Una Cadillac rosso fuoco

by Joe R. Lansdale, Manuela Francescon (Translator)

Ed Edwards lavora nel business delle auto di seconda mano. Un settore fatto di contachilometri truccati, catorci arrugginiti e l’idea che debba essere il cliente a non farsi fregare. Appesantito da una madre alcolizzata, che non perde occasione per farlo sentire un fallito, Ed aspetta soltanto la chance giusta per svoltare. Così, quando si ritrova a pignorare una Cadillac nuova di zecca che i proprietari hanno smesso di pagare, il suo momento sembra arrivato: la Caddy era di Frank Craig e del suo schianto di moglie Nancy, proprietari di un drive-in e un cimitero per animali. Stufa del marito ubriacone e desiderosa di rifarsi una vita, Nancy propone a Ed – con cui finisce a letto al secondo incontro – di uccidere Frank, riscuotere la loro assicurazione e gestire insieme gli affari. È un’offerta allettante, ma Ed avrà veramente il fegato di andare fino in fondo?

Genres: Crime, Fiction, Mystery, Noir, Thriller, Audiobook, Hard Boiled

263 pages, Paperback

First published July 21, 2020

About the author

Champion Mojo Storyteller Joe R. Lansdale is the author of over forty novels and numerous short stories. His work has appeared in national anthologies, magazines, and collections, as well as numerous foreign publications. He has written for comics, television, film, newspapers, and Internet sites. His work has been collected in more than two dozen short-story collections, and he has edited or co-edited over a dozen anthologies. He has received the Edgar Award, eight Bram Stoker Awards, the Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the British Fantasy Award, the Grinzani Cavour Prize for Literature, the Herodotus Historical Fiction Award, the Inkpot Award for Contributions to Science Fiction and Fantasy, and many others. His novella Bubba Ho-Tep was adapted to film by Don Coscarelli, starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis. His story "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" was adapted to film for Showtime's "Masters of Horror," and he adapted his short story "Christmas with the Dead" to film hisownself. The film adaptation of his novel Cold in July was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and the Sundance Channel has adapted his Hap & Leonard novels for television.

He is currently co-producing several films, among them The Bottoms, based on his Edgar Award-winning novel, with Bill Paxton and Brad Wyman, and The Drive-In, with Greg Nicotero. He is Writer In Residence at Stephen F. Austin State University, and is the founder of the martial arts system Shen Chuan: Martial Science and its affiliate, Shen Chuan Family System. He is a member of both the United States and International Martial Arts Halls of Fame. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas with his wife, dog, and two cats.

Reviews

[Char · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ed Edwards is a used car salesman sent to repossess a car. His life is never the same!

Ed's life is nothing to brag about-hell, he sells used cars after all. He's a combat veteran that served in Korea and he has seen some things. When he's sent to the house of Frank and Nancy Craig to take back the car they haven't paid for, he cannot help but give Nancy a second look-maybe even a third. Nancy tells him how terrible Frank is, how he's a philanderer, a no-good wife beater and an alcoholic. Before you know it, Nancy and Ed concoct a scheme to knock Frank off and we're off to the races! Are they successful? Will they live happily ever after together? You'll have to read this to find out.

With a serious James M. Cain vibe, (Double Indemnity,especially), the reader knows from the outset that things aren't going to go smoothly. In true Lansdale style though, one cannot guess just how far off the rails this plan went. Dealing with so many problems, racism being one of them, his boss dying yet another, you can't help but feel a little sorry for Ed. He's not the best guy in the world, but when he goes to visit his mother, we can see he did pretty well considering where he started.

Every twist and turn adds another new aspect to the tale, until as Ed himself says "One thing weighs on the other, and finally it all just gets too heavy." I loved how everything came together in the end because it wasn't all dolled up in a new dress. The finale was true to the story, painful and harsh. I loved it.

Joe Lansdale is a national treasure. In any genre, in anything he sets his mind to he has a distinctive voice. It's one I've grown to love over the years and I'll bet you love it too if you decide to give his books a try. I recommend all of them!

