Joe R. Lansdale is no stranger to the horror scene. Though his "big press" material does not often find its way to the horror fiction shelves these days (his small press stuff unashamedly does), there is a dark vein ("black as the heart of Satan," some well read Lansdale readers might opine, quoting from the opening of his novel, The Nightrunners) even in his "mainstream" works that's decidedly welcoming to horror readers.

Case in point:  the author's latest suspense novel, Leather Maiden.

The story opens with a simple and somewhat familiar, hardboiled thriller setup. Gulf War veteran turned Pulitzer Prize nominated reporter turned down-and-out drunk, Cason Statler swallows his pride and returns to Camp Rapture, Texas, where he takes the job of columnist with his hometown paper. There, he stumbles upon the six months cold case of a missing girl, gorgeous college coed Caroline Allison who seemingly vanished without a trace. Smelling a story that might get him back into the big time, he digs into the item. He soon finds himself immersed in more murder, blackmail and mystery than he had ever believed could exist in this small town.

Of course, for Lansdale's regular readers, Camp Rapture already has the echoes of mystery and the macabre, as it played principle locale for the author's 2004 novel, Sunset and Sawdust. This novel revisits the town, though about seventy years removed from that previous work's Depression era time period.

A fine line exists between suspense novels and category horror, anymore. If put to the spot and asked what "identifies" a novel as "horror," different readers will offer up a plethora of definitions. For this reader, the definition includes emotional honesty, an unflinching attention to the consequences of actions, an intrusive situation (a particularly notable crime, a supernatural presence, etc.) that irrefutably destroys "normality", and an unmistakably dark tone to the subject matter. On these fronts, Lansdale's latest novel, though marketed as a dark crime or suspense thriller, certainly fits the bill.

The author's voice is as approachable as ever. Writing with the easy style of a raconteur, Lansdale's prose is as clean, crisp and evocative as a hardboiled Hemingway, and the author is no stranger to apt and unique similes. As this reader enjoys a text with a good conversational quality, Lansdale's writing immediately captures my attention and immerses me in the tale he has to tell.

Cason Statler's first person narration makes for an intensely personal story. Sure, there are plenty of ribald laughs, but when the tale ventures down its darkest avenues -- and there is plenty of darkness to be found between this novel's covers -- the chills come undiluted.

This is due, in no small part, to the author's skill at drawing characters. Though they might not be pretty characters, these folks are all pretty interesting. Despicable or heartwarming, sociopaths or sympathetic, this novel offers a collection of exceptionally drawn characters, and the best creation of all is the protagonist.

In an intriguing choice, the relationship between Cason and his closest male ally, Booger (Yes, I said "Booger") carries strong echoes of that found between author Walter Mosley's series characters "Easy" Rawlins and the sociopath called Mouse.  Would I be reading too deeply if I found these characters to be twin aspects of a single psychology, one is civilized while the other is barely constrained barbaric?  Well, they certainly bring out the best (and worst) in each other...

At turns likable and infuriating, Cason has several dimensions. A recovering drunk, obsessed with the girl who dumped him (to creepy levels, he stalks her for a while), emotionally damaged from his time serving in Sand World (Iraq), Cason begins the novel just over the edge of spiritual and mental breakdowns, and the novel finds him slowly pulling himself back together. At least, for a while. When the darkness finds its way into Cason's life, there are plenty of opportunities for the character to backslide, and this jeopardy is only one aspect of the many levels of evoked suspense.

In a nice turn, readers will find that the mystery experience does not confine itself merely to the unfolding events of the story, it stretches past the protagonist and the fictional world.  Of course, I mean the book's title. Just what is this Leather Maiden? The novel and its events certainly center around that title, but what is it?

Initially, this reader took the Leather Maiden to be something kinky. As I've read a large number of works from Clive Barker, Edward Lee and the modern crop of hardcore horror authors, the title brought to mind some devilish, dominatrix figure, an intriguing fusion of extreme sexuality (the leather part) and innocence (the maiden aspect). In fact, the answer turns out to be rather fetishistic, but not in the way this reader first assumed. I was quite surprised, when I discovered the incredibly chilling, non-supernatural, and unforgettable answer.

Unfortunately, the quest for answers offers up the novel's few notable stumbles. Coincidence plays a powerful role in the course of events. Cason's introduction to the Caroline Allison mystery comes about through an organic coincidence (the reporter he is replacing had some notes on the disappearance), some larger revelations near the end of the work come about through what feel to be inorganic coincidences (a barely touched upon character uses google to find plenty of lucky hits). As well, an ally to the protagonist's cause shows up at a mighty convenient moment. While there is something of an understated philosophical underpinning running through much of the book, a silent war between Purpose or Chance, Significance or Insignificance, sometimes my instinctive thought of "Well, wasn't that conveeenient" interrupted the story's flow. Though the author's voice and craft brought me back into the tale, these moments were still noticeable speed bumps to mostly smooth reading.

With a novel that confidently straddles the line between suspense/thriller and horror novel, we see, yet again, that quality writing trumps genre pigeonholing every time. Joe R. Lansdale excels at crafting dark, suspenseful and humorous fiction, and Leather Maiden makes for yet another excellent addition to his already impressive body of work.

Leather Maiden by Joe R. Lansdale
287 Pages
Knopf
Published August, 2008

Buy This Book >>>>>
Author's Website
Publisher's Website