I'm thirty-four years late arriving at the Hap and Leonard party but I'm glad finally to be here.

For me, the most surprising thing about this energetic, dryly amusing novella is the date that it was first published. Apart from the absence of smartphones, this feels as fresh as if it was written yesterday in terms of style and pace. The only thing that told me that it was published in 1990 was that Hap and Leonard lived through the 1960s and came out the other end as changed men.

When it was published this book must have been far outside the political mainstream, especially for East Texas, and yet it manages to come across as apolitical, as opting out of the bullshit and into taking care of the things that make a difference to you and yours.

From the beginning I could see why this series is so popular: the dialogue sparkles without feeling cute or staged, Hap and Leonard have an unlikely but completely believable friendship. Hap is a straight white man who dropped out of college so he could protest the Vietnam war by declingin the draft and Leonard is a gay, black man who is a decorated Vietnam veteran. What they have in common is that they've both arrived at a bullshit-free place in their lives where they do what needs to be done and have one another's backs while they're doing it. Until Trudy, Hap's ex-wife, turns up. Trudy is... well... trouble on two legs but two very nice legs and Leonard knows that whatever she wants from Hap, it is not going to end well.

Add in an East Texas treasure hunt, some burnt-out (and in one case, burnt-up) 1960s Hippy domestic terrorists and a bad guy who loves to kill and you have one hell of a party.

The plot is simple but effective and still has a surprise or two along the way. The body count is high and the action is vividly described. The violence was like a thunderstorm that I could feel coming for a long time before it arrived. That still didn't prepare me for the explosion of pain and death that announced its arrival.

The story is told entirely from Hap's point of view, which keeps the focus tight while still allowing some time for introspection and some rumination on the path that brought Hap from a fired-up true believer to the plateau of passion-free pragmatism he currently inhabits.

I enjoyed 'Savage Season' as a short, fast, thriller but what I liked most was the relationship between Hap and Leonard. The dialogue between them is wonderful and yet never seems contrived. They share a sense of humour that they both use to cope with all the crap that people throw at them. I'll be back to visit with them again soon. ( )

The first novel starring Hap and Leonard, unlikely friends who apparently become involved in a number of criminal endeavors. In this one, Trudy, Hap's former girlfriend (who encouraged him to go to jail to protest the Vietnam war), returns to his life to get him involved in another scheme. Her current boyfriend was also in prison, and met someone who knew about a large cash of stolen money sunken into a river. Hap and Leonard join a very unpleasant group of 'revolutionaries' who are after this money and have various plans as to what to do with it. Along the way their plans are hijacked by some other violent, very unpleasant people. Lansdale's characters are well-drawn, even some of the less-interesting villains. The violence is harsh and explicit, Hap's decision at the end is difficult. I have a couple more around in this series. ( )

A short satisfying read. Hap and Leonard are friends down on their luck in Eastern Texas. The witty banter between them was entertaining. I see why people like the series. I almost always like to read the books before watching the film version. I think I will watch the series and not bother with reading the rest of the books. Other good books to read folks. The show looks like it gets the best part... Hap and Leonard as friends in a screwed up world of hard times. ( )

Savage Season is a crime novel by American author Joe R. Lansdale, published in 1990. It is the first in a series of books and stories written by Lansdale featuring the characters Hap Collins and Leonard Pine. The novel was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel of 1990. Joe R. Lansdale has written some of the most funny, vulgar, and horrific stories ever written and I can see why he is lauded as an American original by many critics and fellow authors (including Stephen Graham Jones).

SAVAGE SEASON is book one in the Hap & Leonard series and introduces us to three, main, colorful characters: Hap Collins, Leonard Pine, and Hap’s ex-wife Trudy. The dialog that transpires between these three characters is seriously laugh-out-loud funny.

Hap & Leonard’s friendship consists mostly of busting each other’s balls but it’s easy to get a sense of that strong brotherhood bond that rests just under the surface of all that banter.