Available today! https://amzn.to/3jnTKA1

Thanks to Joe Lansdale, Mulholland Books and NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first began writing this review of “More Better Deals” by Joe R. Lansdale I was going to draw some kind of comparison between it and Cain’s “Double Indemnity”. The more I thought about that notion; I realized it would be like comparing pepper to Jalapenos, a completely different flavor sensation. It’s got to be an age old yarn where the unhappily married femme fatal runs across some shit for brains schlemiel (used car salesman) and when the subject of a large insurance policy arises ,the conversation of murder arising won’t be far behind.

Here is an example.. when Ed Edwards, our used car schlemiel, first goes to Nancy’s home (the fatal with nice legs) to reposes her car and ends up vigorously copulating with her, Nancy says to him, “You’re the dumbest son of a bitch ever squatted to shit over a pair of shoes” (p. 27)

Ed reply’s “I’ll accept that.”

As with most ill-conceived schemes things don’t go according to plan.

This is perhaps not Mr. Lansdale’s best book. Having said that, it’s still Lansdale doing what he does best.

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

"It's all right, baby. It's all falling into place. We're going to fix that bastard up, collect that insurance money, then you and me, we're going to shoot for the stars."

And so yet another lust-crazed couple, who've obviously never read James M. Cain, decides to off the woman's husband for the money . . .

I doubt it's a spoiler to say that things don't go well.


Poor Joe Lansdale - he's his own worst enemy. He's set the bar SO high with many of his other titles, that he's made it hard to live up to . . . himself. Here's a book that would have made a decent enough little crime thriller by any other author, but we've all come to expect so much MORE from Lansdale that this one fails to thrill. Though a few fun twists have been added to a rather formulaic plot, what's missing is Lansdale's incredible sense of humor; there's no comic relief whatsoever.

To reiterate: from somebody else - this is an okay read.
From Joe R. Lansdale - a disappointment.

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Jesus Christ, what had I done?" -- duped used car salesman Ed Edwards, page 128

I know Joe R. Lansdale is a prolific author (though I've only read one of his previous books) with a good reputation, so I guess I was hoping his latest More Better Deals - a crime story set in a mid-60's Texas small town - would serve up a nice little piece of hard-boiled drama. Unfortunately, it seems derivative of and/or too much in the shadow of other similar-ish works like James M. Cain's classic Double Indemnity or, for an even more obscure reference, the 1990 film The Hot Spot (which itself was based on crime novelist Charles Williams' 1952 book Hell Hath No Fury). It was a very basic plot - a reserved working stiff begins an affair with an attractive but unhappily married woman, and soon enough this duo is plotting the murder of her husband for the insurance windfall - that didn't offer much in the way of style or surprises. The dialogue was flat, the characters were nonentities (I would say unlikeable as well, but that's sort of to be expected in such a tale), and if you are a well-read person, or just a fan of film noir, you will probably be able to predict the twists or outcome.

[Kelly (and the Book Boar) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/



I know they can’t all be winners, but for this unpolished turd of a cliché with hardly a story propelling it forward to have come from the mind of the man who created Hap and Leonard and who is capable of writing some seriously stellar grit lit is practically a crime. If you’re looking for some modern noir, might I recommend dipping your toe in the lady pond and picking up Sunburn, because this one????



ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When used car salesman Ed Edwards meets drive-in owner Nancy Craig, the sparks are immediate. The only hitch: Nancy's husband with a substantial insurance policy...

I'm a Lansdale fan from the pre-Internet age and it's hard for me to pass up one of his books. I'm a little behind in my mojo reading since my son was born but I finally made time to read this.

The setup for More Better Deals feels a lot like Double Indemnity but the characters and the execution are where the books diverge. Ed Edwards is a mixed race man passing as white, wanting to finally hit the big time instead of being a used car salesman. When Nancy shows up with a story about an abusive husband and the gates of heaven under her skirt, Ed is powerless to resist.

Since the big murder happens early in the book, there's plenty of time for the wheels to come off the plan and everyone to go to hell. Murder leads to kidnapping to whatever else before all is said and done. Complicating things are Ed's mom's drinking problem and everything that goes with it.

Lansdale's easy tone and hilarious dialog propel the story along. I could read a book about two Lansdale characters just sitting on tailgate bullshitting with each other. Nancy had a flashing neon sign reading "Trouble" pointed at her from the beginning but I could see where Ed was coming from. When shit goes south, it goes south hard.

More Better Deals is the high octane, mojo version of Double Indemnity. Four out of five stars.

