Things Get Ugly: The Best Crime Fiction of Joe R. Lansdale

**In this career retrospective of nineteen unforgettable crime tales, Edgar Award-winning author Joe R. Lansdale brings his legendary mojo and witty grit to harrowing heists, revenge, homicide, and mayhem. In these stories, Lansdale shows exactly why critics continue to compare him to Elmore Leonard, Donald Westlake, Flannery O’Connor, and William Faulkner.** In the 1950s, a young small-town projectionist mixes it up with a violent gang. When Mr. Bear is not alerting us to the dangers of forest fires, he lives a life of debauchery and murder. A brother and sister travel to Oklahoma to recover the dead body of their uncle. No matter how they begin, things are bound to get ugly—and fast. Foreword by S. A. Cosby, author of the New York Times bestseller Razorblade Tears TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword by S. A. Cosby Introduction by Joe R. Lansdale “The Steel Valentine” “Driving to Geronimo’s Grave” “Mr. Bear” “The Job” “Six Finger Jack” “The Shadows, Kith and Kin” “The Ears” “Santa at the Café” “I Tell You It’s Love” “Dead Sister” “Booty and the Beast” “Boys Will Be Boys” “Billie Sue” “The Phone Woman” “Dirt Devils” “Drive in Date” “Rainy Weather” “Incident On and Off a Mountain Road” “The Projectionist”