Captains Outrageous: A Hap and Leonard Novel (6) (Hap and Leonard Series)
Captains Outrageous: A Hap and Leonard Novel (6) (Hap and Leonard Series) book cover

Captains Outrageous: A Hap and Leonard Novel (6) (Hap and Leonard Series)

Kindle Edition

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Price
$11.99
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Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
Publication Date

Description

"The most consistently original and originally visceral writer the great state of Texas (or any other state for that matter) has seen in a score of flashpoint summers."— Austin Chronicle "Lansdale gets better with each book."— Rocky Mountain News "A storyteller in the great American tradition of Ambrose Bierce and Mark Twain."-- The Boston Globe "Lansdale reaches the reader on a gut level. . . . A terrific writer."-- Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine "Lansdale is a storyteller in the Texas tradition of outrageousness . . . but amped up to about 100,000 watts."— Houston Chronicle "One of publishing's best kept secrets."-- Dallas Morning News "Hap and Leonard function as a sort of Holmes and Watson -- if Holmes and Watson had had more lusty appetites and less refined educations and spent their lives in east Texas. . . . Not only funny, but also slyly offer acute commentary on matters of race, friendship and love in small-town America."— The New York Times "Lansdale has a zest for storytelling and a gimlet eye for detail."— Entertainment Weekly "As funny as all get out."— Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel From the Trade Paperback edition. It's terrific news that Joe Lansdale came to publicise his new April paperback Captains Outrageous, and the reissues of Freezer Burn, Mucho Mojo and Rumble Tumble which are released the same month. Joe arrived on Monday 27 April, to do media interviews and events from Tuesday 28 April until Thursday 1 May.Friday 2 May and Saturday 3 May he spent with his wife and daughter who are also coming over with him. General PressThe Sunday Times- a travel piece by Joe for Confession of a Tourist.The Word - review in the May issueFHM- review confirmed for their June issueCity Life (Manchester)- interview in their April issue, will also flag up eventat Waterstones of course.The List - review confirmedNew Books.mag- review confirmedIndependent on Sunday - reviewThe Times- reviewBooks magazine- review confirmed Specialist PressSleaze Nation - review confirmed for May 2003 issue,Bizarre- review confirmed for May 2003 plus interview for their websiteVox n Roll - Q and A interview for their April issueShots - interviewCrime Times- interview for a Joe Lansdale Crime Time special!Jockey Slut - review confirmed for their June edition RadioLBC Dave Preever Show- interview confirmed for 1 MayBBC Radio Sheffield - reviewed on Evening ShowBBC Radio Newcastle - live interview on Julia Hankin Show confirmed 29 AprilBBC GMR Late Show - interview confirmed, 28 April. Regional PressManchester Evening News- another interview with Joe timed to highlight the Waterstones event to run on 25 AprilNottingham Evening PressMetro (Northern Edition) -Q and A interview confirmed to run 28 April InternetTeletext online- interview for features pages to go live 1 MayPlus interview on the Shots website Eventsinclude a signing in MURDER ONE on Wednesday 29 April at 12.30pm. Plus a reading and signing at Waterstones in Manchester on Tuesday 29 April at 6.30pm.And a Vox 'n' Roll event at the Mini Bar on 30th April at 9pm. All welcome! Central London bookshop signings - 30th April and 1 May.Waterstones TrafalgarSquareBooks Etc Victoria PlaceWaterstones Kensington High StWaterstones Notting Hill GateWaterstones PiccadillyHatchards PiccadillyWaterstones CamdenWaterstones IslingtonWaterstones Oxford St Kirsty is held an inhouse lunch on Thursday 1 May at Soho House. And we also held a small greet and eat before the Vox n Roll event on Wednesday 30 April for a few booksellers and journalists at Granita in Islington. "Truly a pleasure to read, Joe Lansdale's latest Hapand Leonard novel is a roller-coaster ride of action, fun and thriller that'll beat the pants off anything else you'll read this month."WATERSTONES