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: Once upon a time, you were a Texas Ranger.
Review: "You were a Texas Ranger." Well, this line has repeated itself almost every 2 or three pages. It seems to me that Burke has lost it completely as a tourist in Montana, aimlessly walking around even fooling around, seeing some bikers, militia guys, red necks one lousy sheriff, one teenage girl and one lonely woman. The story just dragged along and never took off. It just seems that Burke has lost it totally but not realizing it and just want to put out product ragularly with the same formula, chip in or cashing in or whatever in his mind during this production. To and fro, to and fro, so tiresome and boring. If there is no big deal to tell, just don't write it, OK? Please don't fool one of your once loyal readers not only lost money but also his preciou time. Writing is kinda biz like restaurant biz, once you lost a customer, you lost it forever. So, if there is not enough ingredients to put together a good enough dish, just don't bring out and put on readers table. Don't make me lose my 401K twice, please.
Rating:
Summary: Waiting for the airplane to leave the runway
Review: ...any shortcoming in the dialogue portion of a Burke novel is made up in the poetry of his prose...Billy Bob Holland, somewhat similar to Dave Robicheaux in the "other" series, drives to Montana to visit his friend, "Doc" (from his medic days) Voss, now up to his armpits in bikers, pacifism, deadly kick boxing, the EPA and the American Nazi Party. Well, to start, that's confusing. The embryo for Billy's "I'd take a bullet for my friend" friendship is extremely vague, exacerbated by the trouble that we all go through, readers included, for the next several hundred pages. But then Doc's teenage daughter is raped and things get dicey. Doc is charged with the torture-murder of the lead biker-suspect and Billy Bob sets out to defend him. I'm troubled by using the rape of a child to further a plot. Certainly the violation of a human in such an unspeakable fashion is an oft relied upon explanation for revenge, guilt, remorse, retribution and passion. I just don't see the need to use children as victims. I see the real problem in that Billy Bob is like a James Crumley character. As the reader, I spend a lot of time in the company of a man I'm not sure I like. He's promiscuous in his bed partners. He doesn't seem to have been a good father, and continues to remind us of that at every juncture. He's infuriated by the Sheriff in the town, who's kind of a soothsayer or narrator, but never tells us why. He tries to murder one of the protagonists and doesn't understand why this should trouble his friends... Ultimately, the plane never gets off the runway. Lots of turbine noise, lots of baggage handlers, good flight attendants, but we never get anywhere. Dave Robicheaux is a fantastic character, loyal husband, confused yet sacrificing and vulnerable parent, relentless in his code. Billy Bob is kind of tedious. Tedious for 500 pages is, well, tedious.
Rating: 
Summary: The point of this book is two-fold.
Review: 1. Keep visitors out of Montana. 2. Make money for the author. Brutal. Glad characters like that don't populate Nebraska with the same frequency as they apparently do in Montana. To say the writing is spare is an understatement. Try leaping and jumping.
Rating:
Summary: Never thought I'd find myself giving him writing tips...
Review: 1. You don't need to repeat the entire name "L.Q. Navarro" every time you use it. The readers get it. "L.Q." will suffice after the second round. 2. "Sure" isn't an interesting word. It makes the speaker sound dull. I think one reviewer here used the word "tedious" to describe Billy Bob Holland (whose name in-sures tedium, I might add). 3. Alert your editors to the fact that you will possbily be over-using expressions like "baby fat on her upper arms" "a mouth like a flower," "purple garters on his upper arms" and "lantern-jawed." Ask them to edit you more rigorously so the reader does not have to suffer this, er, tedious - repetition. 4. If you are going to go in a new direction with your writing, how about something really new? As Moseley did with his Socrates series. Right now, the Texas Ranger thing is just Bad Robicheaux. 5. Robicheaux is rippin'. But we know that artists need to change...again...change to something that is better, not duller. 6. Someone mentioned that the poetry makes up for the dull prose. No, it doesn't. In fact, the dull prose makes the poetry sound cornball. Icky. Billy Bob gives no indication from his personality that he is in any way a poetic man. He's like James Garner on a "cute" day. You love to watch him perform, but if he should start spouting deep wisdom and poetry you'd groan and shout "Shaddup, stupid!" 7. Leave Texas rangers to Mr. Lonesome Dove. Now THERE'S a buncha rangers! 8. Avoid speechifying, preaching and endless purple prose at all costs! Some parts of this novel are like a musical in which the characters burst into sentimental song and you want to cover your ears and say, "Not now!" It's not that poetic prose doesn't have its place. The Robicheaux novels are wonderful because of this feature. However, that was "loose" writing. This is not. It's aw shucks gee golly writing, interspersed with purple prose. I know I'm repeating myself, but please - give us something truly unique, Mr. Burke. You can do it!...