[Cody | CodysBookshelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this book in one sitting and immediately messaged my friend Char of Char’s Horror Corner (and fellow Joe Lansdale fan), telling her she needs to get her hands on this book ASAP. Luckily she has an ARC, and I eagerly await her review... :)

More Better Deals is Joe Lansdale doing what he does best: telling a kick-ass East Texas story filled with memorable characters and wacky happenings and twists you’ll never see coming. Well, I didn’t see them coming anyway!

When I found out this one was set in the early ‘60s and was about a used car salesmen helping a young wife kill her husband for his insurance money, I just knew I had to read it—and it didn’t disappoint. Lansdale takes this setup and runs wild, never taking foot off the gas pedal but instead ratcheting up the tension and suspense until the reader almost can’t take it anymore. It reminded me of the very best of Hap & Leonard (a series I still desperately need to finish . . .)

Interested in checking out Lansdale? Start here. Already a Lansdale fan? Well, what are you waiting for. A gritty crime noir wrapped up in some horror and suspense, this is a delectable gumbo as could be cooked by only the Champion Mojo Storyteller.

More Better Deals releases in July. Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC!

[Amos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is she playing him?
Is he playing her?
Or are they both getting played like a new slick deck of 52?
Everybody best keep their stories straight because baaaad things happen to those that slip!

3 1/2 Duplicitous Stars

[Come Musica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edwards è il protagonista di questo romanzo. Ha la pelle bianca, ma non è un bianco, come si potrebbe erroneamente dedurre: Ed (lo chiamano tutti così) è il secondogenito di una coppia mista. Sua madre è bianca, suo padre è di colore. Il figlio maggiore della coppia è quello con la pelle più scura, e non vive più nella stessa città, è andato via e sembra, tra i tre fratelli, quello che sia riuscito meglio nella vita. La terza figlia, Melinda, è quella ad avere la pelle più bianca di tutti.

In un'America, in cui i problemi legati alla segregazione razziale sono ancora irrisolti, la storia di Ed e Melinda, e la loro voglia di riscatto per essere considerati dei bianchi a tutti gli effetti, è quanto mai attuale: questo è, secondo me, il fulcro dell'intero racconto.

L'altra protagonista di questo romanzo è una macchina: una Cadillac rossa.
È una credenza comune quella di pensare che chiunque ne possieda una sia ricco: Ed lo sa bene e, nel negozio di auto usate in cui lavora, non appena vede dei clienti interessati a una Cadillac cerca di ricavare il massimo guadagno.

I soldi sono il chiodo fisso di Ed. Perché più ne ha, più può ricostruirsi una vita da vero bianco insieme alla sorella, ed andare via, altrove, lontano dalla madre che ha in mente solo la bottiglia e che non si può recuperare: in fondo che male c'è a darsi un altro futuro, uno migliore, lontano dalle sofferenze e dalle umiliazioni?

Quanto costerà a Ed, in termini di vite umane, lavarsi il sangue perché diventi completamente uguale a quello di un bianco, eliminando ogni singolo globulo di sangue nero?

In questo finale di partita con il destino, Ed, pur ricevendo tantissime avvisaglie, va avanti ad oltranza, e abbagliato da Nancy viene trascinato in un vortice di delitti.

Ad un passo però dallo scacco matto mortale, Ed si ferma, sceglie, e salva la parte migliore di se stesso, che è altro da lui, quella che ha tutte le carte in regola per farcela, quella che è ancora pulita, quella che è abbastanza in gamba da riuscire a nascondere un elefante dietro un albero.


La scrittura di Joe R. Lansdale è avvincente, piacevole e la lettura scorre anche nel caso di questo suo nuovo libro.

tra 3 e 4 stelle: 3 per la trama che non mi ha convinta fino in fondo, 5 per la piacevolezza, 4 per la scrittura.


- La mia brevissima video presentazione su Twitter è stata retwittata da Lansdale in persona. Ok, promesso, resto umile, ma adesso sono emozionantissima!!!

https://twitter.com/VentagliP/status/...

[Holly (The GrimDragon) · Rating 2 out of 5]

“There’s a dead man outside and there’s a gun on the ground along with your shoebox full of money in the dead man’s car.”

More Better Deals is the latest book by the prolific Joe R. Lansdale.

