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Nate Nason's Reviews > Sugar on the Bones
Sugar on the Bones (Hap and Leonard, #13)
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Joe R. Lansdale is a Texas author who lives in Nacogdoches, and has written over three-hundred titles. Thirteen of those have been a part of his Hap and Leonard series, the most recent installation of which is titled Sugar on the Bones. The book spans 312 pages, and begins with arson, and ends with a statewide conspiracy that Hap, Leonard, and friends feel they have a responsibility to put an end to.
Sugar on the Bones is the thirteenth book of the series, so, as I haven’t read any of the other twelve, I was concerned that I would be confused or lost in the continuity of their universe, but this book is an excellent place to pick up the series. Don’t get me wrong, I most certainly would have understood some jokes or known more about some characters who made appearances, but nothing was confusing by any means at all.
The book itself was intriguing, and I say that as someone who has never been the biggest mystery reader. The case had unexpected swiss and turns, it had red-herrings, and it had solid characters. As far as those characters are concerned, my only critique is that if you only judge them by their dialogue, they seem to be a little copy paste. Meaning, the same type of jokes and humor and rarely a serious conversation. I could imagine the same dialogue from every character. But when you look at the layer below that, the characters have unique aspects and they become their own.
As for the humor, its very crude, but I enjoyed it. Sometimes the crudeness of it caught me off guard (especially near the beginning), but if you don’t mind jokes like that you won't have a problem. And as someone who doesn't always subscribe to that sense of humor, I still found it more funny than I found it off-putting, and it didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the novel by any means.
Sugar on the Bones was a fun, funny, and intriguing mystery that I would certainly suggest to any mystery reader, or someone who enjoys a sarcastic, crude sort of humor. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected I would. Joe R. Lansdale definitely knows how to write a mystery.
Sugar on the Bones is the thirteenth book of the series, so, as I haven’t read any of the other twelve, I was concerned that I would be confused or lost in the continuity of their universe, but this book is an excellent place to pick up the series. Don’t get me wrong, I most certainly would have understood some jokes or known more about some characters who made appearances, but nothing was confusing by any means at all.
The book itself was intriguing, and I say that as someone who has never been the biggest mystery reader. The case had unexpected swiss and turns, it had red-herrings, and it had solid characters. As far as those characters are concerned, my only critique is that if you only judge them by their dialogue, they seem to be a little copy paste. Meaning, the same type of jokes and humor and rarely a serious conversation. I could imagine the same dialogue from every character. But when you look at the layer below that, the characters have unique aspects and they become their own.
As for the humor, its very crude, but I enjoyed it. Sometimes the crudeness of it caught me off guard (especially near the beginning), but if you don’t mind jokes like that you won't have a problem. And as someone who doesn't always subscribe to that sense of humor, I still found it more funny than I found it off-putting, and it didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the novel by any means.
Sugar on the Bones was a fun, funny, and intriguing mystery that I would certainly suggest to any mystery reader, or someone who enjoys a sarcastic, crude sort of humor. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected I would. Joe R. Lansdale definitely knows how to write a mystery.
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
August 2, 2024
– Shelved