Savage Season came out in 1990 and is slightly different to the subsequent books in that it is greed – and it must be said Collins’ libido – which gets them into trouble. The men are working low paid jobs so money is tight. When Trudy arrives in town the men are out in the fields shooting skeet for the pot. Trudy and Collins were lovers at university, and it was she who encouraged him to become a conscientious objector. Separation can hurt any relationship though, and Collins found her visits to the state prison where he was incarcerated less and less frequent, until they stopped completely. When she tells Collins, after sex, that she knows how he can earn a cool $200,000 tax free, he is self-aware enough to know he’s being played but not quite enough to stop himself from taking the bait.

Trudy’s left wing politics have never left her. Her most recent husband, Howard, did time in prison for an anti-nuclear demonstration that got out of hand. During his sentence, Howard learned from another inmate about $1 million haul, the fruits of a bank robbery, which was lost in the maze-like creek system around LaBorde before the robbers could get away. Tragedy befell this other inmate before his release, and now the money will belong to whomever gets their hands on it. Trudy wants her share to fund a protest group she’s involved with.

Nothing is ever so simple, and Trudy is not so peaceful as she appears. Other criminals get wind of the haul, and there is plenty of twists and double crosses.

The book ends on a bittersweet but also hopeful note. The men escape with their lives, though Pine is left seriously injured, and part of their money goes to pay for his hospital care. Collins donates his share to Greenpeace, and though his faith in others takes a battering, his own ideals are reinforced. The book ends, strangely, in some beautiful prose meditating on the nature of idealism:

"Idealism was a little like Venus in the daytime. There'd been a time when I could see it."

I found Savage Season to be a fast-paced, funny, heist thriller. It is a really entertaining novel and I can see why folks love Lansdale's work. In fact, I have become a fan. In just under two hundred pages this is a great first book in a series there’s just enough there to get invested in Hap & Leonard’s lives as well as get acquainted with what seems to be the main selling points: absolute mayhem & comedy.



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Puoi parlarne anche in negativo, caro Lansdale, (delle idee del sessantotto), ma sempre di cose sorpassate si tratta. ( )

The book was actually well written, but it was just too violent for me and I honestly didn't like Hap very much. Leonard was the only one I liked, but that wasn't enough to carry the book for me. If you like violence and unlikable characters, you'll probably really like this book. ( )

I knew I had already read this (since I think I've read most of everything that Lansdale has written). It's rare to see one of his books at a thrift store (I assume everyone holds on to them). So I purchased it, and one day started reading it again. What a great book, written to perfection. If you've seen the TV series, this book is what the first season is based on, which is good, but of course nowhere near as good as the book, so now I'm going to start on the Hap and Leonard series again. ( )

I like this series. Somehow I started with number two, so I went back to read number one and thought it wasn't as good as #2, but it was still good. Lots of humor and an interesting story to go along with it. I'm not sure if it's an action comedy or a humorous action story, but either way, it's good. And the audiobooks are done really well, I think. They're easy to follow, and the characters are well-done.

The two main characters, Hap and Leonard, are an unlikely pair. Hap is a former 60s hippy/peacenic who did some time for refusing to serve in the military. Leonard is a gay black man who served in the military and has no love for the 60s peacenics. And Hap's on and off girlfriend is still a believer, and along with a couple of her friends, almost gets them all killed. Wait, did I say almost? One of the friends did die, and she got her hands nailed to a table.

