for a certainty that such a thought is impossible. The best friends confront conflicting impulses without cliché and still have each other’s back while working their way through what turns out to be a more far-reaching and appalling series of crimes.

This novel is dense--in a good way. Dense usually means having to wade through unending tangents or excessive wordage to, hopefully, discover the good stuff. Here density represents substance. From beginning to end, you are in East Texas with the boys, and will regret having to leave when the novel ends. show less

Man, I LOVE Hap and Leonard! And this book gives them to us - double time! Leonard's uncle dies and the boys go to fix up his old place, and fall into a murder mystery! It's a damn fine story, with amazingly perfect dialogue, especially between our duo! I'm not sure how many of this series I've read so far, but this book is near the top of them! Now, I'd like to get myself one of them Uncle Chester bottle trees...

"Tonight, I could still see Forever, but Forever was nothing to see."

Duro ma bello!

Non è facile condurre le storie come fa Lansdale. E' capace di passaggi come pochi sono in grado di fare. Le storie hanno sempre quella durezza maledetta di situazioni familiari eppur difficili da accettare. Si inciampa in ciò che si sa esistere, ma che è arduo da digerire se in mezzo ci capiti proprio tu. Hap e Leonard sono "uomini di mondo", consci della malvagità imperante dell'uomo. Hap, nonostante tutto, sembra ancora credere alle favole, in un certo qual modo, mentre Leonard è il più disincantato dei due ("Hap, amico mio, nel mondo c'è il male. Il vero male"). Ma ciò non impedisce loro di uscire dalle disavventure con le ossa rotte. Uno zio di Leonard muore e lui ne eredita la casa e del denaro, ma subito show more c'è qualcosa che non quadra. Tra vicini spacciatori di droga, cadaveri di bambini seppelliti e deliri pseudo-religiosi, vien fuori il ritratto di un'America di provincia nella quale, a dispetto del tempo trascorso, tutto resta circoscritto ai soliti immutabili pregiudizi ed intolleranze. Una nota curiosa: la copia in mio possesso ha risentito insieme a me di una tempestosa notte di traversata in barca, durante la quale un'onda lo ha battesimato. show less

An early entry in the Hap and Leonard series, Mucho Mujo has the duo solving an old murder mystery. However, if you've read any of Lansdale's works you will know that it's the dialogue and the action that make an impression rather than any plot.

Hap and Leonard make one of the most unlikely pairs in literature but Lansdale makes them fully fleshed out rather than caricatures.

Some good interplay between the poor black community and Hap's poor white trash. Poor doesn't check the colour of your skin.

This was deeper than the first in the series even if the actual mystery was a bit bonkers. I much preferred the story about Hap and Leonard dealing with the crack house over the road.

I also love that this series is named for the characters' first names. That's not an easy thing to pull off, but it's a neat touch.

Mucho Mojo (first published in 1994), is the second Hap Collins and Leonard Pine book by Joe Lansdale. Mucho Mojo, according to one of the characters in this book means “Much bad magic.” The book does not deal with black magic or any kind of magic. However, there is plenty of bad magic in the form of drug dealers and child murderers in this book. Our two East Texas good-ole (and very tough) redneck vigilantes/amateur detectives, Hap and Leonard, get involved when Leonard inherits a broken down house from his deceased Uncle Chester. The house turns out to be next door to some drug dealers, whom Hap and Leonard eventually deal with. They also discover something in Uncle Chester’s house that leads them into conflict with a child show more murderer and the police. Mucho Mojo is the fourth Hap and Leonard book that I have read, and they are great characters. Although they are rugged, lacking formal education (but well versed by a street education), and extremely tough; they are also morally and ethically strong defenders of weak, feeble, poor, or otherwise vulnerable people who are being exploited, threatened, abused, or terrorized by criminals. Hap and Leonard both feel fear, but they do not allow it deter their actions when they believe they are doing what needs to be done. They also are willing to inflict pain, and even to kill, when they determine it is clearly the right thing to do. Like all the Hap and Leonard books, Mucho Mojo is a well-written, complex, compelling, and very violent story. I enjoyed reading this book very much and I recommend it highly for anyone who is not averse to strong vulgar dialogue and graphic violence. show less