Mystery

I found an older book in this series that I hadn't read yet at a thrift store. I love his novels; actually I devour them!!

His writing is so beautiful - it reminds me of Charles Dickens' books. I would have to stop and reread certain passages because I was in awe of their writing.

Great book! ( )

My first encounter with James Lee Burke is his 30th novel, but I enjoyed the baroque backstories his characters have developed in my absence. Obviously Burke is willing to wait out new fans, for he can maintain a languorous pace from first page to last. I'm not sure Texas scenery really requires so much gunfire though. He holds attention well enough with closely observed detail to need the large cast of bad guys. But part of the fun is seeing if Burke can find motivation for such popcorn-movie servings of evil.

Much like Blood Meredian, I found this book to have a great deal of senseless violence and too many characters, with changing agendas. It was hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys, especially the religious characters. The basic plot surrounded a technogeek, whose designed drones and was kidnapped to be sold to Al Qaeda until the kidnappers thought the narcs would pay more. I felt ambivalent about Sheriff Hackberry Holland, whose moral compass was often better than his behaviors. I kind of liked the evil Preacher Jack Collins, who helps Holland and his deputy rescue La Magdalena from the Russian gangster (along with another crazed character named Krill.) ( )

Texas, a religious serial killer, FBI, CIA, Russian mafia, Mexican bad guys--mix together in the desert, with memories of Vietnam and Cambodia, and a Chinese mystic and you have a great story by James Lee Burke. If you like your violence with philosophy, beauty and horror mixed into great storytelling, you'll like this book. ( )