The Thicket

by Joe R. Lansdale

Love and vengeance at the dark dawn of the East Texas oil boom from Joe Lansdale, "a true American original" (Joe Hill, author of Heart-Shaped Box ).

Jack Parker thought he'd already seen his fair share of tragedy. His grandmother was killed in a farm accident when he was barely five years old. His parents have just succumbed to the smallpox epidemic sweeping turn-of-the-century East Texas -- orphaning him and his younger sister, Lula.

Then catastrophe strikes on the way to their uncle's farm, when a traveling group of bank-robbing bandits murder Jack's grandfather and kidnap his sister. With no elders left for miles, Jack must grow up fast and enlist a band of heroes the likes of which has never been seen if his sister stands any chance at survival. But the best he can come up with is a charismatic, bounty-hunting dwarf named Shorty, a grave-digging son of an ex-slave named Eustace, and a street-smart woman-for-hire named Jimmie Sue who's come into some very intimate knowledge about the bandits (and a few members of Jack's extended family to boot).

In the throes of being civilized, East Texas is still a wild, feral place. Oil wells spurt liquid money from the ground. But as Jack's about to find out, blood and redemption rule supreme.

In The Thicket , award-winning novelist Joe R. Lansdale lets loose like never before, in a rip-roaring adventure equal parts True Grit and Stand by Me - - the perfect introduction to an acclaimed writer whose work has been called "as funny and frightening as anything that could have been dreamed up by the Brothers Grimm -- or Mark Twain" ( New York Times Book Review ).

Genres: Westerns, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Crime, Thriller

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Champion Mojo Storyteller Joe R. Lansdale is the author of over forty novels and numerous short stories. His work has appeared in national anthologies, magazines, and collections, as well as numerous foreign publications. He has written for comics, television, film, newspapers, and Internet sites. His work has been collected in more than two dozen short-story collections, and he has edited or co-edited over a dozen anthologies. He has received the Edgar Award, eight Bram Stoker Awards, the Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the British Fantasy Award, the Grinzani Cavour Prize for Literature, the Herodotus Historical Fiction Award, the Inkpot Award for Contributions to Science Fiction and Fantasy, and many others. His novella Bubba Ho-Tep was adapted to film by Don Coscarelli, starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis. His story "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" was adapted to film for Showtime's "Masters of Horror," and he adapted his short story "Christmas with the Dead" to film hisownself. The film adaptation of his novel Cold in July was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and the Sundance Channel has adapted his Hap & Leonard novels for television.

He is currently co-producing several films, among them The Bottoms, based on his Edgar Award-winning novel, with Bill Paxton and Brad Wyman, and The Drive-In, with Greg Nicotero. He is Writer In Residence at Stephen F. Austin State University, and is the founder of the martial arts system Shen Chuan: Martial Science and its affiliate, Shen Chuan Family System. He is a member of both the United States and International Martial Arts Halls of Fame. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas with his wife, dog, and two cats.

Reviews

[Orsodimondo · Rating 4 out of 5]

LA LUNGA STRADA DELLA VENDETTA



Romanzo ovviamente ambientato nell’East Texas perché con Lansdale il luogo è sempre quello.
Romanzo che mi viene da definire picaresco.
Anche se, il sedicenne io-narrante, Jack Parker, più che esserlo, si accompagna a due picari: li assolda per aiutarlo a recuperare sua sorella rapita da tre farabutti. Jack è talvolta chiamato Red perché ha la chioma rosso fuoco e la tipica carnagione che le si accompagna: e Lansdale conferma d’avere un debole per i capelli fulvi, compaiono spesso nei suoi romanzi, molto più sottolineati dei biondi.


La copertina

I due manipoli, quello degli inseguitori – i buoni - e quello dei fuggitivi – i cattivi -sono alquanto buffamente assortiti. E parte del gusto della lettura risiede proprio in questo aspetto.
Il giovane narratore ingaggia un nano, chiamato molto lapalissianamente Shorty, e un colosso afroamericano che di nome fa Eustace. Due anime disposte ad aiutarlo in cambio della promessa di una lauta ricompensa: i terreni di famiglia. Sono due mal assortiti che invece si riveleranno molto ben assortiti. Due chiacchieroni, e si sa che nei dialoghi Lansdale regala perle.
Eustace è una sagoma: perché all’apparenza è un afroamericano, ma ci tiene a rivendicare anche sangue bianco e indiano, anche se non ne compare traccia. Al punto che è convinto d’essere parente, cugino, del giovane io-narrante, bianco che più bianco non si può. Al punto che la discendenza dai nativi lo spinge a ritenersi un segugio, esperto nell’arte di seguire orme e tracce. Ma così è solo in parte: ha fatto poca pratica, e spesso smarrisce la pista.
Shorty ha decisamente più pepe e favella che centimetri.
La combriccola è resa ancora più insolita dalla presenza di un maiale selvatico, chiamato ovviamente Hog, che non appartiene ufficialmente a nessuno, ma che Eustace ritiene di dover proteggere. E forse il quadrupede è il più picaro della banda.
A completare il quadro, si aggiunge un quarto membro, una giovane prostituta, particolarmente intraprendente, che regala a Jack Parker la sua prima volta. E poi, ben oltre, uno sceriffo ex cacciatore di taglie.



I tre farabutti inseguiti sono ladri e manigoldi e assassini. Hanno rapito la sorella di Jack, e nel tempo dell’inseguimento è probabile che le abbiano già portato via verginità e quant’altro (la ragazza è una bimba di quattordici anni, ma si sa, a quell’epoca si cresceva prima, si cresceva in fretta).
Li guida un killer dal soprannome che è tutto un programma: Cut Throat Bill. E infatti, oltre a tagliarla con facilità a chi gli sta intorno, lui stesso sfoggia una vistosa cicatrice sulla gola.
Insieme a lui viaggiano un bianco basso, sdentato e grasso, che non poteva che chiamarsi Fatty, e un energumeno di colore, che in modo altrettanto fantasioso è chiamato Nigger Pete.
Sono tre cattivi cattivi che hanno probabilmente venduto l’anima al diavolo:
In quell’istante ebbi la sensazione di essermi distaccato dalla vita e di trovarmi fuori dal mondo reale, in un luogo dove regnava la follia e la decenza e le leggi umane erano considerate fesserie, proprio come un paio di pantaloni di pizzo addosso a un somaro.