BOOKSQUARTERLY "A violent romp lightened by shots of humour"SUNDAY HERALD "Wacky characters and wackier dialogue make for a chucklesome read." FHM "Well written and a damn good story... a ripping yarn. Looks like your holiday reading's --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From AudioFile Phil Gigante's tones are rich and appealing as he delivers this wild misadventure shot through with humor. In the fifth Hap Collins and Leonard Pine mystery, the pair are working as security guards at a chicken-processing plant in East Texas. Hap becomes a reluctant hero by rescuing the boss's daughter from a vicious beating. Gigante contrasts Hap's earnest, naïve voice with Leonard's soft drawl as the story blends philosophical dialogue and profanity, oozes testosterone, and concludes with sweet revenge. Taking a vacation trip in Mexico with the reward money they've been awarded, Hap and Leonard encounter another assortment of characters as they become entangled in muggings, murders, and kidnappings. Gigante's consistent narration adds to the fun created by Lansdale. S.C.A. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Booklist Hap Collins is guarding chickens at a poultry plant when he saves the life of the plant owner's daughter. As a reward, the grateful father sends Hap on a luxury cruise for two to Mexico. Because Brett, the love of Hap's life, isn't speaking to him, Hap takes his best buddy, Leonard Pine, the genre's only gay, black, tough-guy sidekick. Left behind in Mexico when they miss a ferry, the friends are assaulted and Leonard is stabbed. An old Mexican fisherman nurses Leonard back to health while his daughter entertains Hap. Feeling indebted to their guardian angels, the pair attempts to help the fisherman out of a little trouble with a loan shark. When things go horribly wrong, Hap and Leonard embark on a deadly mission of revenge. Lansdale's latest isn't up to The Bottoms [BKL Je 1 & 15 00], his Edgar-winning stand-alone thriller, but it's typical Hap-and-Leonard fare, which means it's funny, violent, peppered with profanity, oozing testosterone, and ultimately very satisfying. The repartee between Hap and Leonard tramples all over any standard of political correctness, but it's full of wit and outrageously entertaining. Wes Lukowsky Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the hardcover edition. From Publishers Weekly Edgar-winner Lansdale's (The Bottoms) fifth Hap and Leonard mystery marvel is sure to keep you laughing amid the carnage. No good deed goes unpunished, especially when Hap Collins becomes a reluctant hero down in East Texas while working as a security guard for a chicken plant. After rescuing a local girl from a savage beating, Hap receives a big reward. Problem is while on the outs with his girlfriend, Brett he decides to use some of the reward money on a sea cruise shared with his best friend, Leonard Pine. After all, the closest Hap's family had ever come to a cruise "was a rowboat down the Sabine River with a fishing pole." So off to the Caribbean the fearless pair go, only to run smack dab into the usual heap of trouble. Not only does the food stink, but on their first tourist stop to check out some Mayan ruins, they miss the boat back to the ship. Stranded in Playa del Carmen, they run into muggers and, aided by a mysterious old fisherman and his troubled daughter, get caught in a sticky web of intrigue, violence and chicanery. As the body count mounts, they find no place is safe, not even East Texas. The two friends ultimately go back to Mexico to take care of some business they're not apt to soon forget. Lansdale's quick wit is in top form, and his raunchy, sometimes ridiculous and yet so lovable heroes continue to amuse. Take this one along on your next cruise. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the hardcover edition. Joe R. Lansdale has written more than a dozen novels in the suspense, horror, and Western genres. He has also edited several anthologies. He has received the British Fantasy Award, the American Mystery Award, seven Bram Stoker Awards, and an Edgar Award. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas, with his family. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. Read more

