Hap and Leonard unite the great cultural and political American divide, with Hap the white straight bleeding heart liberal and Leonard the black, gay hang-'em-high conservative, bonded together forever by a sense of friendship that encompasses love, duty, honour, justice, brotherhood and all that good shit. I think a fairly heavy case can be made that they deserve to be a lot more iconic. One day they'll make a TV series out of the books as good as Justified if not better and the dream will come true halleluia.

Investigating a double murder unsolved by the police, our heroes find out more that they want to about vampire cults, are reluctantly drawn back to the Dixie Mafia and become the target of a world-class professional assassin. Along the way, Leonard has to deal with a break-up and Hap has to cope with a sudden rush of PTSD. Then there's all the usual violence, mayhem, scatalogical humour and general smart-arsery that makes these books such a liberating shot of adrenaline straight to the heart. So damn good the damn good has to wear a coat and tie.