A proposito, l’epoca. Mai davvero specificata, dovrebbe collocarsi verso inizio Novecento: si parla di qualche rara automobile a benzina (superata la fase del vapore), dei primi pozzi di petrolio, dei fratelli Marx, che iniziarono l’attività nel 1905, compare un telefono...
E man mano che l’avventura penetra nella foresta, che è un’autentica selva, il nano Shorty diventa un gigante, la giovanissima prostituta spicca per saggezza e ironia e sensibilità, Eustace brilla e riluce possente e comprensivo… E così tutti i reietti diventano eroi, tutti i marginali diventano protagonisti.
[Il mio Lansdale #9]

[karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

another great opening to a book:

I didn't suspect the day Grandfather came out and got me and my sister, Lula, and hauled us off toward the ferry that I'd soon end up with worse things happening than had already come upon us or that I'd take up with a gun-shooting dwarf, the son of a slave, and a big angry hog, let alone find true love and kill someone, but that's exactly how it was.

a great opening, but one that worried me nonetheless, seeming as it did to suffer from some of the qualities of folksiness and plucky teen-narrator that i wasn't enamored with in Edge of Dark Water.

but while there were certainly some "fun with similes" attempts that strained my patience a bit:

-She was so damn ugly she would have to sneak up on a biscuit and force it to be eaten with the point of a gun.

-Daddy always said Grandpa was so tight that when he blinked the skin on his pecker rolled back.

etc, etc.

this time, there were more that actually worked for me, also involving faces, oddly:

-that face, which was like a hatchet to the soul.

and:

-he had a face that was like a sack full of burdens.

so, about half of the time, i wasn't wincing at the flourishes. which is a better percentage than before.

our young narrator is as morally rigid as mattie ross in true grit; as naive and stubborn and convinced that morality and decency will win the day. and as about to learn a hard lesson.

finding himself suddenly orphaned in east texas after smallpox kills his parents, 16-year-old jack parker and his younger sister lula are on their way to live in kansas with their aunt, whom they have never met. before they can make it across the river, their grandfather-escort is murdered and lula is taken by a band of bank-robbers and general ne'er do wells.

jack is determined to get lula back, and joins forces with the aforementioned dwarf, son-of-slave, and hog. they will later be joined by a sheriff and a whore. On the way to hunt down the criminals, jack repeatedly states that he does not want the men killed; he just wants his sister back, and he knows that this does not have to end in bloodshed. his fellow-companions have seen a bit more of the world's workings, and treat him like a curiosity, begrudgingly respecting his idealism, but knowing how this is all going to end.

"You are so definite, kid. Seldom right, but always certain."

along the way, encounter after encounter shows jack that the world doesn't play by "love thy neighbor" rules and might not recognize good intentions and turning of cheek. he learns from his new friends, and hears their life's philosophies in the quiet hours:

Life isn't just black or white, here or there; it's got some mud in it, and we're some of the mud.

and

Just a year ago I kept thinking this ain't fair, the way things have turned out for me. Then it come to me clean as spring rain. Life is just what it is, and it ain't fair at all."

and through all the bloodshed and frustration that things are not turning out as he had planned, jack hardens a little with every page, adapting his own morality to take in the realities he is discovering at every turn, but resentful of the world's cruelty.

I wished then that I was wasn't a man at all but a hawk, something with some kind of integrity about what it killed, that did it for food or survival, not for sport or revenge or to satisfy something rotten inside.

it is a very bloody book. and also a very funny book. and the lessons are hard-won, and all the plucky little folksyisms are worn down to hard little nubs by the end of jack's moral awakening. and it earns all of it. i really liked this book, and it has re-ignited my interest in lansdale. a definite should-read for most of you...

come to my blog!

[Shelby *trains flying monkeys* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jack Parker's parents die during an smallpox epidemic. So his grandfather packs up Jack and his sister Lula and is taking them to an aunt to live. Things never turn out that easy though and Grandpa is murdered (not a spoiler) and Lula is taken by a gang of bad guys.


Jack is on a mission to get his sister back and enlists several helpmates for his quest;
Eustace, a grave-digging black skinned man who must stay away from alcohol.

Eustace's somewhat pet, Hog. (Don't laugh, Hog kicks some major ass)

Shorty, an educated little man, with a hair trigger temperament.


Jack wants to be able to get back the sister that was taken by the bad men and no matter how many times his companions point out that he may not be getting the same sister back, he stills wants to believe in a higher power and that good will win over bad.
It was as if I had gone to visit Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah and had encountered the men who wanted to bugger the angels. I had decided I had no choice but to go on with things, but I will tell you quite sincerely that my guts ached and I felt as if Jesus had laid a disapproving hand on my shoulder. In fact, its warm presence was with me for awhile, until later in the day I discovered I had been messed on by a bird.

Jack's entourage continues to grow as they make their way to the bad guys hideout located in the woods called the Big Thicket. Jack picks up a local whore who decides she is done with whoring
and she causes him to start thinking that life may not be as a black and white as he was brought up to believe.

Even though I could guess the way this book was going to wrap up it still has that special Lansdale touch as so much that I'm going to give it the full five stars. I did think the story was slow in the beginning but then it made me start loving these characters. A coming of age tale with lots of cussing and a shit ton of violence and it made me almost pee myself laughing?
What else could I do but five star it?
Warning: This book is totally not politically correct.

I won a copy of this book from First reads. Yes, I know it was years ago. I lost the damn thing and found it recently. It does not effect my review at all. I became Lansdale fangirl after I won it.



I participated in a buddy read with Dan 2.0 on this one. He will probably give the book a one star and I will have to send a small person with an attitude to get him to change his rating. He will also probably write a thought out review where as I just use pretty pictures. Go check out his review when he ever gets it up.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some great characters here! An eclectic True Grit. Reminded me of Maverick for some reason, but with a hog.

[Dan Schwent · Rating 4 out of 5]

When his grandfather is murdered and his sister kidnapped by outlaws, young Jack Parker goes looking for vengeance. With a four gauge wielding man named Eustace, a midget sharpshooter named Shorty, and a hog named Hog, he goes hunting for Cutthroat Bill and his gang. Will he survive long enough to find his sister?

I got this ARC from Netgalley. Thank you, Netgalley! Although it only took two damn months for my request to get approved...

Here we are, the 36th Joe Lansdale book I've read. The Thicket is part True Grit, part coming of age tale, and all Joe Lansdale.

The plot of The Thicket is simple enough. It's a tale of a young man's coming of age and quest for vengeance. In the wake of his parents' death from the pox, Jack and his sister Lula are traveling with their grandfather until they run afoul of some outlaws. Jack survives and meets up with Shorty and Eustace and the tale kicks into high gear.

