Bitterroot

Rating:
Summary: Darn near perfect
Review: This is a great book. Texan Billy Bob Holland struggles and often fails to control his capacity for violence. He goes to visit a friend in Montana, Doc Voss, who similarly battles his urges to settle things with guns and fists. After Doc nearly kills a biker in a bar fight, three bikers rape his daughter in an apparent act of revenge. But there are so many awful and violent people populating the town, all with mixed up motives and impulses, that the answers to the book's riddles are far from apparent. Billy Bob frequently talks to the the ghost of his friend LQ Navarro, whom he shot accidentally during a gun battle with Mexican drug dealers, adding a melancholy personification of his inner battles. Burke brings a strong literary touch to the tough guy genre. His books are packed with imagery and his characters are all unique (don't buy into the Robicheaux and Holland are the same character foolishness). This book is fabulous. You may find yourself compelled to read it in a single sitting.

Rating:
Summary: More Of the Same
Review: Whether it's Billy Bob Holland or Dave Robicheaux, it really doesn't matter, James Lee Burke always seems to manage to make the story compelling.

This time it's Billy Bob, the ex-Texas Ranger turned lawyer. The setting, however, is a little different. Billy Bob travels north to the Bitterroot Valley, Montana and becomes embroiled in the problems of an old friend there.

As if the problems he's stumbled onto weren't enough, a psychopath who is convinced that Billy Bob is responsible for his sister's death has also followed him.

Billy Bob Holland is a tortured soul who is having trouble dealing with his past while, at the same time, trying to ensure his own safety now. Like the other James Lee Burke books, there is no shortage of action and intrigue mixed with a very interesting, while troubled, main character.

Rating:
Summary: This is as good a book as Burke's ever written.
Review: I read a review of this in _Booklist_ or _Library Journal_ or somewhere which suggested that the characters of Billy Bob Holland and David Robicheaux were becoming almost indistinguishable. So I was very worried about how this book would read, since this is something I've noted before, particularly in the last Billy Bob book, _Heartwood_, which really did read like a retread of a Dave Robicheaux book (_Cadillac Jukebox_), with little but the names of characters changed. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Even though he's dealing with the same concerns that he deals with in other books, _Bitterroot_ is entirely new and different territory for James Lee Burke.

Perhaps it's because the setting has moved from Texas to Montana, also the setting for the Edgar-winning _Black Cherry Blues_ from his Robicheaux series. But this doesn't read like a retread of the Robicheaux books. It's got the same mix of dangerous, lowlife characters whom our protagonist can't seem to stop stirring up. But the fresh locations help to revive and invigorate the proceedings.

Billy Bob isn't just a mirror image of Dave Robicheaux--he's much more extreme than Dave. His attraction to violence seems much more ingrained and difficult to overcome, and he spends quite a bit of his time in the book musing about this fact. Sometimes, you just want to whack Billy Bob (or Dave, for that matter) on the head and tell him to stop messing around with the lowlifes, but he just can't seem to help it. And, ultimately, this is what we read Burke for: the battle of good vs. evil.

Coming on the heels of _Purple Cane Road_, _Bitterroot_ suggests that Burke has found a second wind to his writing and I, for one, could not be more excited to see what's next.

Rating:
Summary: A thrill a minute
Review: Billy Bob Holland lives with the ghost of his best friend, L.Q. Navarro, the man he accidentally killed when they chased after drug smugglers in Mexico. Billy Bob actually sees and talks with Navarro, but cannot form any relationships with living people because of his all-consuming guilt.

When his friend Doc Voss invites Billy Bob to visit him in Bitterroot Valley, Montana, he closes his law practice and goes. Upon arriving, he finds Doc at war with a local militia, bikers, and a mining company destroying the ecology. When Doc's daughter is raped, her assailants turn up dead shortly afterward. The police arrest Doc, who is defended by Billy Bob. However, the lawyer has his own problems caused by a sociopath blaming Billy Bob for the death of his sister.

