I gave this five stars.
I don’t often give five stars at Goodreads, and in a lot of cases it’s more like 4.75 stars, ’cause there ain’t many five star books out there (IMO)
But there is the occasional gem, and this here tale by Joe R. Lansdale is one of ’em.
A horror/mystery/coming-of-age tale that just grabs you by the bollocks and yanks you ass-over-tit into it’s own little world.
Set in the early 20th Century, this book evokes a sense of time-travel, in that you feel a part of the era and the life that Lansdale describes. Robert McCammon does it, Dallas Mayr does it, King does it, a few others do it too. Lansdale does it as well as any of them. Brilliant, living characters, vibrant families, despicable rednecks, Klanners you just wanna kick in the nuts…they all live and breath between these pages.
So c’mon, take a little trip with the Gang in The Bottoms.
Meet the Goat-man, find a sliced up body, escape the Klan and don’t forget to go a-sleuthin’ with Grandma, now y’hear?

Five out of five for Mr Lansdale on this book. What a great author!

GNB