The usual Lansdale mojo is in full effect. The dialogue is a kind of redneck poetry of profanity and clever similes. Lansdale's ear for dialogue always surprises me. I could easily hear the same dialogue coming out of people down at the local Wal-Mart. And the violence, oh, the violence. There's a steady stream of violence, dolled out like appetizers, until the main course, the bloody shootout at the end.

The characters Jack meets on his adventure are a colorful bunch, from Eustace, the man of mixed blood that wields a damn cannon, to Shorty, the educated little man who is a crack shot, the scarred sheriff Winton, to Jimmie, the whore with a heart of something resembling gold that teaches Jack a few tricks, both in and out of the bedroom.

Since it's a Lansdale book, no one gets out unscathed. The gunfights didn't feel like Hollywood gunfights at all, more chaos than anything else. The entire cast was changed, either by the carnage or by becoming dead.

Lansdale is one of the authors I feel like I would get along with based on his writing. Where George Pelecanos and I would probably spent time discussing music, I could see myself bullshitting with Uncle Joe on my back porch with a couple beers and some BBQ on the grill.

That's about all I have to say. It's one of the better Lansdale books in recent memory so just read the damn thing!

[Melki · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fact that this is written by Joe R. Lansdale pretty much guarantees a good time. The fact that the first sentence contains the words "gun-shooting dwarf"...that's just icing on the cake.

Jack Parker is a fine, upstanding teenager who dislikes violence, yet soon he will be hiring two brutal men to find the villains who've killed his grandfather and stolen his sister.

Morally upright kids in a sudden quest for vengeance may seem a familiar theme (Yeah, yeah, I read True Grit, too), but believe me - you've never read it the way Lansdale writes it.

I felt in that moment as if I had come unstuck from life and that I was somewhere outside of the real world, in some insane place where common decency and the laws of men were just silly things, like lace pants on a donkey. My eyes turned wet. My bowels went loose. I didn't know if I should move or stay still, and was uncertain I could do either.

The two hired men are Shorty, the aforementioned "gun-shooting dwarf," and his pal Eustace, a tracker. Reminiscent of Lansdale's Hap and Leonard, they deliver some great dialogue, not to mention righteous beatings to all who require them. Throw in a pet boar with a mind of his own, a hooker with a sense of humor, and a few more misfits, and you've got yourself a great cast of characters headed for certain doom.

"Fatty said the rest of them, with your sister, are heading over into the main of the Big Thicket. Over there beyond Livingston, down in the brambles and the high-ass pines. It's a bad lands there, down in them deep dark woods. There's lots of colored who have run off there to trap and live, and there's lots of outlaws, too. I know some colored that left here to go there, and I ain't never seen them since. Law don't like to go in there, cause lot of time they do, they don't come back. That's where we got to go if you want your sister back, and there ain't nothing else for it."

If that paragraph is not warning enough, now might be the time to tell anyone unfamiliar with Lansdale's style that the man is not shy about visiting dark places. One minute, you will be laughing at someone's clever quip, but the very next sentence may leave you flinching at the nasty, violent turn that things have taken. There is a high body count, and bad things happen to all manner of animals.

That's not to say there is no humor in this book. I particularly enjoyed the banter between Shorty and Eustace.

Eustace smiled, he reached out and touched Shorty on his hatted head like he was a little boy. "I get killed, you can have any of my dung you find along the way while you're following. I wanted you to know that."

"You may proceed to diddle yourself," Shorty said.

If you like a great adventure, plenty of action, and don't mind a little blood-shed, this is a fantastic read, and quite simply, one of Lansdale's best.

[Kemper · Rating 4 out of 5]

(I received a free copy of this from NetGalley.)

At the tail end of the cowboy days in East Texas, sixteen year old Jack Parker and his sister Lula have a helluva bad week. After their parents die in a smallpox epidemic, their grandfather is murdered by a gang of bank robbers who kidnap Lula. The only help that Jack can find is a grave digging black man named Eustace and the tiny bounty hunter Shorty. Along with a giant hog, they set out to rescue Lula. Jack tries to hold to his Christian beliefs that the gang should be caught and tried, and he is horrified at Shorty and Eustace’s willingness to kill and ignore common decency in the name of a greater good, namely their own.

As they meet more victims of the gang along the trail and see how cruel they truly are, Jack starts to realize that there’s no way to get Lula back without getting blood on his hands and that his traveling companions may have a better understanding of the world than he does. His young puritan ways are also tested when he meets Jimmie Sue, a hooker with a heart of gold who takes a liking to him.

There are elements of this story that will probably sound familiar to anyone who has read or seen one of the two film versions of True Grit with a young person venturing into a hostile wilderness with some salty frontier types, but Lansdale also adds some bizarre and violent turns that feel more like Django Unchained at times.

My favorite part was the character of Shorty. He may be the smallest member of the posse, but he’s the smartest and hell on wheels with a gun in his hand. He’s also a misanthrope who came by it honestly after a lifetime of dealing with people who treat him like a freak or a child, and he gets most of the best lines in the book.

It’s also got all the hallmarks of Joe Lansdale with a profane sense of humor that provides plenty of action but with a sense of responsibility about the damage done by all the violence. In fact, my one complaint about the novel is that it’s a little too Joe Lansdale.

If you’ve read his Hap & Leonard series, then a lot of this will seem somewhat familiar in that you’ve got some characters who while being ‘the good guys’ are perfectly content to dish out punishment if they feel it’s been earned while someone provides a softer hearted conscience that urges some compassion. In fact, this isn’t even the first Lansdale book to feature a little person involved in a vicious pistol whipping along with a strange wild animal bonding with people since he worked similar stuff into Rumble Tumble.

However, if the worst thing I can say about it is that it’s a typical Joe Lansdale story, then you know you’re still getting an entertaining tale.

Also posted at Kemper's Book Blog.

[Paul Bryant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A month ago I was dutifully slogging through a few more of those 1001 Films You Must Watch Before Brexit Exterminates all Life in Britain and I came upon My Darling Clementine (John Ford, 1946) and Shane (George Stevens, 1953) and that’s when I gave up watching westerns. These movies were so stupid it embarrassed you to see grown up people acting in them. However, strangely, in future I will be most happy to read a western, because the books never disappoint. Modern westerns, that is, like True Grit or The Sisters Brothers, and now The Thicket.

This is the fifth Modern Western I have read and there is a pattern to these things (leaving aside Cormac McCarthy who is a universe unto himself). They are all comedies, that’s to say extremely deadpan black comedies; they are all first person narratives; they are all very violent; and the story is the same. The same! It’s always the tale of a manhunt. There is a crime, the desperadoes get clean away, then the pursuit begins. There is a showdown! Hats and bullets and body parts will be flying, of that you are guarandamnteed. The Old West, especially Texas, must have been crisscrossed with thousands of tough guys and some tough women looking for other tough guys and mostly dying horribly, whether pursued or pursuing. Seems that in the Old West if you made it through the day with only a flesh wound, that was a pretty good day. It’s surprising anyone got to be over 17 years old in Old West.

