A new Hap and Leonard story is always a pleasure. Though Hatchet Girls isn't the most memorable entry in the series, the banter between the two titular characters is as delightful as ever, and Lansdale's pacing never fails to keep me turning pages. More straightforward story than mystery, this book brings the violence and camaraderie that longtime readers keep coming back for.

thank you to netgalley for this arc! right off the bat, i do have to preface that this book is the first in the series that i have read, so i’m sure that made a difference in my opinion of the book.
there are some book series’ where you really don’t have to read the books that come before it to understand it, but this didn’t feel like that to me. maybe you don’t absolutely HAVE to, but there are characters mentioned almost immediately that are not introduced, so reading the other books before this one would definitely be beneficial. the writing style is also just not for me at all. i can see how other people may be entertained by it and find this book really funny, but the overall tone of the book was just not my cup of tea. the way the characters speak is just very crass and kind of dense to me, but in a way that really distracted me from the actual plot. again, maybe if i would have read the other books first, i would be more used to the writing style and the way the characters talk and interact with each other, but the reading experience with this one was just not for me.

Like all the Hap and Leonard books, this one is filled with the dark humor and the action we are accustomed to. Starts out with a meth addicted Hog and ends with some crazy hatchet girls......
loved it, only thing about it that makes me sad is the fact that it seems Lansdale is coming to an end to this series, Hap and Leonard have aged with the books and now seem to want to settle down into the sunset. im pretty sure ive read somewhere that Joe said he had two books to go, this one and one more.

Nothing beats a good whodonit with Hap and Leonard. This one did not disappoint. There was tons of action but also a bit of compassion.

Intriguing Premise, Uneven Execution

The Hatchet Girls starts off with a chilling hook and a compelling mystery that promises a dark, twisty ride. The atmosphere is moody and suspenseful, and the small-town setting adds a layer of claustrophobia that works well for the genre. The central murder mystery, with its echoes of urban legend and family trauma, is genuinely intriguing.

However, the pacing falters midway through, and some of the character development feels rushed or inconsistent. While the protagonist has moments of depth, supporting characters often fall into clichés, making it harder to stay emotionally invested. The twists, though surprising, sometimes feel more shocking for shock’s sake than truly earned.

Overall, it’s a decent read with flashes of brilliance, but it doesn’t quite live up to its full potential. Worth picking up if you enjoy YA thrillers with a gothic edge, but temper your expectations.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mulholland Books for this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley, author Joe R. Lansdale and Mulholland Books for this electronic arc of this book in exchange for my honest review. I kindly rounded up to a 3 star review from the 2.5 it deserves.

When I read the blurb, I was intrigued by the description and was expecting a mystery along the lines of an Elmore Leonard or Carl Hiaasen romp, instead what you get is a rather forced attempt at humor that is both crude and vulgar as Hap and Leonard try to track down the "Hatchet Girls" of the title.

This starts off with a wild and unexpectedly difficult "case" where our heroes try to wrangle a 400 pound hog hopped up on meth. They soon learn there is more to meet the eye as they discover a Meth Lab and soon bodies start piling up around them.

The "Hatchet Girls" do not turn up until we are well into the confusing and convoluted plot involving cousins who are working together despite being on different sides of the law. Somehow one of the jilted ex-wives of these cousins becomes a "cult leader" teaching battered women to maim, kill, carve up and skin meth dealers alive with a hatchet and gasoline to prove some "point?"

There is very little character development as I guess Landsdale assumes we know his main characters back story as this is somehow their 14th book together.

I was sadly disappointed in this once promising mystery which falls way short of my expectations. I will be skipping the other 13 installments of this serial.

This book started very differently than it ended. The twists and turns were something that was a breath of fresh air!

From Porky the Meth Pig to the final scene, there was few moments that I could have guessed were coming!

I laughed out loud at many parts, the author really knows how to paint a scene.

𝙴𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚁𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚎𝚠
🌟🌟🌟🌟.2
O.M.G. what did I just read? I shouldn't have laughed at this book the way I did, and the fact that it took place in my small hometown, and the author lives maybe 30 minutes from my hometown. Easily a 4.2-star read.
Hatchet Girls is my first book by Joe R. Lansdale and will truly not be my last! I'm a new fan.
When Hap and Leonard are called in on a strange request (subduing a meth-hopped hog) by a desperate young lady, they quickly learn this woman is part of a fringe group: The Hatchet Girls, who have pledged their allegiance to a crazed and grudge-bearing leader bent on bloody societal revenge.

Thank you, NetGalley, and Mulholland Books for the ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Net Galley and Joe R. Lansdale for an ARC of The Hatchet Girls which comes out in August 2025!

The cover reminds me of an old school 70s slasher movie which is what caught my attention. I am a sucker for picking books out purely based on the cover.

We follow two detectives on the verge of retirement as they work to solve a wacky case involving bloody hacked up bodies. This book is actually the 14th in a series but definitely can be read as a stand alone. It’s filled with quirky dark humor and fairly entertaining from start to finish.

