The Elephant of Surprise

Joe Lansdale's The Elephant of Surprise is the twelfth (and sadly for me, the final, as of this writing) book in the Hap and Leonard series, and by this point, anyone who knows me knows how much I love these books. The tales of two best friends - one a straight white hippie, the other a black ex-soldier - and their investigations, the books are a delivery service for Lansdale's hilarious Texas-fried dialogue, noir plotting, tight action sequences, and just a mood and vibe that makes them pure joy for me, even when the actions at the core of the book are dark ones. Elephant is lean, even by recent standards of the series; for all intents and purposes, the book unfolds in basically two extended setpieces, all taking place against the background of a torrential storm that's flooding out the area. When our heroes stumble across a young woman with her tongue partially cut out, it doesn't take long for a crew of heavies to come behind her, and all hell breaks loose in pretty typical Hap and Leonard style. If there's a knock on Elephant, it's that it feels a little like the series is spinning its wheels; everything here is done well, but it feels like we've seen a lot of this before, including (maybe especially) Hap's increasing concerns about his own conscience and how he's wrestling with the justice and violence he's dealing out. Even so, there's that sentence of "everything here is done well" - Elephant is too funny and too much fun, and Lansdale too good of a writer and storyteller, to ever be bad. It doesn't feel quite as fresh and innovative or as inventive and surprising as the series once did, but it's still the case that I don't think Lansdale has written a bad book, much less one in this series. I'm just sad that I'm at the end of them, but hopefully that changes sooner rather than later.

The Elephant of Surprise feels different. There's no question that it is a Hap and Leonard story, but the atmosphere is oppressive, there's not as much banter and fewer laugh out loud moments. Lansdale is clearly after something a little different here and its been achieved. Highly recommended.

Hap and Leonard are dragged instantly, and feet first, into another life-and-death situation, right off the bat. The action is pretty much non-stop, and the guys still work as a well-oiled team, because they're chosen brothers and love each other dearly.But you can tell time is starting to take it's toll on them. It was a bit harder to actually see them come through all this in a believable way, considering the wear and tear they've taken in the past. Love the guys, but not sure I can see them doing this much more.

Joe Lansdale writes some amazing books and some fun reads. This was a fun read, as are all the Hap and Leonard books. Not going to change the way you view life, but very entertaining. I enjoyed it!

I really enjoy Joe R. Lansdale’s books. The Hap and Leonard series are especially entertaining. This book, like all the others in the series has bad guys, good guys(Hap and Leonard), a mystery, action and humor. A fun read.