Lansdale still dips back into the gonzo-pulp-horror-sci-fi genre that he made his own in the eighties, but ever since he left it largely behind to focus on the Hap and Leonard series and stand-alone thrillers, he's grown considerably as a writer, which isn't a comment on genre but an observation about a writer pushing out of his comfort zone and stretching his writerly muscles. But these depression-era historicals seem to come right out of the heart of him: the poverty and ignorance and backwardness, the grind and the crime and the violence and the almost claustrophobic insularity are all bread and butter to him; but so are the values of family and friendship and tough-headed stubborn virtue and plain-talking common sense that refuses to compromise and the simple dogged pragmatism of setting out to do the impossible whatever the cost. So it is with May Lynn and her friends who set out to take the remains of their murdered friend to Hollywood to honour her dreams of becoming a film star. Along the way, they come into possession of a small fortune in stolen cash. Along with the cash come some very bad men who want to take it off them and one particularly bad man who is a near mythical monster who always gets his prey.