Word of a new novel by Joe R. Lansdale is always good news. But his legion of fans must wonder: What kind of book will this new one be?
Will LEATHER MAIDEN be another nostalgic look the wild, wooly and often scary East Texas of the past, like his SUNSET AND SAWDUST or his Edgar-winning THE BOTTOMS? Or maybe another comic crime romp like RUMBLE TUMBLE, BAD CHILI or the other books featuring Hap Collins and Leonard Pine? Or maybe another zany, over-the-top dime novel tribute mixing figures from history and fiction, like ZEPPELINS WEST? Or maybe another horror mystery like his classic THE DRIVE-IN, last year’s LOST ECHOES or his dozens of wonderful, frightening short stories?
Well, guess what? LEATHER MAIDEN is not entirely like any of these. In fact, it can best be described as a straight-ahead, contemporary crime thriller. But because it comes from the pen of Joe R. Lansdale, rest assured it is unlike any thriller you’ve ever read. And that’s even more good news.
Journalist Cason Statler returns to his small East Texas hometown of Camp Rapture as the novel opens. And if he had a tail, it would certainly be tucked between his legs. A scandalous affair cost him his high-profile reporting job in Houston, so he pulls into town, fighting a whopper of a hangover from a binge the night before, and applies for a columnist job at the Camp Rapture Report.
Everybody knows about his Pulitzer Prize nomination and his stint in the Gulf War. But they also know about his drinking problem and the huge torch he carries for his ex-wife, who left him shortly after he shipped out to Bagdad. So now he’s resigned to writing columns for the paper in a town where the most exciting event is a rabid skunk running loose at the Wal-Mart.
But while cleaning out the desk and computer of his predecessor, Cason finds notes on a unsolved mystery. One night, six months ago, Caroline Allison, a beautiful 23-year-old history major at the local college, went to get something to eat at the Taco Bell, and disappeared. Police investigated, but never found her. So they and most of the town assume she’s dead and her body dumped on the side of the rode somewhere.
But the story, being the closest thing to “real news,” gets its hooks into Cason, and he decides to follow the few slim leads to some sort of resolution. And as he digs deeper into Caroline’s past and personality, he uncovers a series of secrets and sins that involves his college teacher brother Jimmy and a few other prominent Camp Rapture citizens. It eventually becomes a complex, twisted tale of sex, blackmail and, of course, murder.
Few writers can pull off the fantastic audacity that surrounds everything in this increasingly dark story. But Lansdale can, thanks in no small part to his distinctive, down-home style — one that feels like a story told on the front porch late one warm summer’s night. His local color and detail are so convincing that he easily has you believing all the otherwise outrageous goings-on. But that outrageousness is soon forgotten as the story becomes a suspenseful race-against-the-clock (literally!) right up to the very last chapter.
The characters, too, with all their back-roads quirkiness, prejudices and downright weirdness, will win you over, again thanks to Lansdale’s deft handling. And while he tends to pile on the bawdy, Southern-fried homilies in his dialogue a bit too thick at times, it’s a very small price to pay for so much fun.
Lansdale continues to be an author to treasure and savor. Even if stories of the deep South are not exactly your cup of moonshine, you owe it to yourself to enjoy the creepy delights of LEATHER MAIDEN. You’ll be back for more. Just see if you don’t! —Alan Cranis
