Rating: 
Summary: Trapped In A Country Song
Review: James Lee Burke temporarily put his New Orleans bayeaux hero Dave Robicheaux on hold to introduce a new series featuring Billy Bob Holland, the haunted ex-Texas Ranger, now defense attorney in the small Texas town of Deaf Smith.Holland is a hero in the same mold as Robicheaux, the amalgamation of the strong, silent John Wayne stereotype, with enough contemporary angst to place him firmly in the present. Holland is haunted, literally and figuratively, by L.Q. Navarro, his partner in the rangers, who he accidentally shot and killed while battling drug smugglers in Mexico. This could understandably put a strain on most friendships, but Navarro doesn't mind being dead. It's pretty restful to sit around and swap lies without having to bother with mundane facts like earning a living. His role in the book is less avenging spirit and more amiable sidekick. Rounding out the setup is a son Holland's never acknowledged, a fine boy named Lucas Smothers whose mother died when he was an infant. He's being raised by a harsh and hostile stepfather who's sharecropping on Holland's land. Unfortunately for Lucas, he was found passed out near the body of his raped and murdered girlfriend, and Holland works to dig out the truth. Arranged against Holland and Lucas are an array of corrupt, evil and just plain psychopathic characters: the son of the town's most powerful family who may or may not be involved in the murder, the corrupt sheriff and his deputies and Garland T. Moon, a wandering psychopath dying of cancer, who came back to Deaf Smith on a mission of his own. Weaved among the contemporary story is the tale of Holland's great-grandfather, a drunken gunfighter who has since taken the pledge, and his true love, known mostly as the Rose of Cimarron. Everyone once in awhile, Holland takes down the family journal and reads about his ancestor's battle to win his true love's heart and remain a peaceable man despite his conflict with the Dalton-Doolin gang, who have taken root in the caves near his farm and are sending property skidding down by robbing trains, shooting innocent women, letting their hogs run free and shooting wild horses for meat. It's to Burke's credit that keeps these plates spinning; one is never confused over who's talking to whom and what's happening next. The problem with "Cimarron Rose" lies in the ponderous, carved-in-stone writing, and the utter incomprehensibility of most of the characters' actions. Burke has a fine talent for creating memorable images, but he lets his pen wander farther than he intends, leading to some very ludicrous sentences. While Holland recalls his father, a welder who died when the natural-gas pipeline he was in exploded, he reflects, "my mother said his vision had become so bad that clarity of sight came to him only when he struck the stringer-bead rod against the pipe's metal and saw again the flame that was a pure to him as the cathedral's bells were to the deaf bellringer Quasimodo." That's mom, all right, always quoting Victor Hugo. This is a manly man's book, full of testosterone... and vinegar, where it seems like everyone is savaging everyone else. If Holland is not getting beaten up, his horse is getting slashed, his house ransacked, the new sheriff's deputy who may or may not be fed is getting ambushed, his son's getting drugged, stripped and dumped at the country club, or any one of a dozen acts of mayhem. Put it to music and you've got a country song. This over-the-top violence will either convince you that you're reading Deep Literature, or make you break out laughing. You can guess which side I landed on. By the time Garland Moon bursts into a house and torments the owner by twisting his nose, I'm thinking Three Stooges. And the epilogue which ties up the book into a pretty bow and everything is hunky-dory has the feel of a family sitcom.
Rating: 
Summary: Hard-edged,"New West" Western...
Review: Former US Assistant DA,and Texas Ranger Billy Bob Holland rides his horse into a honkey-tonk, unfurls his lariat and effortlessly loops it around the torso of a woman-beating thug. He drags the dude out the door for a bit of cowboy keelhauling discipline. Readers NOW must be aware--like Dorothy--they're "no longer in Kansas". Courtesy of James Lee Burke's hard-edged,yet superbly literary style, our New West hero essays roles of defense attorney by day and LONE RANGER at night. Burke convinces us Deaf Smith (a town near Austin,combining resort ambience of Lake Travis with working class morphed-Yuppster Round Rock Texas, and generously violent doses of old West Tombstone) exists on Earth, not galaxy far away in the Final Frontier. This is only Setting. CIMARRON ROSE evokes old West and the New(Drug Thug)West. Billy Bob finds himself legally defending his unacknowledged son Lucas in a gruesome rape/murder case featuring a dog soldier battle-array of drug dealers; bent DEA; feckless FBI agents; a formerly abused-child, now border-line psychopath bent on revenge against the Bobster; some repugnant nouveau rich whose adopted son,at very least,is a sociopathic punk and prime candidate for the murder Lucas is(?)framed-for. James Lee Burke writes like John Updike. He's got poet's command of language and maturely controls a difficult(fantastic)plot. Characterizations are excellent; psychological observations ring astute; his physical descriptions are striking and beautiful. Do yourself a favor. Read what a great writer can do with a seedy study of the human condition. I'm told Burke does this trick often.If this is formula writing, it's excellent. Take a gander at CIMARRON ROSE.It's no New Age Flower shop tour for sure.And in this one,The Lone Ranger doesn't use silver bullets.(4 & 1/2 stars)
