The Donut Legion

Dust jacket and interior illustrations by Dirk Berger.

Published by SST Publications.

“As usual, Lansdale's prose is tight, he has laced his highly entertaining story with sly humor, and he has populated it with a cast of quirky characters. This time, they include a brutish, 7-foot-tall arsonist, a cantankerous sheriff, a loveable police dog named Tag, and a cowboy-hat-wearing chimpanzee who rips people's arms off.”

—Bruce DeSilva, Associated Press


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.

Signed Limited Hardcover Edition:

• Limited to only 500 signed and hand-numbered copies
• Personally signed by Joe R. Lansdale and Dirk Berger on a specially designed full-colour illustrated signature page
• Larger 6.14” x 9.21” trim size
• Printed on a heavier 100gsm acid-free paper
• Bound in premium cloth with coloured head and tail bands
• Hot foil stamping on the front boards and spine
• Offset printed and bound with full-colour endpapers
• Sewn binding for increased durability
  Featuring eight interior illustrations and a full colour fold-out printed on 130gsm Silk Art stock and tipped into the book
  Dust jacket and interior artwork by Dirk Berger

From Publishers Weekly:

“…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.”

From Booklist:

“Whether in his celebrated Hap and Leonard series or in many fine stand-alones (Moon Lake, 2021), Lansdale has always displayed a master chef’s hand at blending genre and tone—horror, crime, coming-of-age realism, black humor—into perfectly emulsified, tasty entrées… Mixing horror and thriller is fairly commonplace these days, but few can match Lansdale at finding wit and tenderness bobbing along in the wake of the gore.”

From Kirkus:

“Lansdale takes a break from his loopy tales of Hap and Leonard for an East Texas story that’s much, much weirder.”

From Gabino Iglesias, in Locus:

“The Donut Legion works on many levels. The dialogue is superb, the humor is relentless, and the pacing and action are outstanding. The core of the plot is a mix of mystery and thriller, but there’s a bit of horror, a touch of science fiction, and that bit of weirdness that Lansdale always brings to the table, most of which, in this case, comes from a chimpanzee on a leash that may or may not play a huge role in the way the cult dishes out justice.”