Every Wednesday, we here at Criminal Element will put together a list of Staff Picks of the books that published the day before—sharing the ones that we are looking forward to reading the most! This week, a new Hap & Leonard novel from Joe R. Lansdale combines with C. J. Box's latest Joe Pickett thriller…
Because it’s Joe Fucking Lansdale. That really should be the end of this article. If you don’t know the work of Joe R. Lansdale, Hap & Leonard is a wonderful introduction to his most popular books. If you already enjoy his work, watching the series on Sundance is like reading the books for the first…
“You can’t walk out of a slaughterhouse like this one without having a little chat.” Mickey Spillane said the first page sells the book, and the last page sells the next book. The last episode of this season’s Hap & Leonard sells the next season, and sells it hard. The last one ended on a…
“People suck, and they want everything.” There was a scene in Savage Season that stuck with me for a long time, and this episode brought it to life. We’ve become accustomed to scenes of staccato violence, coming out of nowhere to slap viewers out of their comfortable middle-class lives, wondering if it could ever happen…
“This isn’t personal. It’s sacrifice.” This is Trudy’s episode in more than name only. Hendricks really gets to shine here, her face encompassing regret, loss, and her shaken faith in something greater than herself. She talked Hap into walking into prison for a cause, while she remained free as a bird. And as Leonard predicted,…
“Paranoia just means having all the facts.” –Howard, quoting Burroughs. Unfortunately, “The Dive” is somewhat of an apt title, as this episode’s a little predictable and dragged out compared to the others. But following a gator attack and two sex scenes, that’s only natural. “The Bottoms” is a tough act to follow. The first half…
The first episode set the tone, the second is setting the speed. Unlike some shows—such as Jack Taylor, which compresses an entire Ken Bruen novel into a 90-minute episode—Hap & Leonard will be more relaxed, expanding Lansdale’s off-kilter, East Texas world and encouraging us to sit down for some sweet tea and Nilla Wafers. And…
I think what I like best about Joe Lansdale’s Hap & Leonard books is that the duo are poor. Oh, I could say working class or blue-collar, but those suggest a steady job. And where Hap Collins and Leonard Pines live is a depressed corner of East Texas where work is hard to come by.…
It's big trouble in East Texas when SundanceTV's new series Hap & Leonard premieres tonight. Based on the bestselling series from Joe R. Lansdale, Hap & Leonard centers around the exploits of one of mystery's most unlikely pairings. Hap Collins (James Purefoy—The Following and HBO's Rome) is a draft-dodging pacifist. His best friend is Leonard…