Ed Edwards is a biracial used car salesman in 1960’s Texas. He’s a Korean war veteran, taking care of his alcoholic mother and younger sister. One day he is sent to the house of Frank and Nancy Craig, owners of the local drive-in and pet cemetary, because the payment for their Cadillac is overdue. It’s either pay the bills or have it repossessed, except that Frank is missing. With the Caddy. And Nancy? Sparks fly immediately between them.

Then Nancy tells Ed that shitbird Frank is an abusive alcoholic. Soon, the two of them plot to murder him for the life insurance money and take over the businesses.

Except things do not go as planned and Ed quickly finds finds himself in over his head.

Rape, abuse, misogny, racism. More Better Deals is a familiar crime noir story that had me riding the struggle bus in the beginning.. an experience that I’ve never had with a Lansdale novel before. Within the first seven pages, I was rolling my eyes all the way back into my head. I mean–

“She was blond in a cheap out-of-the-bottle way, had arched eyebrows and lips that could talk a man into anything, maybe some women. She wasn’t wearing any makeup. She didn’t need it. She was barefoot with long, brown legs in snow-white short-shorts so tight you couldn’t have slipped a shoe spoon into them, and there was more nice business in a tight blue blouse that had a kind of pull tie across her belly. I could see her navel. It was a nice navel. I’d have licked champagne or chocolate out of that navel. Fact was, I might have licked pond water out of it if that’s what she had in it.”

If you know me at all, I’m sure you can picture the unimpressed expression on my face as I read that scene. Fucking hell. The fact that I continued on after that example of MALE AUTHORS WRITING FEMALE CHARACTERS BADLY, let alone managed to finish, is a testament to what a writer Lansdale is. It’s a quick read with just over 250 pages. In many ways, I feel as though this could have been more successful as a story told through the graphic novel format. The material as it was here was stretched within this full-length novel.

Is Lansdale one of my favorite writers? Yes. Is he generally reliable in the quality of writing he puts out? Hell yes. Unfortunately, More Better Deals was lacking the usual Lansdale characterization, dialogue, storytelling and heart that I’ve come to expect.

YMMV!

(Thanks to Mulholland Books for sending me a copy!)

**The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication**

[Michael Hicks · Rating 3 out of 5]

My review of MORE BETTER DEALS can be found at High Fever Books.

More Better Deals sees Joe R. Lansdale on plenty of familiar turf in this 1960s Texas noir.

Used car salesman Ed Edwards is set to repo a fancy red Cadillac after payments stop coming in, but in the process finds himself seduced by the car owner's wife, Nancy. As their tawdry one-night fling turns into a regular romance, Ed learns that Frank routinely beats his wife, and, having fallen hard for Nancy, decides he'll do anything for her. Like help her kill Frank, for instance, and cash in on the insurance policy he leaves behind, as well as the drive-in movie theater and pet cemetery he owns and operates. There's a lot of benefit to killing Frank beyond staking a claim to honey pot Nancy, Ed decides, and their plan is foolproof. What could go wrong?

Well, if you've ever read a noir story before, you'll know there is, in fact, plenty that can go wrong, and it certainly does to be sure. Lansdale knows exactly what kind of story More Better Deals is, and he tells it with assured style. The main problem is, from the standpoint of the plot, is that it's not particularly fresh or original. It is entertaining as hell, to be sure, but the general terrain of it all is so well-trod that there's not much room for surprises or fresh discoveries. You can figure out all the twists in the book's latter half pretty well right from the get-go, making this a book that's ultimately less about the destination as the journey to get there. It isn't ever a question of who's going to ultimately betray whom, but when and how.

While the plot feels very much like a clone of a thousand other noirs, it does at least have that Lansdale flair for the unusual to keep your interest. What other noir, and what other author, would be able to present the prizes of a drive-in theater and pet cemetery, and maybe the chance to open their own used car lot, as satisfactory recompose for murder? It's so odd you can't help but be engaged by its outlandishness!

Equally compelling is the character of Ed Edwards and his burgeoning relationship with Nancy. Ed's got a real smart mouth on him, and plenty of ambition in the hopes that he can finally succeed well enough to stop his alcoholic mama from badgering him. He's got some additional shades of complexity to him, as well, being of mixed race but able to pass as a white man in racist, post-Korean War Texas. If anybody found out he had even a drop of Black blood in his veins, his life would be radically upended, or just ended altogether. The racial element plays into the plot rather nicely, and provides plenty of social commentary on the state of the 60s in the south.