In a modern western it must be admitted there is a pandering to the modern reader. In a very racist world, the good guys are never racists themselves, they always have black comrades, and in this book the assembled avengers incorporate other minorities too, there is a young prostitute, a person of restricted growth, and a big ole pig, named Hog, who rushes in and chews off bad guys’ feet when required. In the real Old West the good guys were probably just as racist and dismissive towards persons of restricted growth as the bad guys, but you can’t have your good guys being racist in a modern novel, it would not do.

This is really a 3.5 star novel, I could nitpick a little bit as for instance the big shootout, man, that goes on too long, and the long distance rifle shot that finally brings down the villain is blatantly stolen from The Magnificent Seven. And the pig was throughout a little too ridiculous, I fully expected it to talk at one point. And plus, we also have a revival of that well-loved character the Tart with the Heart of Gold.

But I am rounding it up because it was such fun! I had nearly forgotten what fun was, what with trying to read some literature recently.

[Char · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars!

This book was wonderful!

Granted, it had some very nasty language and racial epithets, but these rang true for the time period. Other than that and what I felt was a slightly predictable ending, this book was just fantastic and I'm sad that it's over.

You can get a description of the story from every other review and the book description, so that's all you'll hear from me about that. On to the good stuff-the characters. This book is populated with such a colorful cast, all of whom I can see in my mind clear as day. The bad guys were as clearly drawn and hated as the good guys were vivid and loved. I wanted to hug all the folks on the good side and that includes Hog.

The narrator, Will Collyer, was absolutely fantastic. His voices were wonderful and it was easy to tell which character was which. He gave them character, and somehow added a touch of reality to them, as well as a level of depth. Or maybe that was Mr. Lansdale that did that. Or maybe it was the combination of them both.

Either way, this book was great. The audio was wonderful, the characters truly memorable, and I find myself hoping that I can find another book authored by and narrated by these same guys. Because if I can, I'm in. You should be in too! Seriously, you should.

Recommended to all adults that love westerns.

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/

My Goodreads’ buddies have been trying to get me to read The Thicket since before it even came out (because an ARC was available for request), but I resisted because . . . . .



Well, partially. Also because I really am not a fan of westerns. Even though Ron 2.0 assured me this wasn’t a real westerny western and Shelby had 5-Starred it, I didn’t end up requesting this one until I became addicted to the library’s Read to Reel Challenge and discovered this fine gentlemen has been cast in a hopefully soon-to-be-made film version . . . .



The story here is about Jack Parker, an almost grown man who is on his way to live with an aunt in Kansas after his ma and pa die from the pox when his granddaddy is killed and his sister is kidnapped by bad guys. Recruiting the help of a gravedigger, a dwarf, a whore and a hog, The Thicket then becomes about . . . .

“Our job is to rescue her, kill the hell out of the man who stole her, and collect a reward.”

If it came to my enjoyment of the story, this one would rate fair to middlin’. I wasn’t lying when I said I don’t like westerns. And while this one was on the cusp of being not too “westerny,” it still featured chasing marauders and complaining about crotch chafing from horse riding enough that my attention waned a bit. However, there is just something about Joe Lansdale that is impossible not to love. Mainly the fact that he demonstrates that he believes . . . . .



While the subject matter was a tad more serious, The Thicket definitely had a bit of a Blazing Saddles vibe to it and I have no option but to give it 4 Stars because Lansdale can write like nobody’s business and Shorty will go down as an all-time favorite character. Also because if I don’t my drinking buddy said he won’t be friends with me any longer . . . .



Plus this book proved something Mitchell has been telling me for years . . . .



And at this point I’m pretty sure he’s not just stating it for trivia, but as a threat.

Still reading the Winter Reading Challenge theme because I can . . .

[Sadie Hartmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

"gritty, raw, and filled with Lansdale's wit and charm. A dark, twisted, coming-of-age, revenge tale
The story follows Jack, a young man thrust into adulthood after his family is torn apart by violence. He bands together with unlikely heroes to rescue his kidnapped sister. Equal parts HORROR and HEART."

[Ɗẳɳ 2.☊ · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★★☆½

Around the turn of the 20th century much of America may be on the cusp of civilization, but East Texas is still a wild, feral, and ever dangerous place—which Jack Parker’s about to learn the hard way. Our story opens to a smallpox epidemic sweeping through town, leaving sixteen-year-old Jack and his sister, Lula, orphaned. After burying the bodies, and torching the house, their grandpa packs ‘em into the wagon, and they all head north to their aunt’s farm up in Kansas. It’s not long in their travels, before they’re accosted by some bad men on a ferry, and that’s when the real story begins.

*Minor spoilers below.*

After an argument grows heated, Cut Throat Bill and his gang of outlaws murder Jack’s grandpa, and kidnap Lula. Fate intervenes to prevent Jack’s tale from ending right then and there, but he’s by no means capable of rescuing Lula from a group of hardened thugs. He aims to garner the help of the local sheriff, only to discover him murdered by the same gang. The cowardly deputy is hightailing it outta town, but fortune shines down on the lad once again, when he chances upon a large colored man and his big ole hog.

Eustace ain’t just a grave digger; he’s also a part-time bounty hunter and tracker. He agrees to assist young Jack, as long as his partner, a midget named Shorty, is willing to tag along for the ride. Shorty, the real brains of the outfit, is more than willing to put in a little work for the steep reward Jack’s offering up. This ain’t exactly the type of posse our boy was hoping to round up, but time’s a wasting. No tellin’ what horrors have already been exacted upon his poor sis, so beggars can’t be too choosey.

This book was a hoot, in some ways it felt like a last adventure to close out those wild times. Unlike the original Dan, I haven’t read the entirety of Lansdale’s work, but of the four I have read so far, this one is hands down my favorite. And one I would highly recommend. As the cover blurb mentions, it’s equal parts True Grit and Stand by Me, with a colorful cast of lively characters who play well off of each other. If you’ve read any Hap and Leonard, then you know what you’re in for with Shorty and Eustace.

The story itself isn’t all that original; it’s essentially a coming of age tale, where Jack is confronted with the harsh realities of the real world, and put to some tough moral dilemmas. His virtuous nature is stretched thin by his world weary companions. But it’s those comedic flourishes that really elevate the story, and add a great deal to the overall adventure. Even the gunfights, instead of being an intense life and death affair, are usually more a comedy of errors.

