Outrageous Lansdale. Sci fi, horror, sexy, intelligent and pulpish. Every story a gem. If you love Lansdale you will love this book. If you’ve never read him before this is admin place to start.

Every Lansdale collection I've ever read has been top notch. This one is no exception. Every story in here is a winner, delivered with Lansdale's quick writing style and sly wit. I love this book so much and would recommend it to anyone!

A collection of five novellas I didn’t expect to like nearly as much as I did (then again, this is the excellent Joe Lansdale we’re talking about), <i>Fishing for Dinosaurs</i> collects a few of Lansdale’s longish stories printed in recent years by speciality presses—stories that are now hard to find at affordable prices these days—and a new tale is included, too.

Subterranean Press did a bang-up job on this collection: each story featured an introduction from a different author, and there’s a fantastic foreword by the Mojo Storyteller himself. And what about that beautiful cover!

On display is everything Lansdale does, and does well: “Black Hat Jack” kicks off the collection. A riveting, tense, and gleeful dirty western partially based on historical events, it’s a fun romp. I’m not usually a western fan, but I certainly am when it’s Lansdale telling the tale.

The title story and “The Ape Man’s Brother” follow, and I really didn’t expect to like these as they sounded just a little too wacky for my tastes. Surprise: loved ‘em both. Especially the title story, which borders on horror (and a good bit of sci-fi) and could’ve maybe fit in <i>By Bizarre Hands</i>.

“Prisoner 489” is my favorite in the collection. It’s the closest to horror here. A special sort of prison inmate refuses to die, even after facing the electric chair . . . and he wants revenge.

“Sixty-Eight Barrels on Treasure Lake”, the only story original to this collection, closes the book out and is another winner. I’m still ruminating on it. Featured herein is Lansdale’s typically excellent character work and some hilarious dialogue. As the wrap-up of the collection it works well, featuring elements touched on in precious stories: the western flavor of “Black Hat Jack”, the otherworldly feel of the title story, the unapologetic zaniness of “The Ape-Man’s Brother”, and some scares like in “Prisoner 489”.

Lansdale never disappoints! If one is looking to check this author out, this collection can be found for an affordable price on Kindle.

Bad drug dreams

I consider myself to be a huge Joe Lansdale fan. I have read a good portion of his standalone books and his stories. In fact, a couple THE BOTTOMS and A FINE, DARK LINE are in my all-time favorites list. I have never read his Hap and Leonard series, which I regret, but there's so many books and so little time.

I always thought Lansdale was ingesting some sort of hallucinogenic drugs when he wrote THE DRIVE-IN books. I liked them but they were quite a bit crazy. Well, I think he found his drug stash again when he was writing this group of stories.

Sure wrecked the pictures in my head when I imagine Doc Savage and Tarzan now. These stories seemed to be a bit more kinked than normal too. I'm not saying that's all bad - just different.

So, as usual, Lansdale has put together an eclectic group of stories. Western, adventure, lost world - with bits of nightmares in them all.

If you enjoy Lansdale's storytelling abilities (and you should), I highly recommend this collection. I enjoyed the preface by him for the book and then the individual preface for each story by different authors.

I received this book from Subterranean Press through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.

this one has it all, some great stories. while i have read them all except for the new story, was great to see them again. Nat Love is a great character in Black Hat Jack. Ape Man's Brother is an incredible romp. Prisoner 489 is a creepy little piece and then you throw in the new ones and its a great collection. Lansdale is an author for everyone! there is always something new and its so great to revisit some of the great stories.

When I saw this was available on Netgalley, I clicked it at once! I thought there was no way I could go wrong with a collection of Joe R. Lansdale's novellas and I'm happy to say that I was right!

BLACK HAT JACK concerns a man of the American west and his traveling companion, Nat Love. Being that I've already read and ADORED Paradise Sky, I had a feeling I would love this tale, and I did.

FISHING FOR DINOSAURS. This narrative blew me away! Mr. Lansdale has the imagination and the chops to write just about anything, and I knew that going in. However, this story has such outstanding world building, I don't even know how to describe it. Fishing for dinosaurs is the perfect title for this perfectly presented insane world.

PRISONER 489. Set on an island where the executed convicts from the island next door get buried. A tension-filled story is woven through the eyes of the gravediggers when they realize that what they buried didn't STAY buried.

THE APE-MAN'S BROTHER was a pulpy sort of tale wherein King Kong's brother, (of Australopithecus origin), tells a story of his own. This is another example of a wonderfully built world where zeppelins fly about and ape-men have film careers.

The only story original to this collection is: SIXTY-EIGHT BARRELS ON TREASURE LAKE. A young, recently orphaned man named Rabbit joins, (somewhat unwillingly), with a band of highly suspect robbers, to help them relocate gold they stole several years previous. Once again, this is a beautifully imagined world, rich in color, description and on-the-money human observation. This is where Joe R. Lansdale really shines-never once do you question the motivations of characters because they're so real, you can relate to them. You might BE them, in some other world, time or place.

