Rating: 
Summary: Just like Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird".
Review: Landsdale has a landslide audience w/ his Hap Collins/Leonard Pine stories. Unfortunately, this isn't one of them. I havent read the new "Captains-Outrageous".
His 1st 5 Collins novels rock.
Rating: 
Summary: HOMEY, HYPNOTIC, AND FRIGHTENING
Review: Joe R. Lansdale is the down-home verison of Stephen King (no affront to either author): with his own distinct regional dialect, he lures you into his web like a seasoned spider and doesn't let up until you're completely entangled. The characters are well-written, the story all-too-real and the climax was unbelievable. Mr. Lansdale's gift is that he tells a compelling tale without being sensationalist: his thoughtful, reflective tone is what keeps you hooked. It is dark and brooding, but excellent. I recommend this for those who enjoy compelling literature and anyone who fancies themselves fans of his work. Mr. Lansdale has earned yet another follower in me.
Rating: 
Summary: Predictable and lacks atmosphere
Review: This book didn't provide any surprises. I knew who the killer was as soon as he was introduced. The identity of the goat boy was no surprise. The little insightful talks with dad were artificially introduced and the interracial relationship seemed artifical as well. I also expected a lot more atmospheric feel to the story.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, Lansdale delivers a novel
Review: Joe Lansdale is one of my top ten favorite authors. His short stories are creative, startling, frightening, gruesome etc. (read High Cotton or Electric Gumbo). However, I have always felt that Lansdale's novels fell short of the mark. He has a tremendous imagination and is able to come up with the most macabre of settings and events which work to his advantage in stories and novellas, but haven't worked so well in the novels. It is hard to create a totally outlandish world and keep the reader's interest through the length of a novel. In The Bottoms Lansdale scales back his fondness for the bizarre--and it works. This is a beautifully crafted story of Depression era East Texas. And this is a story that the reader feels actually could have happened. Lansdale belnds in some supernatural aspects along the way, but these add to the suspense rather than distract from the realism. Another aspect that works is the method for telling the story. The protagonist is an 11 year old boy (Harry)--just the right age for this type of story. Harry is at the cusp of young adulthood. He struggles with looking for answers through his waning belief in the supernatural (Goat Man) and searching for the truth through a common sense approach like his daddy (the small town constable). But what really works is the fact that Harry tells his story some 60 or 70 years later from a rest home. I believe that it is extremely difficult for an author to tell the story of a child through the eyes of that child. Eleven year olds talk and think differently than adults and most times we get stories where the child telling the story sounds very much like a 40 year old--to me that detracts from the tone of the book. In this case, Harry can sound like an adult, because he is an adult retelling a tale of his childhood. It is very effective. Otherwise, Lansdale takes on the themes of poverty, racism and evil and sheds some light on each. Hands down this is Lansdale's best effort at a novel...so far.
Rating:
Summary: One of my Favourites!
Review: This is the first book I've ever read that I can compare to "To Kill A Mockingbird". It's excellent and I didn't want it to ever end. Very good, believable character development and great plot.
Rating:
Summary: Watch out for the Goat Man!!!
Review: While I was not born until 30 years after the events in this novel, I grew up not far from where the events took place. What I can say about it is that Joe Landsdale nailed everything down just right. The speech, the descriptions of the towns and landscape; I did not have a hard time imagining the little town I grew up in as Marvel Creek. A lot had changed since my parents were kids, but a lot hadn't changed. There were still facets of the way things were in "The Bottoms" around when I was a kid. This novel took me back, to memories of my old country grandparents, of the old men who hung around on the town square and shot the breeze, of the old filling stations where you could buy darn near anything, and of my hunting trips with my dog down in the bottoms--yes, we called it that, too, but we lived near a creek instead of the Sabine River. In short, I think that Landsdale hit Depression-Era Texas dead on the money. I didn't live through it, but talking to my parents and grandparents, it sounds pretty close to what they went through. Life was a lot more quiet where I grew up than in Marvel Creek, though. Every character in this book has skeletons in the closet (and in some cases, out of the closet). It's like a cross between "Twin Peaks", "Peyton Place", "Where the Red Fern Grows", and "To Kill a Mockingbird". While virtually everyone is poor, the blacks are poorer than poor, and are expected to know their place in the community. However, young Harry's father, the constable, has a terrible incident in his past that does not allow him to think with the intolerant attitudes of his fellow citizens, which lead to confrontations with the KKK and other less open-minded types. The constable is not exactly a super-sleuth, and there is very little in the way of clues or evidence until the end of the book--he has absolutely no leads (except one that goes terribly wrong). There is liberal use of the "N" word, and justice is not always served, and to be honest, the book is kind of a downer, but somehow inspiring at the same time. I read the parts about the mysterious Goat Man who stalks the Bottoms at night--I actually got chills. Highly, highly recommended; you can read it in a couple of days.
Rating:
Summary: Powerfully endearing
Review: This was the first book I've read by Lansdale and I look forward to reading another. It was an "easy" read - but I loved the simplicity of it - just because it was so down-to-earth and heartwarmingly real. I've heard it compared to To Kill a Mockingbird - and it deserves the comparison. I didn't want it to end - wanting to stay in the towns of Marvel Creek and Pearl Creek - stay in the lives of the engrossing and colorful characters - keep fear at bay with the 1930's residents of these towns dealing with small town murder and a legendary horror figure called the Goat Man. Who cares if certain readers may find the book to be too predictable!!?? The story is a GREAT one - to get lost in and read late into the night (not too late...the Goat Man is out there!!!) You'll love it.
Rating:
Summary: I just can't get enough of these coming of age tales!!!!
Review: Landsdale is without a doubt one of the greatest writers of all time. He does with discriptive language what da vinci did with brush and paint. I absoulutely could not put this book down. The novel absoulutely flowed. This book had everything, a shadowy monster, well developed and very likeable characters, and an unsolved murder. Read it you will not regret it!!!
Rating:
Summary: -
Review: Will skip the plot highlights since it seems we have that well covered. Ok, so it really borrows a lot from Harper Lee. But it has that same slow ambling pace that pulls you along with it. All in all, it was a satisfying read from beginning to end.
Rating: 
Summary: derivative and poorly written
Review: I got a copy of this book when I read that it had won the Edgar as best mystery novel of the year but was terribly disappointed. As others have noted, borrowings from To Kill A Mockingbird are so blatant that the big surprise about the identity of the Goat Man comes as no surprise at all. And anyone with any experience at all reading mysteries will smell the kller before the halfway point of the novel. A major disappointment.
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