While I greatly enjoyed myself, I’m still hesitant to hand out a full 5 stars. Not only because I’m a bastard, but for three minor quibbles. One, the writing felt a bit clunky at times, but that may have been intentional, due to the fact that Jack is the one telling the tale. Two, they built up the actual Thicket itself to be this backwoods death trap, but it never quite lived up to the hype—I was expecting, at minimum, an attempted bushwhack or two. Three, Lansdale chose to tack on a mini obit for most of the characters, within the last few pages of what, up to that point, had been a day in the life type of adventure—I prefer it when my heroes can live on in my imagination. I could forgive one, maybe two of those transgressions, but not all three.

4.5 stars. Falls just short of GR’s “it was amazing” rating, but well within that goldilocks zone™, and I reserve the right to round up. ;)

Impromptu buddy read with the Monkey Queen.

[James Thane · Rating 4 out of 5]

By turns violent and hilarious, The Thicket is Joe R. Lansdale in peak form.

The book is set in East Texas, early in the Twentieth century, just as the oil boom is reaching that area. Sadly, a smallpox epidemic has swept through the region, and sixteen-year-old Jack Parker and his fourteen-year-old sister, Lula have lost their parents to the disease.

In the company of their grandfather, the children are leaving Texas to live with a relative in Kansas. But the journey has barely begun when a group of savage bank-robbing outlaws kills the grandfather and abducts Lula. Jack runs to the law, but the sheriff has been murdered; the deputy has been frightened into resigning, and so Jack his left to his own devices if he is to rescue his sister.

He teams up with a group of accomplices that only the mind of Joe R. Lansdale could conceive. They include a bounty-hunting midget, an alcoholic grave digger who keeps a feral pig as a pet, and Jimmie Sue, a prostitute who winds up sweet on young Jack. The villains they are pursuing are as dark and amoral as anyone could imagine, and Jack is constantly reminded by his new-found friends that even if they do recover Lula, she will doubtless have been very ill-used in the meantime. To say that the author has created a number of memorable characters here would be the understatement of the year.

The manhunt takes a number of twists and turns, and the story, which is vaguely reminiscent of True Grit, rolls along without the slightest boring moment to a smashing climax. From start to finish, it's a true Lansdale epic that will appeal to any of his fans, old or new.

[Oliver Clarke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a reread for me, and I enjoyed it just as much second time around. It’s a sometimes brutal, sometimes touching, often very funny western that plays like an offbeat version of True Grit, with the “offend everyone” sensibilities of late 90s/early 2000s comedy.
It features a youthful protagonist on a quest to rescue his sister, a cast of characters that manages to be both eccentric and very likeable, some decent action and a charming found family vibe.
All in all an enjoyable and satisfying read and a great introduction to Lansdale if you haven’t read him before.

[Algernon (Darth Anyan) · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Everything is humorous,” said Shorty, “except your own death. But other people will laugh.”

I confess I too have laughed reading about the misfortune of Jack Carter, a young boy from rural Texas who has to grow up mighty quick. Some merciless authority up in the sky decides to pile up trouble on his young shoulders worse than on biblical Job.

First he loses his grandmother in an absurd farming incident [ She got run over by a goddamn cow? ], then both his parents go down in a smallpox epidemic. On his way to relatives in Kansas, Jack almost drowns in a freak tornado while crossing a river, sees his grandfather shot down by desperadoes who then proceed to kidnap his sister Lula.
And that’s just the opening chapter of this modern western that somehow manages to be a homage to the classics and a bleak satire of genre canons.

Fact was, I was so low I could have crawled under a peanut hull and called it home.

Jack has every reason to be desperate about his prospects, but he also has what frontier people call ‘grit’, the main ingredient needed to survive in the wilderness: determination, obstinacy, pragmatism, integrity, courage.

Jack Carter knows he can’t save his sister on his own, not when he has to track down the notorious Cut Throat Bill and his band of outlaws. He must hire some more experienced people, or at least the talent available to him in the East Texas countryside...

... a big nigger, a midget, a kid, a whore, and a nasty hog walk into a bar...

Sounds like the start of a dirty joke, but this is actually a pretty accurate description of the help Jack manages to put together as he sets out to find his sister Lula. The progress of the ragged posse is as chaotic as their appearance, but apparently they know what they are doing, in particular Shorty the midget, and are quite handy with the weapons they carry.

This is not like a Nick Carter story, son. We do not always find a red feather in a cow plop that shows us the way. Mostly we stumble along until we find them.

The hard lesson Jack needs to learn on the road is that in order to catch the criminals, one often has to engage in abhorrent behaviour and associate with people of dubious morality. Torture and deceit and extreme violence eventually provide a lead to the whereabouts of Cut Throat Bill and his gang: an infamous hideaway called the Thicket, somewhere in the north of the state.

It’s a badlands there, down in them deep, dark woods.

How bad, the reader can guess from the trail of blood Jack and his friends must follow, as the criminals leave behind mutilated victims of all ages. There are still moments that echo the earlier humorous stories, as we learn about the histories of the posse members, but the whole outlook grows more and more grim as Jack gets closer to the deep, dark woods.
For fans of the classical westerns, I believe there are several Easter Eggs hidden in plain view, in particular some lines that seem picked up wholesale from ‘True Grit’ and ‘The Searchers’.

On the ground the Comanche are a bowlegged ugliness, but on horseback, it is as if they and the horse are one, a centaur.

The ending should satisfy the most discerning fans of action thrillers with a horror undertone, but for me the key ingredient is the commentary on our bloodthirsty taste in literature and action flicks, as Jack is torn between what he has to do in order to save his sister and what he has been taught about Good and Evil.

“I don’t understand you people,” I said. “We killed men back there, and you’re riding along like it’s something just comes every morning with breakfast.”

I wished then that I wasn’t a man at all but a hawk, something with some kind of integrity about what it killed, that did it for food or survival, not for sport or revenge or to satisfy something rotten inside.

---<<>>---<<>>---

Joe Lansdale is turning out to be Mr. Reliable in terms of quality storytelling. I haven’t delved deeply enough into his list to consider myself a rabid fan, but I am slowly and steadily getting there.

[Tara Rock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Six Stars - Perfection! Moved to the top of my "favorite" list. If you haven't read it, beg, borrow or steal a copy but READ it.