The series reminds me a little of the TV show Justified, where the criminals are mostly dumber than rocks - so dumb they're funny. In this one, the heroes aren't much smarter sometimes. ( )

The first novel in Joe R. Lansdale's Hap & Leonard series, in which Hap's ex-wife turns up with a job offer promising easy money, but of course that all goes tits up. Lansdale has a knack for creating hard-edged yet likeable human characters, adding a layer of realism to the crime novel series. Must read. ( )

Lansdale, Joe R. Savage Season. Hap and Leonard No. 1. Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 1990.
Savage Season is a novel that I would not be surprised to learn was in the back of Quentin Tarantino’s mind when he was writing Pulp Fiction. The conversation between Hap and Leonard has the same noir quality as the dialogue between Jules and Vincent, especially once Jules enters his transitional phase. Our narrator, Hap, is a 40-year-old whose life changed when he went to prison for draft resistance, which put him out of touch with his leftist ideals. His best friend, Leonard, is a gay, black Vietnam vet who has become equally alienated. The 1980s, Leonard says, are the sixties without the tie-dyed shirts. They are forced to reconsider their Vietnam-era values when Hap’s ex-wife, now a hardened revolutionary, shows up with a gang of fellow travelers and criminals to retrieve some drug money to fund her revolution. Sex and violence ensue in satisfying amounts. The novel is elevated above the usual genre tropes by thoughtful character construction. Even minor characters are given clarity and thematic relevance. The series of novels is ongoing, now in its twenty-fourth volume, and its 3-season Sundance TV series is running on Netflix. ( )

3.5 stars!

For my Year of Lansdale project I had this audio book all lined up and then the TV show came out. I have to say that the show spoiled me as far as the voices go. The actors will forever be the voices of Hap and Leonard in my head. (If you haven't seen the show, I highly recommend it!)

The drama mirrored this book pretty closely except for a few changes near to the end. The humor that I found so appealing in the other two Hap and Leonard's that I've read was here, but not as much, and I found myself wishing for a little more.

I'm still glad that I listened to this book, but I will be reading, rather than listening, to the rest of the series. Recommended to fans of Joe Lansdale!

P.S. The narrator of this book, Phil Gigante, has a disturbing recent past, to which he plead guilty, and this, too, played a part in my decision to READ the rest of the series, rather than listen. I cannot with good conscience support Mr. Gigante in the future. ( )

DO NOT READ IF...
SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER

I didn't finish this book. I got most of the way through but when they met a sociopath/psychopath and he headed back to Leonard's farm with them, and the dogs were at the farm...well I didn't want to read any more. I skimmed a little to confirm that my expectation was correct.
DOGS ARE MURDERED
But I wouldn't recommend it anyway, too much gratuitous ugliness. The main characters are clearly people one can root for, and their dilemmas are real. Maybe it is just too male...maybe eventually there will be a woman with a heart for Hap, and a man with a heart for Leonard. But I won't find out. I'm a little worried because I found a bunch of books based on one person's recommendation...I hope I don't refuse to finish them all.

Savage Season is a crime novel written by Joe R. Lansdale and it is the first in his Hap and Leonard series. The books are set in eastern Texas with main characters Hap Collins and Leonard Pine as a couple of good ol’ boys. Although they are complete opposites of each other, Leonard is a Vietnam vet, Hap went to prison rather than go to war; Hap is white, Leonard is black; and Hap is straight while Leonard is gay; these fellows are the best of friends and very loyal to each other.

When Hap’s ex-wife Trudy shows up with a proposition, an easy way to make two hundred thousand dollars, Hap overcomes Leonard’s objections and they embark on a wild and dangerous adventure that, of course, ends badly.

Savage Season is literary mayhem at it’s best. Dark, funny, and violent, this tightly plotted story is full of hard boiled bravado and emotionally damaged characters. This one book has made me a fan of Joe R. Lansdale and I am happy to note that he has written at least eleven more books in the series plus many stand-alone novels as well. ( )

"Savage Season" is the first of Joe R. Lansdale's Hap and Leonard series, although this was the third Hap & Leonard book I read, so I knew, for example, that the two would survive a number of dangerous situations to fight another day.

