Hap and Leonard embark on their most intense
adventure yet, as they journey across the border for a deadly rescue operation.
As
such, up till this point, there’s only been so much trouble Hap and Leonard can
get themselves into, narratively speaking. They’ve been subject to various
beatings and close scrapes with death, but rarely have any of these instances
seen either of them take someone’s life with their own hands. But in Rumble Tumble, the fifth of the Hap and
Leonard books, the rules are rewritten once again, and because part of the
novel takes place across the border into Mexico, our fearless duo are free to
engage in some harsher stuff beyond mere fisticuffs without the law ever having
to come into it. We open this chapter with things going smoothly for our two
heroes, for a change. Hap and his new girlfriend Brett are getting
serious--serious enough that Hap is thinking about moving in with her and out
of Leonard’s house (an outcome that Leonard is eager for Hap to do as soon as
humanly possible). He still can’t land or hold down a job worth anything, but
Hap has found a sliver of happiness in Brett, and for once it appears that
everything just might work out in the end. Until Brett gets word that her
wayward daughter Tillie might be in trouble, having gotten in deep with some
bad dudes she’s been prostituting for. Hap promises to help Brett go find her
and bring her back home, and of course Leonard is along for the ride. The three
load up on guns and grit, and head out of state in search of Tillie.
We got to know Brett
pretty well in the last book, but the character really blossoms here as a force
to be reckoned with, equal to and perhaps even tougher that Hap and Leonard
themselves. Much like Jim Bob Luke, she eases in with Hap and Leonard’s
formidable chemistry like a well-fit glove, and watching the duo transform into
a trio with a different dynamic (especially when two of the three are sleeping
with each other) is an interesting twist on the established formula. We also
get more colorful side characters in spades, chief amongst them Red, Tillie’s
former pimp who also happens to be a dwarf and loves to wax rhapsodic about
everything from fashion choices to steak rancheros. He becomes a reluctant ally
(really more a hostage) when Hap, Leonard and Brett abduct him and force him to
lead them to Tillie. Red’s brother also gets involved along the way, an ex-con
who’s changed his ways and become a man of the cloth, only to turn to prairie
dog hunting when his parishioners stop showing up on Sunday mornings.
They all bounce off
each other nicely, and put quite a few moral dilemmas in the mix as the story
goes on. This is best exemplified in the treatment of Red, who spends much of
the novel complaining about how his upbringing gave him no choice but to turn
out the way he did. Hap can’t help but feel bad for Red due to his rough past,
but Leonard and Brett remain convinced he would’ve turned out an asshole anyway.
It’s the type of debate that is the true lifeblood of the series, examining the
grey morality that runs throughout Hap and Leonard’s extra-legal and often
violent adventures, with Rumble Tumble being
the most violent yet. As Leonard explains to Hap early on when going to acquire
guns before leaving, to do what they need to do, the two will have resort to
deadly force if they want to get both themselves and Tilly out alive in the
end. It’s something the bleeding heart Hap has been able to avoid for most of
the series, generally able to see himself through anything with just his fist
and wits, but the stakes here are deadlier. It all explodes in a violent
shoot-out at a whorehouse just south of the border--a gruesome affair that
plays out in a way that is every bit thrilling as it is impactful, and shakes
Hap, Leonard and Brett down to their very cores.
It’s a darker book
overall, even though Lansdale’s humor is still as whip-smart and biting as
ever. But you can definitely see a change in the characters from here on out in
the series, as Hap and Leonard’s scruples (well, mostly Hap’s) in resorting to
lethal force are considerably lessened in the subsequent books. Which is not to
say that the character or the series loses its conscience; what’s most
refreshing about the Hap and Leonard series is that it doesn’t shy away from
the effects of violence inflicted on the righteous and despicable alike, or the
toll it takes on its lead characters. It’s a tension the series has always played
with beautifully, and Rumble Tumble’s considerable upping of the
stakes makes it one of best in the Hap and Leonard canon. In fact, if I have
any criticism, it’s with the character who sets the events of the novel in
motion, Brett’s daughter Tillie, who doesn’t get much “character” herself. I
suppose it is entirely appropriate with the overall Pyrrhic nature that is Hap
and Leonard’s constant lot in life, with the “victory” coming at far too great
a cost and perhaps noot even entirely worth it in the end, but it still would
have been nice to get more out of Tillie than “drugged-out whore.” They spend
all this time going after Tillie, and the most development we get out of her
basically amounts to a single line of dialogue.
Still, Rumble Tumble is a whopper of an entry
in the Hap and Leonard series, a turning point for the characters that is fast,
funny and brutally impactful.
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