From the Edgar Award-winning author of the Hap and Leonard series, a hard-boiled novel set in 1960s Texas in which a no-nonsense car salesman faces a tempting decision, a dangerous deal, and an alluring affair.
Ed Edwards is in the used car business, a business built on adjusted odometers, extra-fine print, and the belief that “buyers better beware.” Burdened by an aging, alcoholic mother … better beware.” Burdened by an aging, alcoholic mother constantly on his case to do something worthier of his lighter skin tone and dreaming of a brighter future for himself and his plucky little sister, Ed is ready to get out of the game.
When Dave, his lazy, grease-stained boss at the eponymous dealership Smiling Dave’s sends him to repossess a Cadillac, Ed finally gets the chance to escape his miserable life.
The Cadillac in question was purchased by Frank Craig and his beautiful wife Nancy, owners of a local drive-in and pet cemetery. Fed up with her deadbeat husband and with unfulfilled desires of her own, Nancy suggests to Ed — in the throes of their salacious affair — that they kill Frank and claim his insurance policy. It is a tantalizing offer: the girl, the car, and not one, but two businesses. Ed could finally say goodbye to Smiling Dave’s, and maybe even send his sister to college. But does he have what it takes to see the plan through?
Told with Joe Lansdale’s trademark grit, wit, and dark humor, More Better Deals is a gripping tale of the strange characters and odd dealings that define 1960s East Texas.
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If you like crimes-gone-wrong fiction, this is one hell of a sterling example of the genre. It’s oily in the best possible way, leaving only a couple characters unstained by their own machinations. I especially liked the strong inner voice of the lead, whose fall is gripping throughout the entirety of the novel. Also a big shout-out to the audiobook narrator, who did a superb job giving voice not just to the protagonist but everyone in the novel. His growl was perfect for the lead.
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.
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 July 21st, but you can pre-order here: https://amzn.to/2XyMYP9
*Thanks to Joe Lansdale, Mulholland Books and NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*