We first meet Hap when he's at his lowest; working in the boiling Texas sun at a rose plantation. We soon learn he was meant for better things before hie idealistically evaded the draft in the sixties so he could be gaoled as a political statement. Then his old girkfriend enters the picture and Hap and his black, gay, Vietnam veteran friend Leonard are up to their necks in nastiness.

"Savage Season" isn't the best of the Hap and Leonard series but you might as well start here if you plan to read the series. ( )

Black Humor in the Sticks: "Savage Season" by Joe R. Lansdale Published 1990.
 
"I didn't want to be anywhere near Trudy right then. I had a hunch she would have harsh words to say about me and Leonard, and I wasn't up to it. I didn't want her to get me near a bed either. She could really talk in bed, and if she talked long enough and moved certain parts of her body just right, I might agree to have Leonard shot at sunset."
 
I started reading "Savage Season" while reading Arnaldur Indridason’s "Oblivion”. Why? Because I misplaced it at home on a Friday and I didn’t bother to go looking for it (yes, my office is jam packed with books, and sometimes even books get lost in that jungle). Had it been a better book I'm pretty sure I couldn’t’ve been without it during the weekend. So I read around 100 pages of "Savage Season" before finishing "Oblivion". Already then I knew I would like Lansdale better than Indridason, at least when it comes to writing Crime Fiction (I’m not even sure Lansdale writes it).
 
If you're into a good mix of black humour and wonderful one-liners, read on. ( )

http://speculiction.blogspot.com/2016/12/review-of-savage-season-by-joe-r.html ( )

I'd read a few of the latter Hap and Leonard books before coming to this one, so perhaps my opinion was a little skewed. It's a quick undemanding read, fun while it lasts but without any outstanding moments to linger in the memory unlike some of its more outrageous sequels. It also suffers from a rather thin plot and a secondary cast of characters who never quite come into their own. The boys themselves are as entertaining as always, and it's interesting to note that the familiar trademarks of the series (horror violence and humor interspersed with the odd bit of countryboy philosophizing) are already in place. Clearly Lansdale knew exactly where he wanted to go from the start. He just needed a book or two to get going.

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I'd read a few of the latter Hap and Leonard books before coming to this one, so perhaps my opinion was a little skewed. It's a quick undemanding read, fun while it lasts but without any outstanding moments to linger in the memory unlike some of its more outrageous sequels. It also suffers from a rather thin plot and a secondary cast of characters who never quite come into their own. The boys themselves are as entertaining as always, and it's interesting to note that the familiar trademarks of the series (horror violence and humor interspersed with the odd bit of countryboy philosophizing) are already in place. Clearly Lansdale knew exactly where he wanted to go from the start. He just needed a book or two to get going.

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Hap and Leonard are two middle-aged guys hanging out in East Texas, when Haps' ex shows up with a scheme that could earn H&L two-hundred grand. Published in 1990, it's a bit dated; but the plot moves quickly, the dialogue between Hap and Leonard is fast and funny; and the scenes are deftly painted. Despite some of the violence, it feels a bit light, like a TV show [which I just became aware of and have not seen] but good as summer fare. ( )

A most excellent Texas crime noir novel [first of a series]. Indeed the series is about to go TV on Sundance [2 March 2016]. A salt and pepper duo of middle aged Nam vets with a most interesting variety of skills and connections from their younger days. This is a treasure hunt turned into a multilevel triple cross caper with a fun dose of regional feeling [backwoods East Texas] and 60’s radical lore. Minus one star for the blowoffs being a tad predictable. That said I’m off to read volume 2 tonight.

This is the first of Lansdale's Hap and Leonard novels, and a book that was immensely influential on me. In fact, a whole lot of my influences coalesced around Savage Season in a brilliant, liberating moment of insight to do with story and craft and style, and it will always have a special place in my heart. Brilliant to go back and reread and discover that, if anything, it's better than I remember.

