If you are looking for a nice little/suspense tale, look no further than his Cold In July. This tightly plotted Texas thriller starts off with an ordinary business man shooting a burgler who has broken into his home. When the dead man's father shows up vowing revenge, the story seems to be heading into familiar territory. Wrong! This book defies any and all attempts to predict which way the plot may turn. No matter what you think at any point while reading Cold in July, you won't get what you expect.

Unpredictability is Lansdale's trademark, and can be seen in no better place than his series about East Texas field worker, Hap Collins and his gay, black pal, Leonard Pine. In their first book, Savage Season, Hap's tarnished idealism and love for his ex-wife lead him and Leonard on a quest for lost treasure, in the form of a sunken car full of loot from a bank heist gone wrong. In Mucho Mojo, just out in paperback, the two discover a secret buried in the basement of Leonard's uncle's house that provokes an investigation revealing the shadows that can lurk in even the brightest of places. In the latest, The Two-Bear Mambo, Hap and Leonard stare straight into the heart of unashamed racism.

As good as his stories are, though, the true magic lies in the way Lansdale tells them. The bone-crunching realism is offset by a sense of humor that keeps you laughing all the way through his books. One woman is described as, "...Attractive in an 'I've been hit by a truck kind of way." The dialogue between Hap and Leonard shines in a way the best "buddy" movies can only dream of approaching and clearly illustrates the bond of love and friendship that keeps dragging these two men into one adventure after another without becoming too self-consciously macho.

So, if you are looking for a well-writen thriller, you can take your chance with an unknown, highly marketed and packaged author, or you can put your money on a sure thing like Joe R. Lansdale.