Features & Highlights

  • Hap and Leonard
  • is now a Sundance TV series starring James Purefoy and Michael Kenneth Williams.
  • Hap Collins and Leonard Pine find mucho trouble, this time in Mexico, when they come face to face with a nudist mobster, his seven-foot strong-arm, a octogenarian knife-touting fisherman, and, somehow, an armadillo.
  • When Hap Collins saves the life of his employer's daughter, he is rewarded with a Caribbean Cruise, and he convinces his best friend Leonard Pine to come along. However, when the cruise sails on without them, stranding them in Playa del Carmen with nothing but their misfortune and Leonard's new ridiculous hat, the two quickly find themselves drawn into a vicious web of sordid violence. When they return to East Texas, they find that trouble has beaten them back, and when trouble's around it doesn't take long for Hap and Leonard to find it.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
60%
(344)
★★★★
25%
(143)
★★★
15%
(86)
★★
7%
(40)
★
-7%
(-40)

Most Helpful Reviews

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One of my favorites in a great series

When a book begins with a security guard at a chicken processing plant rescuing his employer's daughter from a near fatal beating, takes you to the world's worst cruise ship and ends up dealing with the Mexican mafia, you can be sure of only one thing: Must be another installment in Joe Lansdale's Hap and Leonard series.
Hap Collins is rewarded for saving the young girl's life, and he and his best friend Leonard (foolishly)decide to take a cruise. Hap & Leonard aren't exactly the type to enjoy sitting aboard a ship, so before they even leave the dock, there's trouble. Not surprisingly, the two are left behind at the first port of call, and this is where "Captains Outrageous" begins its journey.
This novel is one of my favorites in the series, because Hap and Leonard's rapport is at its sharpest. These two guys exchange barbs with cops, gangsters and each other...and it is that chemistry that keeps H & L fans coming back for more.
Not only has Lansdale created some great characters, Joe Lansdale can WRITE. His descriptive phrasing and his blend of serious situations with dark humor are some of the best I've read in contemporary literature.
As always, I warn readers: this book isn't for everyone. Violence, sexual situations and 'tasteless humor' saturates "Captains Outrageous"...but then again, it's the reason Hap and Leonard fans love 'em.
4 people found this helpful
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The ones before were better

This is the sixth or seventh book of the Hap and Leonard series, and the worst so far as far as I am concerned. Maybe it is because I am Mexican, but the parts of the story that are supposed to be in Mexico feel completely artificial. The plot is highly unlikely and the only thing that saved the story is that Hap, Leonard, Jim Bob and Brett are great characters
1 people found this helpful
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My Go-To Storymaker!

I discovered Joe Lansdale last year through a suggestion by my local librarian. To be courteous, I checked out one of his books...AND LOVED IT!! Lansdale is not just a great story-teller, he is also a great humorist, witty, irreverant, and he creates characters with a genuine degree of complexity that you come to really care about. Hap and Leonard are two of my favorites. You owe yourself the favor of checking out Joe Lansdale...just once.I'm betting you'll return to him again and again. I'd give this book 5 stars, except then what rating could I give my very favorites of his? They're all fives, in my opinion, but some are 6s :)
1 people found this helpful
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Horror Novel Reviews: Honesty in the Terror

Hap and Leonard return In Captains Outrageous, and once again Joe R. Lansdale proves that he has no equal in the field of writing within the great state of Texas. He is to East Texas what Stephen King is to Maine. Both authors have a particular style of writing that appeals to the "everyman" in its simplicity; yet, forceful and soul-searching deliverance.

In this novel, the hilarious, dysfunctional, butt-kicking duo of Hap and Leonard return for another outing of outrageous bantering, not to mention going the distance to help those who are in trouble. Hap and Leonard are now security guards in a chicken processing plant.

One night after work, while walking to his truck, Hap hears a desperate cry for help. He sees a man stomping the living daylights out a girl near the trees that border the plant and quickly goes to her rescue. Jumping a chain-link fence like an avenging angel, Hap charges the guy and swiftly finds himself in a fight to the death, using everything he's been taught in the martial arts to put this drugged-out psycho down.

