This is one of my oversized paperbacks that I had bought at Powell's Books in Portland OR on Tu 8/27/02, and I finished the book on Mo 9/16/02 (in two days).
Refinished Fr 10/7/16
I noticed that this has been made into a series on the Sundance Channel. I checked out a trailer and it seems that they went heavy on the comedy of the book- Completely missed the point. This is a textbook example of Hillbilly Noir, and not that funny at all.
This is the first in a series featuring Hap Collins and Leonard Pine. Set in Laborde, East Texas (fictional place).
Hap Collins was a college student during the Vietnam war and decided to Not Serve. He didn't want to take conscientious draft status because he felt that he would have fought in WWI or WWII, but just not in Vietnam. According to the government, you can't cherry pick our wars. He served 18 months in a Texas prison. He was adept at martial arts and was a tough Texan, so he didn't have any problems.
Leonard Pine is a ex-Vietnam vet with conservative leanings, and he's also gay. Very outspoken and extremely cynical.
Storyline/ Characters-
Hap is visited by his ex-wife, Trudy. She was briefly married to Hap, but left him when he went to prison. Both were active in the California hippie scene and she went from man to man, and finally settled with a man named Howard. Both Trudy and Howard have strong ties to the underground violent 60's radical groups (Weathermen, The Mechanics (a group known for making bombs. I don't think this group really existed).
Chub- Fat guy who is in the Movement and deeply into analysis. A wimp and not popular.
Paco- One of the Mechanics and has lived the underground life for many years. Not roots, couch surfer. Badly disfigured in an accidental bomb explosion. Face and ears nearly unrecognizable.
Angel- Musclebound woman, 6 ft tall.
Soldier- Ruthless, porkpie hat, sweats vaseline.
Howard told Trudy of a bank robbery that went bad. Crooks left the bank with the loot, traveled to a boat, but sank it trying to get away. All the robbers died (were shot by the survivor) and this man tells Howard where the boat went down. In a swamp near an Iron Bridge. Trudy wants to get Hap in the gang because he's familiar with this area.
They find the money and Paco sets them up with Angel and Soldier. These two are supposed to sell them guns so that they can give them to 'worth causes'.
There are no guns. Angel and Soldier just want an easy score.
The final fight scene starting at an abandoned drive-in is great. Everyone is killed except Hap, Leonard, and Soldier. Hap could have killed Soldier, but he couldn't bring himself to kill in cold blood.
Hap finds the money where Trudy had buried it. She anticipated a ripoff. He splits the three hundred grand in three. $100,000 goes to Greenpeace in Trudy's name.
amazon link-
https://www.amazon.com/Savage-Season-Leonard-Vintage-Lizard/dp/0307455386
The author's page at wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_R._Lansdale
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