Patti Abbott, Mucho Mojo, Joe R. Lansdale (from the archives)
Mucho Mojo is the second installment of the Hap and Leonard series by Joe R. Lansdale and a worthy follow-up to the first one. It concerns the disappearance of a number of 8-10 year old boys over a period of 10 years in a small town in Texas. It was very well done, of course, although I did find it improbable that such a long string of disappearances would get so little attention from the authorities given certain similarities. But all in all, I enjoyed this book immensely.
What I wanted to talk about here are the considerable strengths I found in this novel--almost amazing ones.
This is a novel by a white writer set entirely in the black community of a small town--and it never seems patronizing or inauthentic. Hap is virtually the only white character.
Secondly, Lansdale is able to write, almost obsessively, about sex without it seeming prurient or pornographic. His sex is tender and graceful.
Third-he is able to create believable characters with a few strokes of his keyboard. Truly, he can find a feature or embellishment to give them something to make them stand out.
Fourth-he can insert humor gracefully at even the darkest moments.
Fifth- he can use profanity without seeming crass.
What a writer. I am in awe.
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Martin Edwards, MURDER WITH RELISH, C. Lindsay Taylor
Richard Horton, 9 TALES OF SPACE AND TIME, Raymond J. Healy
Jerry House, THE FOG, James Herbert
George Kelley, THINGS FROM OUTER SPACE, ed. Hugh Davis
Margot Kinberg, THE LAST CHILD, John Hart
Rob Kitchin, ORIGINAL SKIN, David Mark
B.V. Lawson, THE NIGHT THE GODS SMILED, Eric Wright
Steve Lewis, MURDER HAS ITS POINTS, Richard and Frances Lockridge
Todd Mason, INTERSECTIONS: THE SYCAMORE HILL ANTHOLOGY edited by John Kessel, Mark L. Van Name and Richard Butner; MIRRORSHADES: THE CYBERPUNK ANTHOLOGY, edited by Bruce Sterling
Stephen Nester (The Rap Sheet) DREAMLAND, Newton Thornburg
J.F. Norris, CONJURER'S COFFIN, Guy Cullingford
Richard Robinson, A MONSTROUS REGIMENT OF WOMEN, Laurie King
Matt Paust, THE RUM DIARY, Hunter S. Thompson
Reactions to Reading, THE DEVIL IN THE MARSHALLSEA, Antonia Hodgson
James Reasoner, VOLUNTARY MADNESS, Vicki Hendricks
Kevin Tipple/Barry Ergang, I, ALEX CROSS, James Patterson
TomCat, THE SECRET OF THE CROOKED CAT, Dennis Lynds
TracyK, THE BLACK COMPANY, Glen Cook
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