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joe Lansdale is not an old man and yet he has published at least 45 novels and 30 short story collections, sometimes two or three books a year (!), as in 2012, according to Wikipedia. Some of these may be reprints of old favorites because it is difficult to imagine someone publishing quality fiction at that rate. But quality fiction is what I would call this 2013 novel. A young boy, his sister, and his grandad traveling north to Kansas from East Texas in the early part of the twentieth century find themselves at the mercy of a band of marauding cut-throats.

In what may be a signature trait of this author, a reader enjoys the company of what we call 'unusual characters' who represent the kind of resilience and humanity once assigned to heroes in Greek mythology. Race is an abiding subject of discussion in Lansdale’s novels and nearly every novel has at least one vital character who speaks out eloquently on race relations in America.

Eustace is a principled black man of nearly unequaled trustworthiness and equanimity—except when he drinks: then he cannot be trusted by man nor beast. This novel also ruminates on whoredom (Jimmie Sue) and the inequities of perception that result from other physical differences, like dwarfism (Shorty). There is a wild hog, too, who is accepted for what he is and how he is. Hog is a valued member of a select community.

“To some extent I find sin like coffee. When I was young and had my first taste of it I found it bitter and nasty, but later on I learned to like it by putting a little milk in it, and then I learned to like it black. Sin is like that. You sweeten it a little with lies and then you get so you can take it straight.”

Despite the graphic sense of brutality that reigned in the West during the period depicted in this novel, the most enduring sentiment in Lansdale’s novel is that of humor: the author counters each act of senseless brutality by heaping abuse on the perpetrator through description or through the mouths of other characters.

Some characters muse on the nature of man and the “why” of extreme violence. There is no answer to the “why,” Lansdale concludes. It makes no sense no how. Good may triumph over evil, but it ain’t always a sure thing. One has to puzzle out for oneself a sense of what is good and hold onto one’s own values to make the world into what we wish to see.

"Fatty was, in his own way, as dangerous as any Comanche. He was just mean as a snake for no other reason than it pleased him; all those men who had been with were like that, and I wondered then what made a man that way. I didn’t come up with any answers."

I listened to the Hachette Audio production of this novel, beautifully narrated by Will Collier, and highly recommend this method of consumption. Collier makes each individual unique, and Shorty’s accent and manner of speaking elevates his thinking to philosophy. One becomes so attached to the characters in this book we forgive them most of their more egregious transgressions and miss them when we do not see them for a couple of pages. I was terrified Eustace 'bought the farm' in the last shoot-out, and waited anxiously for word of him, that drunken cuss. He did get the farm, after all, where he struck oil just as autos were becoming the norm.

There are few folks who can pull off a western these days, and the beauty of Lansdale’s writing is that he doesn’t idealize the turn-of-the-twentieth-century life in the west. It was a lawless, racist, sexist place where one was often at the mercy of men stronger and crueler. But when good people band together, they can often accomplish much, and create the kind of environment in which they want to live. It means a great deal to me that Lansdale reflects us back at ourselves, and shows us possible paths out of the thicket.

Lansdale’s books have spawned an industry: several movies and TV series, as well as graphic novels, have come out of his stories. A new publishing company, Pandi Press, is involved in republishing earlier Lansdale work now out of print. Among the books Lansdale is best known for are the Hap and Leonard series of nine books, featuring a white blue collar war protestor and a gay black Vietnam vet. The Sundance Channel premiered a series based on these books and find them if you can: the series and the actors (e.g., James Purefoy, Michael Kenneth Williams, Evan Gamble) and the writing are all terrific.

Lansdale's stand-alone novel called The Bottoms has received the most critical praise to date, and is currently in film production. Lansdale also writes horror and has a cult following in this genre. Enjoy this author in any of your favorite genres, but don’t miss him.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an entertaining, escapist story about a teenage Jack Parker who gathers a motley crew of unlikely heroes to help track down a gang of rough outlaws and save his kidnapped little sister. This is the first book I've read by the prolific Joe R. Lansdale, and in the vein of the classic True Grit, it's both a very enjoyable Western adventure and a great coming of age story. Is most of Lansdale's work like this? If so, I've got some more reading to do!

There are many other stories similar to the one you'll read in The Thicket. But Lansdale's easy writing really elevates it. He fills his story with an irresistible cast of well-drawn characters. I love how Jack doesn't a gather a bunch of hard, badass, Rooster Cogburn-types, but recruits a posse that many look at as being outcasts and a group that seem like they would fail from the outset. But as the story continues, you see that the group's heart and determination is what makes them extraordinary, and you can't help but root for them. And it's Jack himself that really gives the story it's heart and holds it together. It's a true coming of age tale, where we see that in this journey into the heart of darkness, he struggles with his values and beliefs as he realizes that he has to get down and dirty to save his little sis, even at the expense of his soul.

To some extent I find sin like coffee. When I was young and had my first taste of it I found it bitter and nasty, but later on I learned to like it by putting a little milk in it, and then I learned to like it black. Sin is like that. You sweeten it a little with lies, and then you get so you can take it straight.

Great book. Read it when you can, you won't be disappointed.

[Marvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joe R. Lansdale's latest novels seem to all feature recently orphaned kids being chased by, or chasing, someone. It seems like the last few novels may have been rough drafts for this almost perfect turn-of-the-century tale that bears more than a little resemblance to True Grit. Having left their pox-plague East Texas town with their grandfather, brother and sister Jack and Lulu Parker come across baddie CutThrioat Pete and company who kill their grandfather and kidnap Lulu. Jack is left to rescue his sister and this is where the good stuff starts. The basically moral Jack is forced to ally with a midget, a son of a slave and a semi-wild hog, all seeming to have different ideas of morality than Jack. This idea of relative morality and "living in the real world" is prevalent throughout this novel and is what puts it above most thriller novels. Yet Lansdale populates his story with people who are not one-dimensional and seem to be always thinking about their plight. Even though there is the usual amount of action and violence you would expect from Lansdale, I say there might be more dialogue than usual in his tale, especially from Shorty, an educated gun-toting midget. He is the catalyst for the novel, presenting the fact and putting them in perspective but not always the way Jack would prefer. This is easily one of Lansdale's best novels.

(edit) I hear that The Thicket is being made into a movie with the character of Shorty being played by Peter Dinklage. I am very much looking forward to that.)

[Gregor Xane]

Right now. Today. At this very moment, this is my all-time favorite novel.

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

SECOND REREAD UPDATE, 2025: So the GOOD news is that Peter Dinklage's "The Thicket" is out and available free on both Tubi and Hoopla. The BAD news, however, is that this is indisputably the most disappointing movie I've seen in a long time.

