Bitterroot

Rating:
Summary: Another great Burke book
Review: James Lee Burke has shown over the years to be an extremely adept writer, a master of description who nonetheless keeps the story moving. Bitterroot is yet another indication that Burke is one of the top mystery writers around.

This tale of Billy Bob Holland (Burke alternates books between Texas lawyer Holland and Louisiana detective Dave Robicheaux) relocates the lawyer to Montana, where a vacation gets sidetracked by the rape of a friend's daughter and the subsequent murder of the rapists. As Holland defends his friend from the murder, he gets involved with a series of unpleasant characters, including mobsters, militia members and most particularly, a psychotic ex-con intent on revenge against Holland for an imagined crime.

Holland is not as memorable a character as Burke's other series character, Dave Robicheaux, but he is still interesting, a man who is haunted by ghosts of his own making and whose intention to do good barely holds back a tendency to do great violence.

The only flaw I could see in this novel is that Burke has a tendency to switch points of view from first person to third person without any real indication, which leads to brief confusion. Nonetheless, this is a great book and a must-read for mystery fans.

Rating:
Summary: Billy Bob Holland in Montana
Review: James Lee Burke was raised in Texas (near as I can tell) and spent a large portion of his life in Louisiana. He teaches in Montana now, and divides his time between there and New Orleans. Since he writes about Louisiana and Texas, it's no surprise, is it, that the latest of his books takes Billy Bob Holland, the hero of two previous books, and drops him in Montana? While there he must take on self-indulgent celebrities, a gang of neo-Nazis, vacationing (or are they?) mobsters, a sociopathic rodeo clown, and assorted other characters who may or may not be dangerous.

I'm a big fan of Burke's prose. He seems unable to do two things: overwrite, or write a dull sentence. I imagine his grocery list would be a bestseller if he chose to publish it. He does have some problems, occasionally, with his plots, though the one here is sturdy and interesting enough, and the characters are frankly wonderful. I would highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Burke Fans May Find This One Tiresome
Review: Let's get this out of the way first: I love Burke's writing. I've read ALL of his books, even the early ones, before Dave. He is a powerful, talented, engaging writer. I drip with sweat when I read his descriptions of the bayou; I soar with him when he describes a sunset; I reel with pain when he writes of the sudden violence his characters so often encounter. He is a gritty prose poet.

Maybe I'm just "Burked-out" right now. I got this way with Robert Ludlum, John LeCarre, and Stephen King. Maybe a little time away ... now where'd I put that next Elvis Cole book ( by Robert Crais).

BOTTOM LINE: If you haven't read Burke, DO IT.

If you have, you may find this one just a little too formulaic. I loved and admired "Purple Cane Road"; this one was just a bit too much, somehow.

Rating:
Summary: Yeah, but what about the dog?
Review: More of the same: stilted dialogue and officers of the court (Billy Bob and Dave being indistinguishable in my eyes,although to be fair, Billy Bob isn't nearly as self-itying as Dave. I'm over James Lee Burke, after all these years...sigh...I know he'll be crushed.

Rating:
Summary: same old same old
Review: Robicheaux/Holland are now the same person. The stock characters are all the same. The sheriff is a decent and kind man wishing all the various criminals would go back home and leave him alone while also being annoyed by the psychopathic level of violence perpetrated by the "good guys". There is a stock Mafia character that served in Nam and is only sort-of evil. There is the one super-villain that is nearly unstoppable. The "rich and famous" of course have various types of evil lurking in the background.
All the characters seem utterly unable to speak to each other normally or carry on a decent conversation. For example, when the local sheriff warns Holland that a bad guy is after him, Holland just gets annoyed with the Sheriff. Holland also can't see any reason why his son shouldn't camp in the yard while Holland and Company are in the middle of being beset by murderous psycho cases. The book is good if you have never read Burke, but it is the SAME good as his last few other books.

Rating:
Summary: Strange Doings in Big Sky Country
Review: The Montana Chamber of Commerce would probably rather that this story had been put in another setting. We don't think of Montana as being a haven for mobsters, pedophiles, neo-Nazis and others given to abherrant behavior, but Bitterroot Valley seems to have them in fair abundance. Also there to stir up the pot are an undercover ATF operative named Sue Lynn Big Medicine, an alcoholic mystery writer, his cokehead actress wife, and in the center, stirring the pot for all that it is worth are Tobin "Doc" Voss a pacifist - turned Navy SEAL - turned poet - turned physician and his friend Billy Bob Holland who has had quite a career as well (Houston cop, Texas Ranger, Phoenix US Attorney and now a private attorney from Deaf Smith, Texas).

Doc's daughter is raped and eventually Doc is charged with murdering one of the suspects. Billy Bob agrees to represent him. However, don't get ready for any court room scenes, because this plays out in a convulted fashion in which scores are settled and people get what they deserve.

Well crafted dialogue is a strength of the author, James Lee Burke, and he outdoes himself in this book. The discussions between Billy Bob and the local sherrif, J.T. Cain are something to look forward to.

This book will hook you as you try to figure out what is going to happen next and with all of the characters twisting through the book there is a lot happening. James Lee Burke has been awarded two Edgars in the past for hit literary efforts. I'm not sure this one will rise to that level, but is definitly worth your time.

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: 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: BITTERROOD
Review: THIS IS BILLY BOB AT HIS BEST. BURKE FANS WILL LOVE THE LATEST INSTALLMENT IN THE "BILLY BOB" SERIES. LUCAS AND TEMPLE ARE BACK AS WELL AS MORE "INTERESTING" OLD FRIENDS. AND, AS ALWAYS, BILLY BOB PLACES EVERYONE'S WELFARE ABOVE HIS OWN.

Rating:
Summary: Not this time
Review: When he's on target, Burke is a peerless writer. When he's off-center, the work is tiresome. Sadly, Bitterroot is off-center. There are several wonderful secondary characters: Sherriff Cain is a fine blend of wearied intelligence and sorely tried patience; Wyatt Dixon is a most interesting bad guy, particularly in his florid use of language and his penchant for peculiar clothing; and Terry Witherspoon comes across as a well-rounded, sometimes even sympathetically bewildered young villain.

However, this book has violence to spare. As well, Billy Bob, the hero, seems congenitally unable to keep his fly zipped, which gets truly tedious. And absolutely everyone is at risk from an endless roster of crazies, skinheads, just plain criminal types, and even FBI agents. By the end, the characters seem to have learned little, if anything. Billy Bob's hearing/seeing his dead former partner started as an interesting, even viable device. In Bitterroot the visions and words of this dead man serve no purpose.

Burke always writes well; his descriptions of Montana are beautiful. But he's populated the place with such a cast of no-goods that I doubt I'd want to go there.

For a prime example of Burke at his best, I'd suggest reading Purple Cane Road. This book is disappointing.