Monday, April 28, 2008

Leather Maiden -- Joe R. Lansdale

While you can't read this book until later in the year (official release date is 8/5), I happen to have special powers that allow me to see things in advance. So I'll tell you a little about it.

Cason Statler's a veteran of the Iraq war and a Pulitzer-nominated reporter who's had a little trouble on his last job. He also has a drinking problem. So he's reduced to looking for work in his hometown of Camp Rapture. He gets a job as a columnist for the local paper, and in the course of looking through his predecessor's files, he comes across some notes about a young woman's mysterious disappearance. When he starts digging into the story, he uncovers any number of unexplained events, from the seemingly innocent to the bizarre. The deeper he digs, the more bizarre things get, and when you're reading a book by Joe Lansdale, that can be pretty bizarre. Like the title. You might think you have an idea of what the title means, but I figure you're wrong.

By the time Booger shows up in town, Statler's into the middle of a conspiracy so twisted that only Lansdale could have dreamed it up. Booger, by the way, is a sociopath who counts Statler as one of his few friends. His other friends are a guy called Runt and his weapons, including Mr. Lucky, his .45 automatic. Before the end, Statler and Booger are literally in a race against the clock.

Violence, humor, snappy patter, suspense: Leather Maiden has 'em all. Too bad you have to wait until August, but now you know you have something to look forward to with eager anticipation.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOW. LEATHER MAIDEN sounds great. But is there any nudity. I don't want to feel I'm wasting my time. Joe

Unknown said...

Nudity, yes, and even sex. Not to mention dirty words. It can't miss!

Doc Quatermass said...

Merciful Heavens! Nudity and coarse language! What the fuck is wrong with America today. Next thing you know we'll be embroiled in another war as pointless as that "crazy Asian" one.

Found a copy of High Cotton for $9.95 last Tuesday. I'm hoping when I have more money and go back they still have several non-Hap&Leonard books I need.

I was in a used bookstore a few months back and checked the Westerns section for any Bill Pronzini paperbacks and some genuis had hid a copy of "The Drive-In: A Double-Feature" there. I scooped it up.

My favorite JRL book to date: A Fine Dark Line (2002)

*****

“Perhaps the GOP is stronger on defense,“ writes Jeff Robbins to the L.A. Times. “If the Democrats can’t even protect the country from Republicans, how will they protect it from terrorists?”

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the heads up, Bill. It sounds great.

But then Joe is always worth reading.

Jeff M.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm, sounds good!! Roll on August!!

Anyone know when the next Hap & Leonard is due? I remember reading a sample of the first chapter on-line about a year ago ... but have heard no more!!

Unknown said...

The last time I talked to Joe, he said he was about finished with writing the book. VANILLA RIDE is the title.

Anonymous said...

The new Hap & Leonard is not the one that "anonymous" refers to at 1:26 P.M. He's talking about _Blue to the Bone_ which Joe has sidelined for whatever reason for _Vanilla Ride_. Now, Joe, lied, see. And I want everyone to know it. He said his next release was going to be more mainstream. If there's anything our current, on-the-out-thank-God adminstration has taught us all, it's that you never can trust a Texan. Nor a Bush. Bushes are not all they're cracked up to be. Ha. Neither are Colons or Dick Cheynes. Actually,I thought Colon was pretty good. But I only saw Colon once. Well, whatever; Dick, Bush, and Colon seem to do fine together. But, seriously, it's good to see an author who writes what he wants rather than tries to fit some pre-ordained market.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous is so mean. The next release, LEATHER MAIDEN, is more mainstream. Hap and Leonard is next year. Comparing a human being to a Bush or Cheyne is really low, by the way. Joe Lansdale

Anonymous said...

I think writing a story about a guy losing his pecker and then the pecker's taking advantage of him so that he ends up with a fat chick and no drive is pretty mean. Sheesh. And you really should preface that story with something like: "In the grand tradition of the disembodied body part and adding to the long line of such great stories first propogated by Anton Chekov ("The Nose") and Philip Roth ("The Breast"), here's Joe Lansdale's more back-of-the-house, down-home-amatuer pornish, "Jack's Pecker," a valuable cautionary tale if ever there was one; so give your pecker a break and read some MoJoe prose." If you have no idea what I'm talking about, visit Joe's site.

Anonymous said...

"Anonymous" But we all know who you are, comments on my story "Jack's Pecker" were funny as hell, and accurate. Joe

Unknown said...

Subterranean sent out that story in a news letter to enlighten the world.

Anonymous said...

And the world was therefore enlightened by "Jack's Pecker". Joe

Donna said...

Yay! A new Joe Lansdale - thank you muchly for that news Bill. Off to Amazon UK to pre-order.
Donna

Anonymous said...

Lansdale fans:

Today's the last day to pre-order some new Mojo. I don't know if Joe wants folks to go out there and grab folks' ears, but I think the guy deserves his biggest seller yet by preordering or walking into a store and buying it on the day of release. And if they don't have it, tell them they better get it in the next fifteen minutes. If they say why, say something to the extent of, "Lady, I like to read about @$$hole breathing mummies returned from the dead, a guy that's got JFK implanted in his head, and preacher that masturbates before killing demons, and you're honestly asking me that?"

Joe's giving me many hours of reading enjoyment, and I've preordered today.

Good luck, Joe.

- LM

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WOW. LEATHER MAIDEN sounds great.