Lansdale writing, too, is enough to keep you turning the pages, and his prose is so honeyed and smooth the pages damn near turn their own selves for you. He keeps the chapters short, which helps a lot too, making the pace rapid-fire while you think, over and over, "well, just one more chapter." You'll have this thing read right quick, it flows so nice.

Interesting characters and great dialogue keep an otherwise all-too-familiar story afloat, and More Better Deals succeeds at being an easy comfort read.

[Hunter Shea · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say? It's Joe Lansdale. It's great. Buy it. Read it. Dig it.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joe Lansdale is one of our best authors and a total genre chameleon. He jumps from genre to genre with no warning and succeeding better than most, whether it’s horror, buddy comedies, westerns, or coming-of-age dramas. And even though he’s a chameleon, he still stands out in each lane because he has a voice all his own.

Now, he’s back again with a straight noir worthy of the Gold Medal or Black Lizard label. It follows a used car salesman and passing mixed-race, Korean War veteran named Ed Edwards who wants the White American Dream for himself: the dream of owning a business, having a white woman on his arm, and making enough money to send his sister to school. And to get that, he’ll do anything, whether it’s sleep with another man’s bored wife, or plot a murder or three!

This one was extremely enjoyable, and it's Lansdale doing what he does best, plotting a well-paced backwoods noir with enough violence, sex, and betrayal to make Gil Brewer or Charles Williams smile, and doing it with the knack for humor, dialogue, and dramatic irony that we’ve come to love from the author!

[Philip Fracassi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, I loved this book by Joe Lansdale. An old school hard-boiled bang-up crime novel filled with good-for-nuthin characters, leggy dames, crooked cops and wise-crackin' not-so-wise guys. This thing could bend steel then sell it to you for good luck. It's a lot of dark, scuzzy fun that plays as a throwback with some modern ideals to smooth it over, all tied deftly with some overriding difficult themes that'll make you think a little in the bargain. Fans of mid-century crime / anti-hero P.I. novels will find a lot to love here. This time around Lansdale brings the heat and the charm - highly recommend.

[Anna [Floanne] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Se non avete mai letto niente del genere hard-boiled e volete farvene un’idea, questo è il libro giusto. Lansdale mescola perfettamente elementi tipici della cultura statunitense come il drive-in e la ricerca del successo ad ogni costo, con sesso, molta violenza e un pizzico di mistero. Intrigante e avvincente, grazie anche ai capitoli brevi e allo stile asciutto ed essenziale.

Voto 3.5 stelle

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

See Kurt Reichenbaugh’s review for a reflection of my very thoughts. He expresses it perfectly.

[Bookreporter.com Mystery & Thriller · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the last several years, Joe R. Lansdale has been publishing books as if he hears the clock winding down. That may be so, but the quantity of his work has not affected the quality in any way. MORE BETTER DEALS, which is his third book published in 2020, is one of his best, loaded with dark imagery, hilariously layered dialogue, tight plotting and unforgettable characters. It is also one of the must-read novels of this or any year.

MORE BETTER DEALS is told in the voice of Ed Edwards, an unapologetic crook, shyster and thief. Ed has the opportunity to bring all of these vocational qualities to bear in his profession as a used-car salesman. He is a walking, talking cliché, only worse. While the tale is set in 1964 in east Texas, it could take place in 2020 in central Ohio or anywhere that a used-car dealership is set up in a former gas station lot festooned with pennant flags.

We learn all we need to know about Ed and his employer, Smiling Dave, within the first few paragraphs. Lansdale makes the introductions and then wastes very little time getting things rolling when Dave tasks Ed with repossessing a Cadillac recently sold to Frank and Nancy Craig. Frank isn’t home when Ed gets there, but Nancy most certainly is, and it doesn’t take long for them to become mutually ensnared and figure out a way to get Frank out of the picture permanently.

If this is starting to sound like a certain James M. Cain novel or your favorite Kathleen Turner movie, you would be correct, at least at first. What readers of this author’s work already know is that a Lansdale book is going to be special. Even if he adapted THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE, it would come out differently. Lansdale doesn’t do that. Instead, he matter-of-factly throws in a bit of a surprise about Ed, tosses a drive-in movie theater into the mix, adds a pet cemetery, and makes the reader wonder if Ed is going to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, or vice versa.

