Rumble Tumble

Hap and Leonard, the heroes of Lansdale’s eponymous series are definitely among the oddest crusading couples to ever grace the pages of crime fiction. They are quite unlike each other in most things (a white former peace activist vs. a black homosexual Vietnam veteran), but share a long friendship and a deep-seated urge to do the right thing, not to mention lots of funny and colourful banter which makes for a large part of the fun in reading those novels (nobody since the days of screwball comedy does witty banter better than Joe Lansdale).

And this novel is very funny indeed, not just the dialogue but also the descriptive one-liners and wry comments by first-person narraror Hap Collins – as long as you do not think about what is show more actually being narrated too much. However, once you pause, take a step back and consider the events, you’ll find that it’s actually all rather depressing – both Hap and Leonard, leading a mostly aimless existence in rather squalid circumstances, try to help Hap’s current girlfriend to rescure her daughter from forced prostitution, and in consequence get involved in lots of violence for likely no gain at all and at no small cost to their own health and well-being (although Rumble Tumble goes somewhat easier on them than previous novels in the series). Viewed this way, it’s not funny at all, even rather sordid, and I’m still not decided whether the presentation of the narrative distracts from this sordidness or enhances it. show less

Picks up right after “Bad Chili”. Hap and Leonard are off to help Brett’s daughter get out of the prostitution gig. But first they gotta deal with Haskel and the guns, an armadillo that won’t go away, and a crazy infestation of lovebugs! And the gang that will attempt all of this consists of, “An East Texas bouncer, a black queer, a ex-sweet potato queen, a six-foot-four overweight retired hit man and former reverend, and a redheaded midget with an attitude.” Colorful, ain’t it?
Another fun read from Mr. Lansdale, and another action packed adventure with Mr. Collins and Mr. Pine! It's a shame I'm almost done catching up with these books. And I'm wondering, will Bob the domesticated armadillo be in the next volume? Can't show more wait to find out! show less

Like every book in this series, Rumble Tumble is a mix between utterly crude laugh-out-loud humor, extreme violence, lessons about human relations, and moments when Lansdale just goes too far. But, then again, going too far is what makes Lansdale Lansdale. Recommended--no one should miss out on the adventures of Hap and Leonard.

Hap and Leonard set out to retrieve Brett's daughter from a bad situation gotten considerably worse. Enounters with mobsters and lowlives of various stripes and persuasions ensue as the trail leads them across the border to a vicious biker gang and whole heap o' violence. Everything that can go wrong generally does, but they keep on truckin'.

I think this series might be better as an audiobook; they are well done, and the southern accent of the narrator really makes it funnier (although I haven't actually compared to print).

As usual, the story is not the best part to me, although it's usually interesting. But the characters and the dialog is what keeps me reading these books.

In this story, Hap's current romantic interest has a daughter who is a prostitute, but in over her head so her mother decides to bring her home. Unfortunately, even if her daughter agrees, the people holding on to her won't. So Hap decides to help. Shouldn't be too hard, right? Unless they get killed, which looks likely at times. Fortunately, Leonard offers to help, and he's a good person to have show more around if you need help in a situation like this and don't mind someone who likes to stir up trouble. show less

Another Hap and Leonard story by novelist extraordinaire Joe R. Lansdale, although by now the plot and action started to sound similar to the previous entries in the series. "Rumble Tumble" covers Hap and Leonard attempting to free the daughter of Hap's girlfriend from a prostitution ring but the highlight is the appearance of a midget who just gushes about his favorite restaurant. There are better Hap and Leonard books but this is still worth a read if you've enjoyed those better books.

Rumble Tumble is a fast paced story that makes the reader worry for the characters even though they know there are more books in the series. Lansdale perfectly craft characters that the reader can empathize with or completely revile. The story starts with Hap's girlfriend, Brett, receiving a call about her daughter who wants to quit prostitution. From there, the story takes the reader to Oklahoma to Mexico meeting new characters along the way. As always, the dialogue is excellent. The banter between Hap and Leonard show the characters' connection to each other. I highly recommend this book.