I didn’t expect to laugh as much as I did at this! Admittedly my first Hap & Leonard and I was not disappointed. Mystery, mischief and a methed up pig. Super fun and quirky read!

Hap and Leonard are my absolute favorite characters and their newest adventure does not disappoint.
Like the rest of the books in this series, it is full of violent mayhem and witty dialogue with a distinct East Texas flavor. Joe R. Lansdale is a master storyteller and no one else writes dialogue quite like him! Despite their contrasting personalities and ideologies, Hap and Leonard's unlikely friendship is truly touching. I highly recommend you give this series a try! Thank you to Mulholland Books and Netgalley for the ARC.

This shirt book was very good brilliant dark funny st time a bit corky to say the least but I think others will love this dark book as I did

I’m just gonna say it—Joe Lansdale is a national treasure who should be talked about in the same breath as American writers like Twain, Steinbeck, and Faulkner. His novels and short stories, most set in East Texas, confront violence, racism, and poverty in language that can be both lyrical and downright ugly, sometimes in the same sentence. And unlike those other fellas (Twain excepted) he’s often howlingly funny. He’s also a better dialogue writer than any of them.

I love all of Lansdale’s work, but the Hap and Leonard books are my absolute favorites. After all this time—the first, Savage Season, was published in 1990—Hap Collins and Leonard Pine have grown into complex, fully realized characters. Lansdale has done something downright profound with the many novels and short stories that make up their history. He’s let them age. In the new novel, Hatchet Girls, Both Hap and Leonard are feeling the years, feeling their own approaching mortality. They aren’t quite as spry as they used to be. Hap especially. Leonard isn’t quite as willing to admit he’s slowed down a step.

Hatchet Girls starts with a murderous, meth-crazed hog, and then things go off the rails. Any Hap and Leonard novel is rife with violence and danger, and Hatchet Girls has plenty of that. There are drug-dealing gangs, and a group of hatchet-wielding young women let by a psychotic woman with a taste for vengeance. Lansdale has a real knack for describing explicit violence that’s very much in evidence here. The action, punctuated by moments of black-as-pitch humor, is non-stop. As the bodies, and assorted body parts, pile up, the danger, to Hap, Leonard, and their loved ones, feels real.

Speaking of loved ones, Brett and Pookie are deeply involved in the story, and their appearance is welcome as always.

A new Hap and Leonard novel is always a cause for celebration. It’s like when good friends who have been away for awhile come back for a visit, ready to make up for lost time, hit the town, get rowdy, and generally fuck shit up.

Hatchet Girls drops August 19, 2025, and is available for pre-sale now.

If ya made it this far along with Hap & Leonard you'll love this one. A little more gorey than usual and the overall case is a little rushed. But really we're here to spend time with the boys & they're getting old, so enjoy it while you can. I'm not sure how this one would read for a novice of the series.

Thank you Netgalley and Mulholland Books for allowing me to read this as an ARC.

This was a different, corky with some dark comedy and sometimes adventurous. From the beginning I struggled being interested in the book and parts just felt cheesy and forced comedy. There was a lack of character depth was distracting for the story but I did appreciate the imagery the details provided which did help your imagination create images while you were reading.

If you appreciate mystery with some adventure, corky dark comedy, that can be slow paced reading, a unique atmosphere for a story then I think you would like this book.

Hatchet Girls really had the classic mojo juice of the very best of the Hap and Leonard tales and I had to force myself to conserve pages, so I didn't read it all in one sitting. When this series is really cooking, all I want to do is sit and read about some of my favorite characters.

Special Thanks to Mulholland Books and Netgalley for the digital ARC. This was given to me for an honest review.

This short novella was a unique, twisted dark comedy! I was initially intrigued by the cover of this book, so I went into reading this book blindly. It came with mysterious vibes, adventure and strange characters. I was really confused at the beginning of this novel because it seemed like there was just a lot going on at once. It was a bit overwhelming at the beginning of the book. It ended up being somewhat of a fun novel, but I just could not connect to the characters in the story. The lack of character depth along with a meth hopped hog was just not my kind of storyline. I did like the atmospheric location, how it was fast paced and how it came with vivid imagery. There’s a diverse set of characters, a clear thesis and a clever plot. Some of the themes explored in this book are friendships and relationships, societal revenge, the unpredictability of life and confronting danger. Be sure to read the content warnings! Overall, I give this a 2.75 stars out of 5.

Thank you to NetGalley, author Joe R. Lansdale and Mulholland Books for this electronic arc of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

I think fans that love to read pitch black humor thrillers, along with some adventure, would really enjoy this! The author is well known for his uniqueness and his books are loved by many!

This book is expected to be published on August 19, 2025!

Lansdale does it again. I will always read anything the man writes. Hap and Leonard have been a favorite from the beginning. They get into some doozies. This book was so much fun, per usual. Keep writing Joe!

From the cover to the blurb I was convinced I was going to love this book. This sounds like the type of book that would be right up my alley but alas I did not care for it and ended up DNF’ing. Hopefully the right audience finds this book.