Rating: 
Summary: A little flat
Review: A long-time Burke fan, I found this offering a little flat. The storyline is intact but the prose is substandard for Burke.
Rating: 
Summary: Billy Bob Holland goes fishing in Montana...
Review: And the line is cast and we are hooked quickly in another finely written mystery filled with dreams and haunted days. Like all of Burke's work there is depth, introspection and some self criticism. " I knew his words could not lessen his anger or ease his sense of betrayal. Eventually he would forgive (her), not at once, not by a conscious choice or arriving at a philosophical moment, but instead one day he would look back through the inverted telescope of time and see her as being possessed of the same moral frailties as himself and hence, in memory, an acceptable part of his life again. But that day would be a long time coming and these are notions you cannot impart to someone younger than yourself, particularly when the individual is your son." Bikers, murderous rodeo clowns, mobsters, and child molesters are the villains and contrasted with beautiful Montana scenery to make this a great read.
Rating:
Summary: A Landscape Devoid of Purpose
Review: As a novelist myself (The Legacy, Savage Press Oct. 2000), I began reading James Burke's latest tome with an eye towards learning something about the Great American West and the interplay between the land and Burke's fictional charactors. While the desciptions of Montana soared and provided a stunning background to "Bitterroot", the lack of any meaningful plot and the use of cardboard people to populate the landscape was disappointing. I had never read any of Burke's stuff. I was anticipating a northern version of Tony Hillerman. I was sorely disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Texas Ranger Suspense Novel
Review: At first when I picked this book up, I thought that it was going to be a Western, but this is far from it. It is about a modern day Texas Ranger that has retired and is now a lawyer on vacation in the Bitterroot Mountains with an old friend who finds himself in trouble because his daughter is gang raped and he has been accused of the murder. Billy Bob Holland is still dealing with deamons from killing his partner in a drug bust that went bad on the Mexican border. The dead partner still haunts Billy Bob and helps in his research of the facts. There is a lot going on in this book and it doesn't disappoint the reader at all. This was my first James Lee Burke book and I plan to read to more in the future.
Rating:
Summary: magic with words
Review: Author Burke can paint a picture with words that has few equals. A reader paying attention will easily visualize the beautiful streams and the high peaks of Montana, as well as the plentiful wildlife, and the dark blue endless skies. Burke uses words like every politician wishes he could, creating feelings and emotions at will, and that is quite a talent. Some of Burke's hero's actions seem more complex than is necessary, but that doesn't detract from a very readable, moving story. The author's use of a strongly anti-Custer dream sequence was too distracting to be useful, and the feeling persists that Burke used his popular novel to verbalize some personal feelings that have no place in this particular story. He departs in this sequence from known history, so the distraction also becomes disturbing. But the multitude of characters is interesting, even when some of their actions are a bit muddled together. Burke creates a mood that is very engaging, and the story moves along in a very entertaining manner. In addition to a good story, reading this book will also educate the reader about many aspects of Montana, and that is a genuine plus. Highly recommended.
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