Pushing Your Comfort Zones, My Book Review

Lansdale shows exactly why critics continue to compare him to Elmore Leonard, Donald Westlake, Flannery O’Connor, and William Faulkner.

This collection of short stories by author Joe Lansdale of Things Get Ugly, The Best Crime Stories of Joe R. Lansdale warns readers early on that he doesn’t use trigger warnings for his stories. If it did then the trigger warnings would overshadow the stories themselves.

His stories are a complex mixture of coarse language, sex, and violence that makes any Quentin Tarantino film seem tame.

The stories in Things Get Ugly are graphic and fierce, yet surprising.  This collection of stories combines dark noir and pulp fiction into snippets that transport readers into a realm of Joe’s mind and writing talent.  Some of these stories push you to the edge of your comfort zone.

One story stands out for me and that is the story of Ellen in the Incident on and Off A Mountain Road. Loved how he wrote this story that gave the brilliant, did not see coming, high-five ending. That could so be a movie in and of itself. Another favorite is The Shadows, Kith and Kin which is poetic, and yet haunting due to the character’s storm raging inside him and around him. It is in this story that Lansdale’s writing shines.

While these crime stories are harsher than Quentin Tarantino could ever imagine, I love how Lansdale takes the time to give insight into how he came up with these unique crime stories.

Things Get Ugly is a book that makes your skin crawl, until you come to Ellen’s story. Good writing and storytelling are meant to provoke reactions of either good or bad. If you want to sink your teeth into original, noir true crime then this book is a must. Also, I highly recommend you do not read this book before falling asleep or while riding a plane, in case the passenger sitting next to you glances over at your screen. They might interrupt and might start asking questions.