After Hap saves the life of the young girl, her father (he happens to be the owner of the plant) rewards him with the gift of a hundred thousand dollars. Accepting the money against his better judgment, Hap decides to take a vacation with his buddy, Leonard. They sign on for a cheap cruise down to Mexico and the Caribbean.

As usual, Leonard's mouth gets them into trouble on the boat, and they eventually find themselves stranded in a place called Playa Del Carmen. When a group of muggers from a bordering town attack our two heroes with knives and a machete, wounding Leonard in the process, an old fisherman comes to their rescue.

The fisherman and his daughter, Beatrice, allow Hap and Leonard to recuperate at their home. While Leonard is recovering from his knife wound, the fisherman's daughter uses sex to lure Hap into helping her scam a local mobster.

Things, however, don't go quite the way Beatrice expects.

Her actions lead to death on a major scale, and it follows Hap and Leonard back to Texas in the form of a giant killer named Hammerhead, who likes to skin people alive and then cut their hands and feet off. A close friend of the duo will be murdered because of what happened in Mexico.

From that point on the name of the game is revenge for our boys. Hap and Leonard, with the help of Jim Bob Luke, will return to Mexico to take out the mobster and his henchman. A lot of people are going to die before the ending of this novel is reached; and, if Hap has his way, he's going to be the one doing the killing!

Captains Outrageous had me laughing and crying. Never was a novel funnier; yet, at the same time, sadder. The violence is intense, and a lot of good people die this time around.

Mr. Lansdale's prose is "mojo" writing at its best, capturing the pure essence that breathes life into Hap and Leonard, holding the reader within its tight grasp from the first page to the last. These are guys that will put their lives on the line time and time again to help others, risking everything to right a wrong and to bring a little justice into this mixed-up world.

Even the secondary characters (Jim Bob Luke, Veil, Charlie Blank, Marvin Hanson, Beatrice and her father, Ferdinand, Brett Sawyer, and the Mexican mobster, Juan Miguel) are written with the same precise detail and strength as the primary ones.

The twists and turns are more numerous than a giant pretzel, offering surprises for the reader every few pages. Captains Outrageous isn't just a novel; it's a grand adventure with two guys who love each other as brothers and who are heroes in the strongest sense of the word.

This book will run you through the gamut of emotions, leaving you with an inner feeling of being alive and that the world isn't such a bad place after all. I can't thank Joe R. Lansdale enough for the books he's written, including this fabulous series about friendship, love, honor, and a willingness to put your life on the line for what you feel is right.

As I stated in a previous review, I only wish that Mr. Lansdale could write a "Hap and Leonard" book every year, along with one of his stand-alone novels. It's hard saying goodbye to friends like this for a lengthy period of time.

Written by Wayne C. Rogers from Horror Novel Reviews. Horror Novel Reviews does not receive payment for reviews. All books are promotional copies.
1 people found this helpful
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Kinda sadistic

I like to read the Hap & Leonard novels as a bit of a palate cleanser between other things because they're light, fun, and short. Sure there's violence but to this point in the series it's been the sort of stuff you might have expected in an old episode of "Simon & Simon" or something like that. But not in this one, the violence in this story is sadistic and often treated in such an offhand manner that it grew both tiresome and nauseating. It's still Lansdale, it's still H&L, but for the first time I really don't look forward to the next book at all.
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Enthralling as usual

Yet another riveting, mesmerizing and fantastically written book by the GREAT Joe Lansdale! Definitely one of the best authors ever!
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Another good one

Another dang good read from Mr. Lansdale.The humor and the action fit together perfectly as always. Can't wait to start another one.
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Brutal murder count

I lost track of how many. Hay and Leonard seem to attract them.
I thought that the end would have them fighting the monster and somehow winning but it just cut short.
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A Magician With Words

He builds characters like very few writers can. Hap and Leonard are priceless...
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Thrilling! It never stops! It’s a page turner. Love these characters and how new ones are so languidly added. Must read

Thrilling! It never stops! It’s a page turner. Love these characters and how new ones are so languidly added. Must read

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