Peculiar weather settles over a bustling Texas sea port, a city made prosperous off the cotton trade and thick with racial inequality. The sky above Galveston, Texas darkens to the sickly green of a healing bruise, the sea turns black, and the inhabitants of the city have no idea the force of the hammer about to drop on them. The wild wind blows boxer John McBride into town, a white prize fighter with seemingly superhuman fury and skill. As black boxer Jack L'il Arthur Johnson prepares to fight this fierce opponent, the storm closes in. If he can survive the ring and the vicious undercurrents of the Jim Crow south, L'il Arthur will still have to fight his way through the storm winds, the rising flood waters, and the violent night. On September 8th, 1900, a hurricane ripped apart Galveston, Texas, killing nearly 8,000 people and nearly obliterating the town. Lansdale's story brings dimension to many who lost their lives that day, and a few who survived.

The Big Blow

Literature & Fiction

LANSDALE, Joe R.

Genre Fiction

Pandi Press

13-year-old Stanley Mitchel Jr. spends most of his time helping his family run the town’s drive-in movie theater, reading ten-cent comics, and playing with his dog Nub. Life in East Texas circa 1958 is not very exciting until Stanley discovers a stash of old, crumbling love letters in a pile of burnt rubble behind the drive-in. As Stanley reads through the letters, he finds himself in the middle of a town mystery and discovering the secrets of his sleepy town. Stanley, with the help of the old projectionist and his older sister, uncovers the identities of the people who penned the letters and sheds light on a shocking 20 year-old murder plot. As Stanley unearths more and more truths, he realizes the injustices of life in East Texas in the 1950’s including class, race, gender, and the cruelty of unrequited love. Stanley feels betrayed by his family and his town as he takes a closer look at the dark truth and refuses to allow himself to succumb to the darkness.

A Fine Dark Line

“There isn’t any line. The only line is the one you draw yourself.” - Gidget Bill Roberts had a history of messing things up. Things with his poor dead mama, for one. For another, the firecracker stand job he was planning with Fat Boy and Chaplin. And then there was his face, of course. When Bill finally crawled out of the swamp that day, his face was swollen to unrecognizable with stings and bites. Bill’s disfigured face and lack of smarts only serve to attract John Frost, manager of the Oddities of the World carnival and freak show. Bill fits in nicely with Double Buckwheat, Bim, Potty and the other carnival freaks. Frost runs the show with a beautiful blonde bombshell Gidget, a woman so desirable she can persuade Bill and the rest of the Oddities crew into doing just about anything. Before Bill knows it, he’s wrapped up in a dark scheme that threatens to burn everyone involved. Freezer Burn will have you rooting for the underdogs, and cringing at the behind-the-scenes horrors of the freak show.

Freezer Burn

Humor & Satire

In this action packed horror novel set in the old west, Margaret "Peggy" Thomas' peaceful life is turned upside down after the murder of the local sheriff, her husband, James. Peggy, accompanied by a group of misfit companions, will stop at nothing to face her husband's killer, and time is running out. Del Howison has crafted a dark, nuanced tale about justice, found family, and the choices we make in the throes of desperation when faced with nothing to lose. The Survival of Margaret Thomas transcends genre into a tale of hope, heart, and revenge. Margaret Thomas lives a quiet life with her husband James in the small town of Bleak Knob, Missouri. Until one afternoon James is gunned down on the sidewalk in front of her, and she's left to care for the land and herself, alone. With more questions than answers, and years of grief and alcohol, a sudden telegram announcing the upcoming trial of one of James' killers pushes Peggy into action. accompanied by groups of misfit companions, Peggy will stop at nothing to face her husband's killer, and time is running out. Powerful and wrought with adventure, The Survival of Margaret Thomas is the newest in a long line of great American road novels. "Memories are what we take with us, and what we leave behind. As Americans, we all carry, like memories we can't shake off, rich veins of the frontier myths that gave birth to our literature. Del Howison mines these wonderfully." -James Sallis, author of Drive

The Survival of Margaret Thomas

Del Howison

From Edgar Award winner Joe R. Lansdale comes a laugh out loud road novel full of outrageous wit, driven by the power of storytelling as only Lansdale can offer. Jobless, broke, and stuck in East Texas without wheels, Jane is desperate to attend her younger sister's wedding in Boston out of spite. She answers a ride share ad placed by a body building, cookie baking woman named Henrietta (Henry), with a literal wandering eye and a penchant for violence. Henry needs someone to drive her northeast where she claims there's a doctor who can fix her sight. In an unlikely alliance, Jane and Henry take to the road where they'll encounter numerous characters, including an octogenarian crime boss, a rascal riding thief, and a washed up country singer named Cheryl. This incredible journey is a story of heart and quirky friendship at its finest.

Jane Goes North

Humor & Entertainment

joe-r-lansdale

Humor