BITTERROOT is one novel in which the thrills never stop coming and every scene is loaded with action. The talented James Lee Burke gets readers interested even in his most vile character as well as the anti-hero Billy Bob, a believer of justice and not necessarily the law. Billy Bob is the focus of the tale, a flawed individual taking responsibility for something he will regret until he dies.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Banal Evildoers Strike Close to Billy Bob
Review: In Bitterroot, the Billy Bob Holland and Dave Robicheaux characters become very similar. The stylish differences between them introduced in Cimarron Rose are almost entirely missing here. If you like the most violent and vicious of the Robicheaux novels of good versus evil, you will find Bitterroot equally appealing. If you get tired of reading about disgusting crimes and abuse of power against women, children, and the innocent, you will find much of the detail of this book repulsive. I graded the book down for having overdone those qualities and for having abandoned the story within a story element for developing Billy Bob's character that made Cimarron Rose so fascinating.

Billy Bob Holland is taken temporarily away from his normal haunts in Deaf Smith, Texas to the apparently tranquil, rural setting of Montana, near Missoula. His friend, Doc Voss, has given Billy Bob an invitation for a visit of indefinite length. Packing up his fishing gear, he hopes that ghosts don't cross state lines. But they do. However, the spirit of his old Texas Ranger partner, L.Q. Navarro, isn't present as often here as in the other Billy Bob Holland novels, and mainly plays the role of clue giver. Once there, Billy Bob finds that Doc Voss has everyone in an uproar. Voss is challenging the gold miners for dumping arsenic into the land. He takes on the local militia. Voss also runs afoul of those who just want to keep things peaceful.

Matters are soon complicated by the arrival of a nemesis for Billy Bob, Wyatt Dixon, who has just been released from county jail in Texas. Dixon left behind a drawing of a wheelbarrow full of severed heads . . . one of which belonged to Billy Bob. "I don't know him, Sheriff," replies Billy Bob to the warning. Dixon is the brother of a client of Billy Bob's who smothered her children. Dixon blames Billy Bob for her early death while in prison. Dixon soon lets Billy Bob know that he is in jeopardy, as well as those he loves and cares about.

The rest of the slimy characters aren't nearly as interesting or dangerous as Dixon. They include members of a biker gang, the local militia types, celebrities, money launderers, and aggressive law enforcement officers.

Soon Temple Carroll, his investigative assistant, and Lucas, his son, arrive for a spot of vacation, and are drawn into the conflict. If you like Temple Carroll and Lucas from earlier novels, you will be pleased to see both of their characters developed further in Bitterroot.

As crimes and threats bandy about, the dangerous situation takes on the element of a classic mystery. Doc Voss becomes suspect number one for many of the crimes, and Billy Bob begins to represent him. However, Billy Bob draws more on his Texas Ranger experience than his legal skills. The resolution is an interesting one in which Billy Bob uses his understanding of the psychology of each villain to set them in conflict with one another.

Unlike Cimarron Rose, there is no brilliant courtroom drama in this book.

Billy Bob also comes to terms with some of his guilt, and starts to connect to other people in new ways.

Phrase crafting is the strength of the book. Mr. Burke continues to have a way with words that can turn even horror into beautiful prose. In the process, he transforms everything he imagines into something unique to share with you. Without the beautiful writing, this clunky plot and gratuitous ugliness would be at best a two star book.

After you read this book, ask yourself how many of your problems are created by yourself. In this book, Doc Voss clearly attracts lots of evil-doers by his own actions. How could Doc Voss have accomplished more and risked less? What are the lessons for your life?

Rating:
Summary: 4 1/2 Stars...A Moral Anchor
Review: For those of us weaned on the evocative scenes of Dave Robicheaux's New Orleans, it's taken time to warm to Montana's rugged beauty and Billy Bob's character. I've refused to give up on this fictional relationship, and the rewards are beginning to become apparent.

