BAD CHILI Hap and Leonard, Book 4

Narrator Phil Gigante takes to Lansdale's fourth "Hap and Leonard" novel like a rabid squirrel to Hap Collins's arm. While Hap is in the hospital being treated for rabies, his best friend, the tough, black, gay Leonard, is suffering a different kind of convalescence. On the lam from the police, he’s suspected of beheading a leather-clad biker. The plot involves gay-bashing, pornography, and a uniquely greasy business scam featuring bad chili. Gigante so effectively takes on Hap's narrative voice and the voices of the other characters that the story, as beautifully told as any by Lansdale, comes alive like a movie between the listener's ears. Gigante's evocations of Lansdale's characters are so clear, distinct, and colorful that the attributions "he said" and "she said" are unnecessary and distracting. Listeners will, by turns, be moved and tickled by a story that has a memorable and spicy aftertaste. S.E.S. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2009]