As promised, after reviewing Blood and Lemonade, I managed to find and read #1 in the Hap and Leonard saga.
This 1990 copyright is set in rural East Texas (Never been there. Wonder if that is redundant?) circa early 1980s. Hap and Leonard have been tight since their middle teens. Leonard served in Vietnam and Hap did two years at Leavenworth after refusing to pledge to protect and defend the Constitution of these United States.
Hap had gotten married to Trudy, a serious knockout in and right after high school. She got into the 60s in a big way, but never too seriously. Hap hung around so he could chase Trudy's skirt and then managed to marry her. They marched and protested like every good flower child should, then Hap got the 'Greetings' letter all guys feared back then. He stuck with his principles and went to jail. Trudy wrote and visited, but eventually strayed and joined up with some hippie freaks headed for San Francisco leaving Hap in the joint.
But Trudy is back. After getting married a couple more times, she finds Hap and plays on his emotions to get him to join in a quick money scheme. Leonard is skeptical. "A hard dick knows no conscious." He and Leonard have been cutting roses on a corporate farm for chump change. Trudy is offering Hap (not Leonard. They don't get along too well) a cut of a lost heist of a cool $1 million.
Ten or so years ago, a bank was hit by two guys. In the getaway process, the car went through the woods, over an embankment, then into the river. Car sunk. One crook dead. Money in (mostly) sealed containers went to the bottom. The surviving crook only remembers an iron bridge near where they went in.
Trudy has teamed up with Howard (an aging hippie who also did time and shared a cell with the surviving bank robber who, BTW, ended up dying in a cafeteria dustup over the last slice of cake), Chump (fat loser in love with the romance of the 60s), and Paco (60s radical who burned half his face off when a bomb he was making detonated). They want their share of the money to go toward re-birthing the 60s. The getaway car went into the river in an area that Trudy knows that Hap is familiar with. Hap pulls Leonard in because they are friends and Leonard has some diving experience from his days in the military. Haps wants the money and Trudy's charms. Leonard's not so sure. He doesn't trust her a lick . . . plus he's gay so he wouldn't be interested in her at all.
But Hap really wants to find the money, less for 'The Cause" and more for the chance to get into Trudy's pants, which he does. Repeatedly. And they find the money. Not all of it as some has wilted away due to the ravages of time and water. But still enough to tempt everyone's resolve
Paco still has some connections and one is called Soldier and his Amazon psychopathic bitch partner, Angel. On his own, Paco made contact with Soldier with the intent of stealing all the cash and buy weapons once the money was found. Once Soldier enters the picture, the playful banter stops. Soldier has no interest in 'The Cause'. Only the money. And when it isn't just handed over, he and Angel unleash what can only be described as holy hell on this bickering set of has-been radicals.
Believe it or not, this book is marketed as a comedy. And for 75% of the book, it is outlandishly funny before turning deathly dark when Soldier and Angel don't get what they want. When those two break out the weapons, shovels, hammers/nails, Lansdale's style changes course in a heartbeat going from clever and funny to deliciously bleak and violent.
While reading Blood and Lemonade, I found out that Savage Season had been made into an eight-part series for The Sundance Channel. It's being re-run right now (April-May 2017) in prep for the Season Two's rendition of book #2, Mucho Mojo (now just beginning). One nice thing about a limited episode series, they tend to be pretty faithful to the original source material. Just can't do that with a 2 hour movie. The TV version takes a few liberties from the book, but not enough to disappoint Lansdale's fans.
Just because it takes place in east Texas, I'm not sure I'd call it Redneck Noir. JD Rhoades might take issue. If asked, I think I'll describe it as White Trash noir (even though Leonard is black).
Lucky me. The local library has Mucho Mojo.
East Coast Don
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