RUMBLE TUMBLE

RUMBLE TUMBLE Joe R. Lansdale (Mysterious Press, $22) A twister just blew Hap Collins' house away, and he's having second thoughts about shacking up with his girlfriend, Brett, an ex-Sweet Potato Queen. But he's perked up by another trip with buddy Leonard Pine, this time to Hootie Hoot, Okla., to rescue Brett's daughter from a passel of thugs. Lansdale teeters on the edge of credibility, but his zest for storytelling and gimlet eye for detail make it almost possible to swallow characters like Red, a midget with big-time attitude, and his brother Herman, whose ''profession'' is sucking prairie dogs out of the dirt. Hap, a sorrowful guy who compares himself to a fly at the bottom of a bottle, gets more heroic with each adventure. B+