What occurs is what happens when folks get together to work for a common cause but for different reasons and don’t know when to stop. I was reminded at various points of the film Bad Lieutenant, a Warren Zevon song (NOT “Werewolves of London”), and the book and movie to which I previously alluded. MORE BETTER DEALS is different from all of them while being absolutely, positively classic Lansdale right up to the last page.

As one might expect, the book is worth reading twice (or more) for the dialogue alone. There is one description where Lansdale, with just a few words, potentially angers everyone at all points on the political spectrum. As for the characters, any adult who has ever bought a used car, been in a relationship with someone more attractive than they are, or feels like they have a target on their back will immediately identify with Ed, among others.

Put MORE BETTER DEALS at the top of your must-read pile. You won’t be sorry if you do and will hate yourself if you don’t.

Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joe R. Lansdale does for mid century country noir what he did for Western fiction in" The Thicket" which is to say, he completely nailed both. "More Better Deals" is a classic Texas tale of lust, greed, murder, kidnapping and racism wrapped around laugh out loud snappy dialogue and a twist ending. Nobody does Texas country dialogue like Joe R. Lansdale which is reason enough to jump on this highly entertaining novel. You won't be disappointed.

[Buddy Scalera · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid noir that feels like "Double Indemnity," if it took place in Texas.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

There used to be a car dealership in my area owned by a Morris Moore. The tagline to all his advertisements was “Moore Better Deals.” Joe Lansdale writing a book with essentially that title about a used car salesman was synchronicity. I managed to miss this book in 2020 when it was published but I was happy to play catch up. More Better Deals is dark as pitch. There are no heroes in this book. I would’ve enjoyed it more if the main character hadn’t dropped around forty IQ points midway through the action (thus the four stars.) I found this very reminiscent of the work of James M Cain and (if film is your thing) the Coen Brothers movie Blood Simple. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

[Jon Levesque · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic, clever noir by a master of storytelling. “More Better Deals” is a classic crime noir mixing elements of “Double Indemnity”, “The Postman Always Rings Twice” and a touch of “The Big Sleep” wrapped in Lansdale’s humorous banter that weaves throughout the story. I’m a big fan of Lansdale’s work, especially his Hap and Leonard series, and “More Better Deals” delivers the goods.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

At the intersection where Mark Twain meets John Steinbeck in a diner run by James M. Cain you will find Joe R. Lansdale's latest offering: More Better Deals. A bit profound, a little profane, and all good!

East Texas' own Mojo Master of genre-bending fiction returns to the crime genre for this witty noir tale of a used car salesman looking to get ahead any way he can. Like many of those who populate the Lansdale fiction-verse Ed Edwards is a small town guy with a myopic vision of success... the payoff is modest but the stakes are life and death.

Scheming with the adulterous wife of a local businessman in a deadly game that rapidly spins out of control Ed finds out that he's not quite as smart as he thought.

This is the good stuff! Lansdale at or very near the top of his game.

Whether you're a long time disciple, a casual fan, or someone who simply stumbled in by happenstance and find yourself asking, "Joe who...? Mojo what...?" you can't go wrong with More Better Deals.

***Contains adult language, adult situations, and language that some readers may find objectionable (including racial slurs)

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy sitting down to a Joe Lansdale book and MORE BETTER DEALS is just my cup of tea. His style and stories appeal to my sensibilities...not sure what that says about either of us. If you want to know what this book is like, it's a cross between between Double Indemnity and Hell Hath No Fury by Charles Williams. It's a guy who falls for the wrong woman and it's going to get messy. A book well worth your time.

[Joe Kraus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this one and drove it off the lot. As advertised, it runs.

There’s a lot of fun in the concept here: Double Indemnity meets the underbelly of last generation’s used car sales world. Add in a touch of racial tension, and you’ve got everything you need for a compelling story.

As it is, after a slow-moving start, I enjoyed the way things began to unfold. It’s a lot of fun to see Ed, a decent guy only by the standards of used car salesmen, slowly give in to Nancy’s charms. He holds back from her obvious sexuality, but only for so long. And when she gets beaten up repeatedly by her husband, he plays the white knight – with the added bonus of some nice cash – and kills him.