No, I don't claim that "Bitterroot" is the best Burke book out there. Personally, I'm a huge fan of "Jolie Blon's Bounce," "Purple Cane Road," and "In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead." I must admit, however, that the setting of Montana is beginning to etch itself into my mind. Or rather, Burke is beginning to etch it there.

With careful descriptions and poetic phrases, James Lee Burke has spun his tale and added depth to his recurring characters. Although evil and violence abound, he provides a moral anchor in his narrative. He portrays racism, elitism, ignorance, and sadism, yet assures us that the world will not go to the dogs without a good fight from his heros and heroines--no matter how flawed they might be. With this in mind, I plunked down my money today for the latest Billy Bob saga, "In the Moon of Red Ponies."

Rating:
Summary: Powerful
Review: This is a first read of James Lee Burke for me in Bitterroot! It is a very powerful book told mostly in the 1st person. The characters were well drawn, I could envision them all. His bad guys were never to be forgotten and you want them gone!!!

I will certainly read some more of this books. His English is intelligent and usage is even and succinct. Wonderful read. This book makes you think! I put him right up there with my favorite authors: Dennis Lehane and Robert Crais.

Rating:
Summary: Engrossing
Review: James Lee Burke is one of the finest fiction writers I've encountered recently. All of his novels I've read to date flow like a turbulent river. The characters are rich, the plots believable and cohesive. From first page to last, Burke weaves wonderful stories.

And "Bitterroot" is no exception. Billy Bob Holland, former Texas Ranger, and current lawyer is visiting Doc Voss, a friend in Montana. Doc has an interesting past, with not a little violence in it. Things are happening in the Bitterroot Valley - and the corpses are piling up.

Burke skillfully spins his story and you don't know who the really bad folks are until the end, just as it should be.

Jerry

Rating:
Summary: 4 1/2 Stars...A Moral Anchor
Review: For those of us weaned on the evocative scenes of Dave Robicheaux's New Orleans, it's taken time to warm to Montana's rugged beauty and Billy Bob's character. I've refused to give up on this fictional relationship, and the rewards are beginning to become apparent.

No, I don't claim that "Bitterroot" is the best Burke book out there. Personally, I'm a huge fan of "Jolie Blon's Bounce," "Purple Cane Road," and "In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead." I must admit, however, that the setting of Montana is beginning to etch itself into my mind. Or rather, Burke is beginning to etch it there.

With careful descriptions and poetic phrases, James Lee Burke has spun his tale and added depth to his recurring characters. Although evil and violence abound, he provides a moral anchor in his narrative. He portrays racism, elitism, ignorance, and sadism, yet assures us that the world will not go to the dogs without a good fight from his heros and heroines--no matter how flawed they might be. With this in mind, I plunked down my money today for the latest Billy Bob saga, "In the Moon of Red Ponies."

Rating:
Summary: More Like 3.7 Stars
Review: I liked this book one whole heck of a lot but it also disturbed me on many levels as well. There are 4 main heros pitted agienst an equal number of bad guys. Billy Bob, his son, Doc and his daughter I also enjoyed the characte1r of the sheiff in the town but I guess he really doesn't count as a "Good Guy" because he is just doing his job.

The three bad guys are Clayton Dixon(the most menicing charcter in the book), Terry Witherspoon his annoying psychopath in training and a mobster who is about as stereotypical as they come.

Barring all of these it's a great book for what it is, there are good guys you can root for and bad guys you can hate. People familiar with a few James Lee Burke books will also take note there is also a ghost and several crazy people rounding out the cast something that no self respecting James Lee Berke book would be without.

Overall-I loved the character development, the thing that killed this book was the many plot threads and that its villains were disposed of much too easily and conveniently I almost felt cheated when the book was over. This is a book that will be perfect for long distance driving, because it keeps a listener or reader interested but not OVER interested.