Bitterroot

Rating:
Summary: Reading Burke Is A Love Affair
Review: I see no reason why James Lee Burke cannot duplicate the success he garnered when Cimarron Rose won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1997. In Bitterroot, Billy Bob Holland is again brought to life in this modern day Western, set in rugged Montana where Burke paints beautiful and tragic portraits of both the land and the characters. In his typical creative style, Burke sets up conflict, allowing the reader inside the heads of Billy Bob and his friend Tobin "Doc" Voss. There we learn about victim pain, rage and vengeance. The pain comes not only from the past but from the actions of a collection of vile villains resurrected from the annals of the Old West. We learn however, that Billy Bob has a mean streak of his own, matching anything prison parolee Wyatt Dixon or the other "sawed-off little pissants" can dish out.

In scene after scene, written in colorful, descriptive prose, Burke creates dangerous situations that make the reader want to call out in warning to the potential victim. He was even able to skillfully include his own vision of the Battle of the Little Big Horn. With the deftness of a seasoned psychoanalyst, Burke re-created the arrogance of Custer and the horror of battle and its aftermath and used them to describe the haunting memories of Sue Lynn Big Medicine, a key character in the multi-layered plot. Billy Bob has his own haunting memories brought to consciousness with his visions of L.Q. Navarro, the Texas Ranger friend he accidently shot and killed.

There are so many examples of James Lee Burke's literary gifts found in Bitterroot that it becomes an exercise in futility to try and describe them all. My hope is to whet the appetite of readers searching for excellence. To borrow from John Steinbeck when he described Montana as a "love affair", reading James Lee Burke has become a love affair as well.

Rating:
Summary: Uniquely Compelling
Review: I'm a long-time fan of Burke's Dave Robicheaux series, but a newcomer to the Billy Bob Holland series. Am I impressed? You betcha.

Billy Bob Holland is a former Texas Ranger now practicing law, and not all that successfully, in Deaf Smith, Texas, who heads out to Big Sky Country for some fishing with his buddy, Doc Voss. Doc has run afoul of a mining company over environmental issues, to say nothing of the local Mob and some mondo bizarro Hollywood types. When Doc's teenage daughter is attacked and one of the biker suspects is later murdered, Doc is arrested. Though Billy Bob is out of his bailiwick and perhaps out of his depth, he accedes to Doc's plea for legal representation and the chase is on. More bodies pile up even as the list of possible suspects grows by leaps and bounds.

This is a wonderfully literary, intricately layered mystery. Robicheaux fans who haven't yet discovered the Western face of James Lee Burke, believe me, you're in for a treat.

Rating:
Summary: Wordy
Review: If Mr. Burke left the long convoluted descriptions of every cloud, river, tree etc. out of the novel it would have been a good 175 page mystery, instead it is easy at times to forget the story line, while worrying about what kind of fish might be lurking in what pool and how our hero is casting for said fish. I assume some of the folks in Western Montana may not totally agree with the makeup of Burke's residents, but it is fiction. Certainly not a waste of time, but could have been much better.

Rating:
Summary: Bold and Ambitious
Review: In "Bitterroot", James Lee Burke leaves his familiar haunts of coastal Louisiana and tackles Montana's Big Sky country with a new cast of mostly memorable new characters. The story surrounds Billy Bob Holland, an attorney from Texas, summoned to Montana to help our old-friend Tobin "Doc" Voss, a widower living in rural Montana with his teenage daughter. From a simple premise, the story twists and winds though a series of tales of revenge, retribution, and redemption, melding the past with the present for both the characters and the state.

This novel is nothing if not ambitious. Burke takes on virtually all the issues Montana is facing today: environmentalism, Indian rights, non-nazi militants, renegade bikers, invasion from west coast yuppies and Hollywood coke heads. But the story is told apolitically, and if the author is trying to make a statement, he mercifully keeps any personal views well hidden. As typical of Burke's work, the prose is rich, descriptive, and plentiful, and the subplots so numerous that a scorecard would be handy. I found myself flipping back through the pages several times to keep track of who-was-who and with whom they were affiliated. But that is standard Burke fare, as the complexity of the story, the characters, and the issues are all part of the ride. It seems like everyone has a hidden past with some axe to grind, and Burke makes sure that every one is given ample pages to develop their case. With a less talented author, this would have been a muddled and convoluted disaster. But Burke pulls it off - barely. While this is definitely an enjoyable and compelling read, it would have benefited from fewer issues to resolve and a leaner, more focused plot.

Rating:
Summary: a full-flavored read!
Review: In BITTERROOT Burke takes us far away from Louisiana, the land of his birth, to the high country of Montana & continues the development of his new character of Billy Bob Holland.

One thing Burke does well with his characters, is that they all have a past. I don't like characters cut from whole cloth, because when I read I want to lay my eyes upon the patched quilt that makes up a character's life, that way I truly feel like I know them.

The social content deals with some very real probelms that are ongoing in today's society, & raises questions about just where one should place one's feet when straddling the fence. It also makes it very clear that fence straddling can be a dangerous occupation.

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: Read him once...and you're addicted
Review: James Lee Burke ... I'd read him anywhere, any time, any place, any whatever. The man can write with a force which is breath-taking. His books delve into the character of men in stressful circumstances...men working within a code of honor that is a throwback to other times. His characters live and speak with the pain of ghosts...convincingly. These men carry their pasts alongside their futures within the despair of realism. They face life's travails with a stoicism almost puritanical yet still find the joy in living. Once you've read "In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead," you will be forever addicted to Mr. Burke and can only anticipate the next gem, and this is it.

Rating:
Summary: Wondrous landscape,....terrifying tale..........
Review: James Lee Burke brings an amazing cast of characters together in a story about good and evil. Bitterroot takes place in the beautiful lands of Montana. Doc Voss, a friend of Billy Bob Holland's asks for some assistance in his dealings with a mining company. What happens is a lot more involved than a little political action. What starts out as one concern quickly escalates into a situation that teeters on the brink of death and disaster In this story, the "bad guys" are truly evil and their interests become very personal when they target the family and friends of both Doc Voss and Billy Bob Holland. James Lee Burke brings his realistic and thoughtful style of dialogue as well as his spellbinding descriptions of the land into this gripping novel, creating a wondrous landscape as a backdrop to a terrifying tale.

Rating:
Summary: Wondrous landscape,....terrifying tale..........
Review: James Lee Burke brings an amazing cast of characters together in a story about good and evil. Bitterroot takes place in the beautiful lands of Montana. Doc Voss, a friend of Billy Bob Holland's asks for some assistance in his dealings with a mining company. What happens is a lot more involved than a little political action. What starts out as one concern quickly escalates into a situation that teeters on the brink of death and disaster In this story, the "bad guys" are truly evil and their interests become very personal when they target the family and friends of both Doc Voss and Billy Bob Holland. James Lee Burke brings his realistic and thoughtful style of dialogue as well as his spellbinding descriptions of the land into this gripping novel, creating a wondrous landscape as a backdrop to a terrifying tale.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful paragraphs......ugly story
Review: James Lee Burke can write with a beauty seldom matched. Many of his past books are among my favorites. This one is filled with some incredibly beautiful paragraphs but the story is strangely lacking in feeling or believability. Terrible things happen one after another and everyone just seems to sit around, eat, fish and make love then wait for the next terrible thing to happen. Burke is a wonderful, warm human being in person and it generally shows through in his books even amid the horror that happens in his worlds. This book has no warmth, no tenderness no James Lee.