All that unfolds thoughtfully. Here’s a guy who thinks he has an edge, a guy who’s just smart enough to pull off the crime but not smart enough to sense the extent to which the woman has set him up. It’s an echo of classic noir, and I’m good with it.

For a moment, I thought it was all unfolding to the Double Indemnity model. We do have an insurance agent who’s suspicious, someone who holds up the payment and seems to raise the stakes for the murdering pair. To that point – with the added tension that Ed is trying to hide his African-American heritage – I thought this might be a real winner, that rare care off the used car lot worth more than its sticker price.

Things go sideways, though, and I think Lansdale loses some control of his story. Instead of trying to lie low, Ed and Nancy proceed to kidnap the agent’s daughter, pulling off another crime. And then, further complicating things, Nancy has an old pimp who’s ready to take Ed out.

It works, but it seems unnecessarily busy next to the more elegant plot that this promised earlier. I finished it, even with some enthusiasm, but I confess to a bit of disappointment.

Know what you’re buying when it’s off a lot like this one. It got me around town with decent mileage, but it wasn’t quite the Cadillac in the front window.

[Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pagatele tutte le rate...

Divertente, scorrevole e intrattiene bene, ma a ben guardare è una storia noir 'classica' di quelle già ideate e sviluppate da altri autori molti decenni prima di Lansdale: mi viene in mente 'Il postino suona sempre due volte' passando da una qualunque di quelle di Thompson.

Lansdale si trova a suo agio qui - deve averne lette a vagonate di situazioni identiche a quelle del protagonista Ed; personalmente preferisco guardare al romanzo come a una sorta di tributo al genere più che a una sua 'nuova' creazione, perché di nuovo - di idee parlando - c'è poco.

Se vi comprate una Cadillac, vedete di pagarla tutta e subito, molto meglio per voi.

[Marco Landi · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stelle
Una love story Noir, con tutti gli stilemi del caso..
Ma è così frizzante, ironica, scorretta e rocambolesca che non si riesce a mettere giù.. il lavoro fatto sui personaggi è davvero incredibile, così reali, imperfetti e sporchi.. e i dialoghi sono qualcosa di eccezionale.. non sarà la miglior opera di Lansdale, ma di certo è tra i migliori del genere degli ultimi anni.. diverte, intrattiene, fa riflettere.. da leggere!!

[Tim Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ed Edwards is a used car salesman. Of the more sleazy variety. While repossessing a Cadillac, Ed comes in to contact with Nancy Craig, whose husband owns a drive-in theater and a pet cemetery. Oh...and he's an abusive husband and deadbeat. With a life insurance policy. For those of us who have read a lot of noir...well we know what's coming.

And that is both good and bad. There are a number of times in this book where it feels a bit like we are re-running "Double Indemnity." And then there are times when it feels like we are re-running Charles Williams' "Hell Hath No Fury." And this is definitely a book where Lansdale wears his influences on his sleeve more than usual. But you have to trust the master. He pulls out just enough twists and turns to make the book different and interesting. No, it's not his best work. But from anyone else this would be a highlight. But from Lansdale it's just a good entry in his oeuvre.

[Angus McKeogh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good period piece about criminal shenanigans and race relations in the Deep South of the past. Definitely more along the line of the Lansdale stuff I’ve enjoyed in the past.

[Krazylars · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Goodreads Giveaways and Mullholland Books for the advanced readers copy. What a messed up situation!

[Michael J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read, as I've come to expect from the pen of Joe R. Lansdale. Lansdale is the modern equivalent of Mark Twain, writing about mid-century East Texas. He captures the atmosphere, mind-set, values and prejudices of the locals to a tee, especially the poorer working class.
He is a master story-teller as well as an expert at capturing local nuances in his engaging dialogue. Beyond the pure entertainment value of his work, it deserves to be studied by anyone who strives to write compelling fiction.
It's a familiar story premise - - down-on-his-luck aspiring male who's not as smart as he believes hooks up with scheming femme fatale to take down a brutal husband and get rich at the same time. Similar themes have been the setting for many a novel of crime fiction. It's the way Lansdale sets it up, depicts it, and puts his own spin on things that make this seem so fresh. You'll be hooked with a few pages. There were a few plot twists that I anticipated but I still enjoyed the ride.