Not that it's an intrinsically bad film on its own — it's just a terrible adaptation of this particular book. There are plot changes big and small — moving the setting from East Texas to…Montana maybe? somewhere cold and snowy; changing the actual sex of the big bad; changing Shorty's name (okay, that's probably a decent call) and totally eliminating the character of Hog (not to mention Spot and Winton); cutting a number of key scenes like the shootout at the trading post and the whole hilarious "man-eating monkeys" bit; even completely rewriting the ending as far as who lives and dies. But worst of all, the film totally discards the tone and voice of the book and replaces them with a hard-edged, almost noir story that lacks any trace of the humor and charm that made both this book and True Grit so great in the first place.* Maybe worth a watch if it's been a LONG time since you read the book; but otherwise, prepare to be let down. In fact, I'd recommend just rereading the original again instead, which is what I did this week.

I do have to add that despite my love of both this book and True Grit (which combined with Lonesome Dove make up the Holy Trinity of modern Westerns), I'm afraid that both Lansdale and Portis are pretty much one-hit wonders for me. I've read several other books by both authors, and didn't really enjoy any of them. Go figure.

* (Although granted, it is hard to translate to the screen lines like "the man had a face that looked to have been shaped with a rock and a stick wielded by an angry circus monkey," other than to give that character a few scars.)
__________________________________

FIRST REREAD UPDATE, 2019: My son just listened to this on CD, and thought I'd do so as well before returning to the library. And yup, just as good the second time around — even if Shorty comes off sounding more like a Southern colonel than a Texas midget. Still just an outstanding book, and a great listen.

ORIGINAL REVIEW, 2018: A good friend recommended Joe Lansdale to me, and so I recently read Zeppelins West, which I did not like at all. However, this was a usually reliable friend, so I figured I'd try again...and could not be happier that I did, because The Thicket is about the best book I have read in forever. If you are new to Lansdale, THIS is most definitely the place to start.

In turns hilarious and violent, The Thicket is consistently (and correctly) compared to Charles Portis' classic True Grit, but that in no way deducts from its own genius. The narrator Jack Parker is in every way Mattie Ross' equal — but it's Shorty who really stands out here as the most memorable and charismatic character I've run across since Melanie in The Girl With All the Gifts. In both attitude and speech, Shorty reads exactly like Tyrion Lannister transported to the not-so-Old West (there are already a few early automobiles and oil wells here), and by around page 60 I was already wondering "how has Peter Dinklage not made this into a movie?"

Well, turns out I'm not the first to think that, as a quick search shows that Dinklage did indeed obtain the film rights way back in 2014 — so hopefully now that "Game of Thrones" is wrapping up, he'll have time to bring this insanely great story to the screen!

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

With his parents falling victim to the plague, his grandfather murdered, and his 14yr old sister kidnapped by a ruthless gang of cutthroats, teenager Jack Parker faces adversity from all angles yet doesn't succumb to it. Rather, he turns his pain and sufferance into determination, embarking of a quest for vengeance and to return his sister to safety.

Set in the early 1900’s, THE THICKET is near perfect contemporary fiction. The sense of time and place is enveloping, the characters and their mannerisms wholly period-centric. Transporting to the reader to a dangerous time in American history, Lansdale also manages to capture the hearts and imagination of the reader.

The young protagonist, Jack Parker, assembles a rough and ready band of misfits to track his sisters’ kidnappers. Spilling blood in the wake of an escape, one of the kidnappers’ leaves a bloody trail of menace which only serves to spur Jack on despite being seemingly unfit for such a violent confrontation.

There is so much to like about THE THICKET but I’ll refrain for saying too much as to not spoil the plot and the formulation of Jack’s search party. Many of the characters will stay with you long after you've finished the book; Eustace and Shorty, as an example, are two of the most memorable fictional characters I’ve had the pleasure of reading, yet they are a mere sample of the quality of cast Lansdale as crafted for this novel.

This review also appears on my blog: http://justaguythatlikes2read.blogspo...

[Cody | CodysBookshelf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joe Lansdale does it again! The Thicket knocks it out of the park — it is certainly now one of my favorite coming of age stories (he seems to do those really well).

This novel begins with a terrible Smallpox outbreak, killing many, and it only gets grimmer from there. A boy’s younger sister is kidnapped by known criminals, and he must team up with an outfit of hardened bounty hunters to get her back, before she is raped . . . or murdered.

Don’t worry; everything I just said is on the book jacket. Sounds like a wild ride, doesn’t it?

And Lansdale doesn’t disappoint: this book is filled with splendidly gruesome shootouts and torture scenes, some kickass suspense. And dread oozes from every chapter. You know more bad things are just around the corner — you just don’t know from what direction the bullets will fly. And that isn’t even mentioning the cast of characters, which is as well-rounded and fun to read about as any reader could hope for.

I am not much for westerns, but I think Lansdale has turned me around! His tale is filled with grit, and heart, and good ole southern charm. I had an excellent time.

I did deduct a star, however. The ending felt just a bit too tidy, and maudlin, for me — but that is a matter of personal tastes. There is nothing inherently wrong with the way the final chapter is executed . . . it just fell slightly flat for this reader. Other than that, The Thicket is a winner!

[Danger · Rating 5 out of 5]

The climax and resolution in this book were so effective, I was both horrified and moved by them, almost to tears. Lansdale is just a wizard with words, making even the quietest scenes feel alive. Full of memorable characters and some gut-punching turns. I certainly wouldn't say I'm big into westerns, but this transcends that. I thought this book was great.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Life isn’t just black or white, here or there; it’s got some mud in it, and we’re some of the mud.”

Jack Parker is having a bad run lately. His parents died of the pox, Grandpa was shot by a roving gang of nasties and his little sister Lula was taken captive. Now he has joined up with a posse of his own to get her back - Shorty, a temperamental gun toting midget, Eustace Cox a self-proclaimed tracker, and Hog the 600 pound…well…hog. They are sure to meet some more classic Lansdale characters on their quest and bring them along for the ride. And what a crazy, bloody ride it is.

An excellent western tour de force of violence and mayhem with a truly unique cast of characters that only Joe could have cooked up. Well done. 4+ Stars and Highly Recommended!

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Will Rogers (if Will were a dwarf)meets Sundance and an entire passle of Deadwood like characters. Meanwhile the description and dialog is, IMHO, better than Tom Sawyer's, Huck Finn's. Or any possible more imagined philosophical cousins by Twain or others of the so called classical ilk.

Is this a book for everyone? No way. It's brutal; it's the farthest from a PC police inspired erudite inspiration as you can get. It's nature in tooth and claw. It's Texas with a different era and brand of consequence. And the gist of Shorty's edge on a whole piece philosophy? Hard to describe, for me. But not for Joe R. Lansdale. I'm a fan. I'll read more of his in short order.

