Jackrabbit Smile

Written by Joe R. Lansdale

Narrated by Christopher Ryan Grant

Edgar Award-winner and fan favorite Joe R. Lansdale is back with Hap and Leonard's latest caper: investigating the disappearance of a revivalist cult leader's daughter.

Hap and Leonard are an unlikely pair-Hap, a self-proclaimed white trash rebel, and Leonard, a tough-as-nails black gay Vietnam vet and Republican-but they're the closest friend either of them has in the world. Hap is celebrating his wedding to his longtime girlfriend, Brett (who is also Hap and Leonard's boss), when their backyard barbecue is interrupted by a couple of Pentecostal white supremacists. They're not too happy to see Leonard, and no one is happy to see them, but they have a problem and only Hap and Leonard will take the case.

Judith Mulhaney's daughter, Jackrabbit, has been missing for five years. Well, she's been missing from them for five years, but she's been missing from everybody, including the local no-goods who ran with her, for a few months. Despite their misgivings about Judith and her son, Hap and Leonard take the case. It isn't long until they find themselves mixed up in a revivalist cult that believes Jesus will return flanked by an army of lizard-men -- solving a murder to boot.

With Lansdale's trademark humor, whip-smart dialogue, and plenty of ass-kicking adventures to be had, you won't want to miss Hap and Leonard's latest.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette Audio
• Release date: Mar 27, 2018
• ISBN: 9781549167881

Joe R. Lansdale

Joe R. Lansdale is the winner of the British Fantasy Award, the American Horror Award, the Edgar Award, and six Bram Stoker Awards. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas.

Reviews for Jackrabbit Smile

[tobinelliott · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Eleven novels in (and something like the 18th book with Hap and Leonard, if you also count all the collections that include a H&L story), Lansdale doesn't seem to be slowing down on his greatest creation.

The books are still fun, and I do enjoy the novels more than the shorts, to be honest, however, as a few others are saying, this series is beginning to show its age a touch.

All the usual things happen here.
- Someone shows up to hire the boys.
- The case takes a few complicated turns.
- Hap and Leonard crack wise a lot to each other.
- Hap and Leonard crack wise a lot to others, most of whom don't appreciate the humour.
- Hap and Brett get up to their bedroom hijinks.
- Leonard eats vanilla cookies.
- Leonard upsets someone due to his skin colour.
- Leonard upsets someone due to his homosexuality.
- The boys get beaten up a touch.
- The boys beat the crap out of others.
- The boys find a dead body.
- The boys make a few dead bodies of their own.
- Everything works out in the end.

My point is, if you go in expecting this (as I do), then you get some pleasure in ticking off the boxes. However, if you go in looking for the same excitement, danger, and unpredictability of the earlier novels, you will be sorely disappointed. Yes, Lansdale can still offer up some different angles (the mother and son who hire the boys, for instance), but for the most part, this once dangerous series has become rather safe.

Which is a shame.

But also a touch understandable. I know Lansdale plays with their age on a very sliding scale, but there's also a point where, no matter how much he slides that scale, the reader has to wonder how long these two guys can continue their run without facing some serious consequences.

[zmagic69 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have read every book and short story in the Hap and Leonard series but I think it is time to retire it.
This should have been a short story and considering it is 230ish pages it basically is. But worse is the fact that there isn’t much of a story. All of the characters are overblown stereotypes and the author has become overly politically correct to justify the behavior of the worst of them.
At this rate I expect the next book to be Hap and Leonard go grocery shopping.

[charrlygirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hap and Leonard return to Hap's hometown of Marvel Creek in Joe Lansdale's latest release JACKRABBIT SMILE.

This time around our heroes are hired by a man and his mother to find their missing sister/daughter. The relationship between Hap, Leonard and Brett and their new clients isn't a good one, since both the man and his mom are openly prejudiced against any and all who aren't white. Which, of course, doesn't sit well with Leonard. Will the dynamic duo find the missing girl? Will the people who hired them get their due? You'll have to read this to find out!

The humor Joe Lansdale is famous for is here in spades, but there's a lot of darkness as well. Hap's hometown is full of racism, violence, and both false prophets and profits. (It's hard to believe good-hearted Hap came from such an ugly place.) All of this makes for a quick, extremely entertaining read.

If you're reading the Hap and Leonard series, you already know how addicting these books can be. If you're watching the television series on the Sundance Channel, you'll note some similarities between the current season and this book. Both take unflinching looks at the ugliness of racism in all of its different faces and forms; but they do it with bravery and a sense of humor. I think that's what makes this series, (both the books and the television show), so special and enjoyable.

If you're not reading this series or watching the show, what are you waiting for?

Highly recommended!

*Thanks to Mulholland Books and NetGalley for the e-arc of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. This is it.*

[bjkelley · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What can I say, it's Lansdale. Solid writing, great story. I often whine about Stephen King's books being too long. In the case of Jackrabbit Smile, I'll whine that it wasn't long enough....LOL.

[stahl2ricco · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

“Is this about Jackie or is it about black and white relations, and exactly why have we become the target for an ass whipping when we’re merely asking about a missing lady who turns out to be good at math and is a little kooky?”

Well, that about sums up the plot to this here tale! Another good read and another fine Hap and Leonard novel! The duo get hired by a couple of racists to find Jackie, the gal with the bucktoothed smile. Leads to a whole lotta other characters, and the usual Hap and Leonard misadventures. I wish I coulda learned more about the twins, but other than that, I was totally happy with this story and hope to hell there's another one coming down the pike! Oh, and mazel tov to Hap and Brett!

[yoyogod · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the 11th novel in the Hap and Leonard series. In this volume, Hap and Leonard have been hired to find a young woman nicknamed Jackrabbit, who went missing in Hap's old home town, Marvel Creek. The place isn't as much of a racist, poverty-stricken hell hole as it was when Hap was a boy, but a segregationist hog farmer called the Professor seems to have taken over most of the local businesses. As the bodies start to pile up, things start to look grim, but the book ends with a surprise twist I didn't see coming. It's a great story.