
Sunset and Sawdust
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Narrated by:
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Joe R. Lansdale
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By:
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Joe R. Lansdale
About this listen
So most everyone is surprised and angry when, thanks to the unexpected understanding of her mother-in-law, three-quarter owner of the mill, Sunset is named the new constable. And they're even more surprised when she dares to take the job seriously: beginning an investigation into the murder of a woman and an unborn baby whose oil-drenched bodies are discovered buried on land belonging to the only black landowner in town. Yet no one is more surprised than Sunset herself when the murders lead her, through a labyrinth of greed, corruption, and unspeakable malice, not only to the shocking conclusion of the case, but to a well of inner strength she never knew she had.
Lansdale brings the thick backwoods and swamps of East Texas vividly to life, and he paints a powerfully evocative picture of a time when Jim Crow and the Klan ruled virtually unopposed, when the oil boom was rolling into and over Texas, when any woman who didn't know her place was considered a threat and a target. In Sunset, he gives us a woman who defies all expectations, wrestling a different place for herself with spirit and spit, cunning and courage. And in Sunset and Sawdust he gives us a wildly energetic novel, galvanizing from first to last.
©2004 Joe R. Lansdale (P)2004 Random House, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Jack Parker knows all too well how treacherous turn-of-the-century East Texas can be. His parents did not survive a smallpox epidemic. His grandfather was murdered. Now his sister Lula has been kidnapped by a criminal who may believe wearing a dead man's clothes protects them both from death. With bounty hunter Shorty, a charismatic and cunning dwarf, and Eustace, a gravedigging son of an ex-slave, the heartbroken young Jack sets off on an epic quest to rescue his sister from the corrupt men who control much of the new territory.
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Performance
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story was great
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Loved it!
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Of Mice and Minestrone
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Performance
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Story
Hap Collins looks like a good ol’ boy. But even in his misspent youth, his best pal is Leonard Pine, who is Black, gay, and the ultimate outsider. Inseparable friends, Hap and Leonard climb into the boxing ring, visit their families, get in bar fights, and just go fishing - all the while confronting racists, righting wrongs, and eating a whole lot of delicious food.
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Wringing every last drop
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Moon Lake
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Story
Daniel Russell was only 13 years old when his father tried to kill them both by driving their car into Moon Lake. Miraculously surviving the crash - and growing into adulthood - Daniel returns to the site of this traumatic incident in the hopes of recovering his father's car and bones. As he attempts to finally put to rest the memories that have plagued him for years, he discovers something even more shocking among the wreckage that has ties to a twisted web of dark deeds, old grudges, and strange murders.
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The endlessly inventive mind of Joe R. Lansdale whips up yet another batch of stories to amaze, surprise, and entertain you. His new offering covers a lot of territory, producing what may be his best short story collection yet. It's the usual wild and crowd-pleasing display of what has become a subgenre of modern literature as only Joe R. Lansdale can present it.
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A great run of short stories...
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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 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.
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Double Indemnity remake
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In the field of country noir—the dark side of rural and small-town America—Lansdale staked his claim to East Texas with The Nightrunners. A '66 Chevy bears down on the countryside, with a carful of vicious teenagers and evil of Biblical proportions, in this terrifying morality tale of sex and violence.
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Harry Wilkes is plagued by visions - images of murdered bodies and violent assaults - that are triggered by everyday noises. The smallest noise can trigger a vision of violence from the past; it doesn't matter how long ago it took place. Since childhood he's fought to suppress these visions, and he has changed his habits in order to avoid the nightmares. But when he rescues a drunk from a bar fight, he makes a life-long friend who will help him learn how to use his strange ability to his advantage
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Not great but good
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Overall
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Performance
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From the dusty Great Depression to the far future to the Wild West to the era of big-fin automobiles, soda shops, and double features, as well as dark journey on an icy ocean full of ravenous sharks and a fantastic shipwreck that leads its survivors into a nightmarish Lovecraftian world of monsters and mystery, Joe R. Lansdale returns with a pack of stories for your consumption and enjoyment.
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Enjoyable Short Stories
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By: Joe R. Lansdale
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Cold in July
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
Richard Dane has killed a man. He cannot unhear the firing of the gun or unsee the blood on his living room wall. But everybody in the small town of LaBorde, Texas, knows Dane acted in self-defense. Everybody except Ben Russel, the ex-con father of the small-time criminal who invaded Dane's home. When Russel comes looking for revenge against Dane's family, the two are unexpectedly drawn into a conspiracy that conceals the vilest of crimes.
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Very dark and different yet boring
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By: Joe R. Lansdale
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Edge of Dark Water
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- Unabridged
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May Lynn was once a pretty girl who dreamed of becoming a Hollywood star. Now she's dead, her body dredged up from the Sabine River.
Sue Ellen, May Lynn's strong-willed teenage friend, sets out to dig up May Lynn's body, burn it to ash, and take those ashes to Hollywood to spread around. If May Lynn can't become a star, then at least her ashes will end up in the land of her dreams.
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A great story with touches of Huck Finn.
- By Kathleen on 08-29-12
By: Joe Lansdale
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Leather Maiden
- By: Joe Lansdale
- Narrated by: Tom Butler
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Edgar Award winner Joe R. Lansdale writes outrageous fiction that rockets along with violent spikes of action and intense humor. Gulf War vet Cason Statler has moved back to his East Texas hometown after losing his job as a reporter in Houston (sleeping with both the boss' wife and 30-year-old stepdaughter has a way of ruining career prospects). But when his new gig has him investigating a local girl's disappearance, Cason opens a can of worms that might get him killed.
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Good Story with So-So narration
- By Daniel McAfee on 09-11-12
By: Joe Lansdale
Critic reviews
"The book opens with a cyclone, ends with a plague of grasshoppers and in between there's insanity, extreme violence, sex, grotesques aplenty and an excellent dog. What's not to like?" (Publishers Weekly)
What listeners say about Sunset and Sawdust
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
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Performance
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- carlyt60
- 05-13-19
Story telling at its best!
The narration was good by Joe R Lansdale. He has a story tellers voice. Enjoyed it so much and couldn’t stop listening.
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Overall
- Michael E. Casto
- 02-28-05
Excellent, as usual
As with all of Joe's books that I've read, this was a top-notch story told with a "from the hip" style that draws you in and keeps you on your toes with twists that sneak up on you - there are clues and you may even figure out the gist of it but there's almost always some little something you've overlooked - some thread that helps tie it all together that much tighter that you overlooked even though the clue was sitting there to be seen.
And Joe is great at transporting the reader to a different time and place. It's not always a comfortable time or place and it's not always prett but it's always a fun ride that you're not quite ready to leave when it's run its course.
Normally, I prefer unabridged versions. But to hear Joe read his own story - even abridged - is truly a treat not to be missed.
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- Oran Riojas
- 06-23-16
Lansdale does it again.
Great story. One on which I didn't think I would enjoy but did. Lansdale's voice when great with the story. Can't wait to pick up another one of his books.
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- Dr. Zhivago
- 01-12-21
King Lansdale always delivers
Gentleman Joe is the best and only reader for gothic screwball thriller. Loved it. Davebob says CHECK IT OUT!
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