The Donut Legion
A Novel
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4.4 • 19 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
In this standalone, Edgar-award winning author, Joe R. Lansdale, whom "few can match" (Booklist) beams a light on an East Texas town where a QAnon-style, evangelist cult is brewing trouble.
Charlie Garner has a bad feeling. His ex-wife, Meg, has been missing for over a week and one quick peek into her home shows all her possessions packed up in boxes. Neighbors claim she’s running from bill collectors, but Charlie suspects something more sinister is afoot. Meg was last seen working at the local donut shop, a business run by a shadow group most refer to as ‘The Saucer People’; a space-age, evangelist cult who believe their compound to be the site of an extraterrestrial Second Coming.
Along with his brother, Felix, and beautiful, randy journalist Amelia “Scrappy” Moon, Charlie uncovers strange and frightening details about the compound (read: a massive, doomsday storehouse of weapons, a leashed chimpanzee!) When the body of their key informer is found dead with his arms ripped out of their sockets, Charlie knows he’s in danger but remains dogged in his quest to rescue Meg.
Brimming with colorful characters and Lansdale’s characteristic bounce, this rollicking crime novel examines the insidious rise of fringe groups and those under their sway with black comedy and glints of pathos.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this wildly funny if uneven crime yarn from Edgar winner Lansdale (Moon Lake), PI-turned-novelist Charlie Garner is confronted by an apparition of his ex-wife, Meg, at his home in east Texas, who warns him to "beware the great mound within the circle." Unnerved by this ghostly visitation and still holding feelings for his former spouse, he stops by her apartment complex in nearby May Town, but discovers that she and her new husband have mysteriously disappeared. With the aid of his brawny older brother, Felix, who runs a private detective agency, Charlie explores Meg's connection to the doughnut store where she worked and to UFO fanatics who worship a local site where it's believed a flying saucer is buried. Shocking revelations and a spate of grisly deaths spur Charlie to get to the bottom of Meg's disappearance, no matter how hazardous the quest. Though sluggish in places, sharp dialogue and outlandish characters, like the dastardly Cowboy and his flamboyantly dressed chimpanzee, Mr. Biggs, make this high-spirited conspiracy especially enjoyable. Lansdale reliably delivers the goods.
Customer Reviews
Great Characters
Nobody brings great characters to the party like Joe R. Lansdale.