Hap and Leonard and their huge personalities and their physical presences and their fierce moral convictions and bone-headed loyalty are like the muscle and blood and swinging fists of this book. Intelligent but profane, romantic but crude, lying in the dirt but pissing at the stars, they are defiantly poor and unswervingly honourable and they do not have time for your bullshit.

Well, Hp might have some tome for your bullshit if you're an attractive ex who keeps his heart on a string. Trudy shows up and asks for help, a little treasure hunt that needs Hap's expertise with a nice payoff at the end. Hap agrees and drags a reluctant Leonard along as wingman, and soon they're diving in icy river waters at the behest of a a small group of radical sixties refugees. Things do not go smoothly. There is much death and violence, nasty, nasty violence before the end.

It's a perfect, tight, darkly comic, frequently brutal, eye-poppingly vulgar read. A brilliant, blood-soaked thriller with a cynical heart of gold. ( )

The first Hap and Leonard! I love these characters and the way they interact! Great dialogue, full of truth and humor! The author really brings their friendship into perfect clarity. Now, I've read other Hap and Leonard books, and liked them a bit more, so that's why I'm only giving this 3 stars. To me, the series has improved! But, I did enjoy reading how it all got started! ( )

Ci sono Hap, Leonard e l'ex moglie di Hap che più stronza non si può, e un po' di altri svitati, alcuni concentrati a salvare il mondo con l'ideologia e altri svitati e basta.
E c'è la speranza di un sacco di soldi facili, niente rapire, basta solo recuperarli.
Così inizia "Una stagione selvaggia" che non è detto finisca nel modo migliore possibile, però Hap e Leonard sono simpatici con i loro scambi di battute mentre le paludi fanno tanto America del Sud. ( )

Savage Season, the first novel in Joe Lansdale’s Hap and Leonard series, was first published in 1990. Hap Collins and Leonard Pine are two “good ole boys” from East Texas who have a way of getting themselves into trouble by just trying to mind their own business and occasionally help out friends. Hap is a white heterosexual who has done some prison time and his best friend (Leonard) is a black homosexual who is also a Vietnam Veteran. I’ve previously read two other Hap and Leonard books and I had no trouble enjoying them even though I hadn’t read the previous volumes. However, I decided I wanted to see how it all began, and I am glad I did. Lansdale spends some time filling in the bios of both characters in this story. The background and character development certainly help the reader determine what kind of men these guys are, but the reader learns even more about who they are through their (often humorous) dialogue. The reader also learns what kind of men Hap and Leonard are through their no-nonsense actions. They have both fought their way around the block many times, and there is plenty of action in the second half of this book. Hap is visited by his ex-wife (Trudy), whom he has never been able to resist even though he knows she uses physical pleasures to entice him and abuse him. Leonard doesn’t hesitate to voice his very critical opinions of Trudy to Hap, but it rarely deters Hap’s involvement with her. This time Trudy entices Hap to help her and her motley crew of criminals and idealistic radicals find and recover over $200,000 of stolen money that they believe has been stashed in a car, which has been submerged in the Sabine River for many years. Hap brings Leonard into the caper against Trudy’s wishes, and Leonard finally agrees to join the caper with strong reservations. Hap is mostly convinced because he cannot resist Trudy. Leonard is convinced that it is a really bad idea for both of them, but he can’t abandon Hap. Hey, their share of the money would be nice also! Well, they find the money. However, then greed and betrayal takes control of the situation and the resulting savage violence smacks Hap and Leonard in their faces and pummels their bodies. It seems impossible that either Hap or Leonard will survive. Even though you know they both survive because I’ve already told you this is only the first volume in the series, it will still seem impossible as you read this book. I like Lansdale’s Hap and Leonard series because he creates very interesting characters, writes colorful and humorous dialogue, and weaves engaging stories that convey a unique local East-Texas ambiance and provide plenty of violence and suspense. What more could you want? I recommend that you read more of Lansdale’s Hap and Leonard after this one. ( )

Not so much my genre, but for what it is, it ain't bad. ( )