The introductions to these stories were fun to read. Poppy Z. Brite, Richard Chizmar, David J. Schow, Robin Hobb and Norman Partridge each had something to say about the tales and about Joe Lansdale himself. All of which served to prove that even other writers admire and enjoy Lansdale's wide and varied works.

I've never, ever been disappointed in a story from Mr. Lansdale. He writes stories that cannot be pigeon-holed into certain genres or styles, because he's a genre hisownself. They don't call him the Champion Mojo Storyteller for nothing!

Highly recommended!

Available on November 30th, 2020, but you can pre-order here: https://amzn.to/3kJGzc0

*Thanks to NetGalley, Subterranean Press and the author for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*

This collection of five novellas by Joe R. Lansdale is an eclectic mix of stories. He writes such interesting characters and has them in unique situations.
Joe seems to get an idea and let it run around, crashing into other thoughts, and then sends it falling off a cliff to be smashed together into a working story.
Joe writes like Gordy from Stephen King’s The Body. Almost adolescent thoughts but with a mastery of words and vision from a honed skill.
Take this quote from the first story Black Hat Jack.
-Some more Indians took to chopping up White Eagle’s horse, and now they was all pulling out their Johnson’s and pissing on White Eagle while he lay on the ground.
“They sure don’t like him” Millie said.
“Seems that way.” Jack said.
-
He’s like your best friend telling a story around a campfire, no inhibitions and no fear of embarrassment, just spinning a yarn that almost seems made up as it goes, but with a completeness of a thought out tale.
Thank you to NetGalley and Subterranean Press for a copy of the ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Great collection of novellas from the mojo storyteller Joe R. Lansdale (aka His Ownself). Not only is there not a bad one in the bunch but they are all 5-star quality. An eclectic bunch of tales that defy categorization other than to say, "It's Lansdale." Those who know will know and those who don't should take a chance...

Joe R Lansdale has been mashing, crossing, mixing, and disregarding genre for some years now (at least 35 years of published work), it's not unusual for someone unfamiliar with his style to read one of his books and say, "That wasn't what I was expecting." His writing style leans more towards campfire stories and back porch yarns; good entertaining tales sprinkled with thrills, chills, adventure, humor, and the occasional life lesson. He is a down-home (but not dumb-downed) counterpart to Stephen King, a tongue-in-cheek successor to both Mark Twain and Edgar Rice Burroughs, often referred to as the Bard of East Texas.

There truly is something for just about everyone in this superior collection. The only thing missing is some of Lansdale's more contemporary crime fiction but you can't have everything. Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys a good tale well told.

*Contains strong language, adult situations, violence, and some dark humor. Not for the overly sensitive, faint of heart, or humorless.

***Thanks to NetGalley, Subterranean Press, and author Joe R Lansdale for providing me with a free digital copy of this title.

This was a fun read. I loved how all the stories worked together. The characters and settings were very well written. Definitely a must read!

This was an unusual read for me. I don't often venture off into this genre. Boy, am I glad that I did! Lansdale writes fantasy/sci-fi/speculative fiction that will make you burst out laughing. And, here, in five short, tight, well written novellas, each one that can be read in a single sitting. I am definitely going to take a break from my usual fare of non-fiction, political, and serious tomes and indulge further in some of his books! Especially today, with the combination of non-stop awful politics and virus coverage! A real breath of fresh air!

I loved each story in the collection, the stories all worked together and I loved that each setting was different. I had a lot of fun reading this book.

My thanks to Subterranean Press, Joe Lansdale and Netgalley.
I was tickled pink by this collection! Except for Prisoner 489, which I've read before and rated at 4 stars, every other novella was 5 stars. They are also novellas that I never would have bought, because I wouldn't have figured I'd like them. Wrong! I loved them!

Another great read from Joe R Lansdale. Novellas this time, which is perfect for him. Nice tight stories, and a variety of genres, adventure, science fiction, and horror. Of course, I've been spoiled by Lansdale, as his novels and short stories are always good reads. And he can hop around genres, and mix them up, with the best of them. As always, can't wait for the next read from him.

Fishing For Dinosaurs and Other Stories by Joe R. Lansdale- Five novellas by pulp impresario Lansdale. All have already seen print or digital form except "Sixty-Eight Barrels on Treasure Lake". There's a range of stories from westerns, horror, and a bit of fantasy are all included. The Titles are: 1-Black Hat Jack, 2-Fishing For Dinosaurs, 3-The Ape-Man's Brother, 4-Prisoner 489, 5- Sixty-Eight Barrels on Treasure Lake. Some of the characters appear in other Lansdale stories, especially cowboy Nate Love from "Black Hat Jack", who would be featured later in "Paradise Sky". These are easy to digest, fun stories with all the run-on sentences and twisting plots that make up Lansdale's cannon. Maybe not for everyone, but a fun trip if you buy a ticket