This is also probably the most entertaining read for me so far in 2014. The cowboy/Native American/Old West USA genre is not at the forefront in novels, and has not been in decades. And even such a superior product as this will not find huge audiences, IMHO. But if you are brave, and want to see a past without constant revisionist lens. Take a gander.

I would give this one a sixth star for the period cadence and superior writing- that quality alone- if it were possible. Even if the plot did not keep me up reading more than 1/2 a night to find out what happens next, so enthralled, as it did. Are the bad guys bad? Worse. Are the good guys good? Sometimes.

Is there humor and wit? Oh yes. And nearly always standing next to stomach turning torture or stupidity? Grave digging is a full time occupation, of course.

This has the best personal facial descriptions of humans - ten star on a 5 star system. The shortest and most curt, crisp- as well. Which really impresses me, btw. It's rare.

This one descriptive paragraph below is not even within the top ten of all of these facial intros in this one book, for instance:

"The man was big as Grandpa, easily half his age, and he had a face that looked to have been shaped with a rock and a stick wielded by an angry circus monkey. He was scarred up and his nose was bent, and one of his eyes had a lid that drooped over it about halfway, so that his peeper seemed sneaky all the time. I was pretty sure that at some point someone had tried to cut his throat, cause he had a scar across it, jagged in spots. When he spoke, it sounded like he was trying to gargle with a mouthful of tacks."

And depths of philosophy are "discussed" in 10 word sentences. Saying more than 4 dissertation length treatises that I have read, in doing so, as well.

"I reckon Jesus can forgive if he wants to," she said. "And if he don't, then he ain't near the forgiver he's made out to be."
"Now you got to bring up Jesus?" I said.
"You bring him up when he suits you," she said.
"So he suits you now?"
"I'm just saying I can't imagine a man, even Jesus, not liking to take his pleasure from time to time. I also like to have my faith when I want it. That way it works. If I think about it too hard I know it's a lie, but if I just squint at it I'm okay."
"I don't know," I said.
"Oh, shut up and kiss me," she said. "And may Jesus give you strength."

When I read this master author's other works I plan to space them. They are gritty and I do not like to take such gut viscerol fare back to back.

OMG, btw, one of the main characters in this one is a 600 lbs. boar called HOG.

If you are easily offended, this is not the novel for you. It holds slur standards by nearly every character and of every type sensibility. It holds nearly universal offending language usage /perception. For all aspects of race, gender, physical appearance, hierarchy, or sexual nature. And in categories beyond those just named. Animals have it even worse.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been wrestling with a number of disappointing book choices of late and I used to think the gold standard for western novels was McMurtry's "Lonesome Dove" - until now. "The Thicket" by Joe R Lansdale is now the best western I've ever read and I'd go so far as call it a classic. I've read most of Lansdale's other books and liked them very much. I finally got around to reading this extraordinary example of "Texas Noir" to my great enjoyment in an otherwise long and depressing New England winter. Joe R Lansdale consistently does for East Texas what Don Winslow does for Southern California which is to say, he recreates the life and times of a place in a totally unique, brilliant and entertaining way.

Young Jack Parker looses both parents to an epidemic, buries them, then watches his grandfather get murdered and his sister Lula kidnapped on a ferry crossing the Sabine River in early 20th century East Texas. Thus begins his quest to save her from a psychotic gang of murdering thugs led by Cut Throat Bill. Jack enlists the help of an eclectic collection of originally drawn characters you won't find in fiction - period. There's Shorty: a charismatic and self educated dwarf, Eustice: a black/Indian with a drinking problem, a fat hog and a bounty hunting sheriff named Winton. Jimmie Sue, a young prostitute enamored by Jack, retires from the profession to join him and his new associates looking for Lula and a better life. This is a fast paced "True Grit" kind of a coming of age tale that's both very dark and very light with bold humor, heart and soul. Their odyssey tests their courage and humanity in an unforgettable journey into the darkness of Cut Throat Bill and his gang hiding in "The Thicket". I'd rate this book a GR 10 stars if it was available. It's that good!...............Ed

[Edward Gwynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent story. RTC.

[The Frahorus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prima opera che affronto di Lansdale e devo dire che mi ha colpito positivamente.
In breve ci troviamo in Texas nei primi anni del 900 quando al giovane Jack, il protagonista, una banda di scapestrati gli uccide davanti il nonno e gli rapisce la sorella. Fortunatamente riesce ad ingaggiare due strampalati cacciatori di taglie: un nero che seppellisce cadaveri e dal fiuto infallibile e un nano filosofo, entrambi ottimi tiratori, e una prostituta che si innamora di lui. Da questo momento in poi vivremo questa incredibile avventura che non ci risparmierà duelli e sparatorie, ma anche tanti momenti ironici e comici.

Raramente ho letto romanzi ambientati nel vecchio West e devo ammettere che questa opera riesce bene a coglierne tutti gli aspetti e le ambientazioni, merito della bravura dell'autore. Shorty ed Eustace sono due coprotagonisti che ti restano nel cuore, a me hanno ricordato Tex Willer e Kit Carson. Quello che ti colpisce e ti fa scorrere le pagine di capitolo in capitolo è la sferzante ironia del narratore, il protagonista stesso, che non ci risparmia storie e aneddoti che ci narrano i vari personaggi che incontriamo e che ci fanno riassaporare quei tempi andati del vecchio e selvaggio West, pieni di crudeltà e spietatezza. Ciliegina sulla torta è poi Hog, un maialino che, come un cagnolino fedele, sta dietro ad Eustace e dorme accanto a Jack (ma al momento opportuno morde i nemici!). Si potrebbe anche definire un romanzo di formazione, visto che vedremo maturare il nostro giovane protagonista che dovrà superare molte barriere (anche morali) che lo porteranno ad essere una persona nuova (molto bella la storia d'amore con la prostituta). Peccato per il finale, mi sarei aspettato più scene epiche per lo scontro definitivo coi rapitori, ma non possiamo avere tutto.

Sicuramente leggerò altre opere di Lansdale.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've enjoyed reading Mr. Lansdale's previous books, so I tried this title. The streak continues, I'm happy to report. Violent, profane (the n-word is used more than a few times, not a good thing), and humorous, its plot reminds me a little of True Grit. The cast of offbeat characters, male and female as well as pets, is another strength, especially the young man narrating the action-filled tale. The East Texas setting occurs early in the 20th century when the "motorcars" have first arrived on the scene. Good stuff.