Rating:
Summary: Burke begins a new series set in Texas
Review: Fans of James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux/cajun cop series now have a new series with Texas lawyer Billy Bob Holland. If this had been the first Burke book for me, I would have rated it higher. The main plot involves Billy Bob defending his illegitimate son against a murder charge in a fishy-smelling situation involving a rich kid deviant with fetal alcohol syndrome and speed on the brain, a former football hero, DEA officers, and a sociopath named Garland T. Moon. The inner plot involves Billy Bob wrestling with ghosts and demons from his past, namely private conversations he has with his old partner from their Texas Ranger days. There is also some mystery surrounding the death of Billy Bob's father in 1965. Burke does an excellent job weaving all of the plot threads together, and the characters are believable. His descriptions are spare and elegant, and he has the ability provide sensory detail in a few short sentences. One word of warning is that the cast is a rogue's gallery, like other Burke novels, and features a very flawed protaganist, but one we can root for just the same. Still, we're in some dark territory here, and Burke's writing is edgy, graphic and not for everyone. While the book was well-written, I didn't get enough distance between Dave Robicheaux and Billy Bob Holland, who are essentially the same character. Both are men in their forties who stay in good shape, have father issues, and share similar demons in their past. The same self-righteous attitude was evident in both men. I hope that Billy Bob's voice takes a different shape in future novels of this series. The other problem is that Burke is starting to recycle some of his details. The wealthy southerners always hold glasses wrapped with paper napkins secured with a rubber band. He's used this one a lot. There's also one where the night smells of fish spawning that's been used multiple times. Still, this was a gripping read filled with tension on every page that made me want to know what was going to happen next.
Rating:
Summary: Texas Rangers
Review: James Lee Burke continues to produce thought-provoking and thoroughly readable fiction. Cimarron Rose weaves a fine tale with strong characters, good plotting and excellent first person narration. Drawing from his usual themes, Burke reflects on how the past informs the present, how men like hero Billy Bob Holland, (an ex-Texas Ranger) reconciles the violence in his life whilst trying to be decent as he raises a surrogate son in the form of a young mexican boy, (echoes here of Dave Robicheaux's adopted daughter Alafair). Cimarron Rose begins well and continues to grip the reader as a gallery of typical Burke villians(revolting pyscopaths, obnoxious federal agents, crooked law enforcement officers and rich spoilt, vicious brats) give hero Holland grief. Varying in style only slightly from Burke's earlier books, those who have enjoyed his work before should enjoy this book too.
Rating:
Summary: Great Mystery Novel
Review: If you want a good mystery with Texas flavor and a touch of darkness - this is a great read.
Rating:
Summary: Hard-edged, "New West" Western...
Review: Former US Assistant DA, and Texas Ranger Billy Bob Holland rides his horse into a honkey-tonk, unfurls his lariat and loops it around the deserving torso of a woman-beating thug. He commences to drag the dude out the door for a taste of cowboy keelhauling discipline. Readers Now must be aware--like Dorothy--they're "no longer in Kansas". Courtesy of James Lee Burke's hard-edged,yet superbly literary style, our New West hero essays roles of defense attorney by day and LONE RANGER at night. Burke convinces us Deaf Smith(a town near Austin, combining resort ambience of Lake Travis; working class morphed-Yuppster Round Rock Texas, with generously violent doses of old West Tombstone)exists on planet Earth not a galaxy far away in the Final Frontier. Burke uses flashbacks to Old Frontier days describing how Billy Bob's grandfather dueled-it-out with the Doolan and Dalton gang. In recent New Frontier times, he and Texas Ranger partner L.Q. Navarro dueled-it-out with drug dealers across the boarder in old/new/middle-aged Mexico. L.Q. appears regularly as Billy Bob's mentor. A minor problem is Sr. Navarro is dead. His "ghostliness" factors not only in Burke's narrative technique but as plot detail: best friend Billy Bob accidently shot him to death during an aformentioned, vigilante-style drug bust. This is only Setting. CIMARRON ROSE evokes old West and the New (Drug Thug)West. Billy Bob finds himself legally defending his unacknowledged son Lucas in a gruesome rape/murder case which is enhanced by a battle-array of drug dealers; bent DEA; feckless FBI agents; a formerly abused-child now border-line psychopath bent on revenge against the Bobster; some repugnant nouveau rich whose adopted son--at very least--is a sociopathic punk and (perhaps) prime candidate for the murder Lucas is framed-for. James Lee Burke often writes like John Updike. He's got poet's command of language and mature control of complex plots. His characterizations are excellent; psychological observations ring astute and physical descriptions are striking. He's a writer's writer. If he's chosen to walk a ragged line between LITERATURE and funky, action-oriented plot boilers, SO WHAT? I'm told Burke does this trick often. If this is formula writing,it's excellent. I'd rather read about Billy Bob than Updike's RABBIT ANGSTROM anyday. Take a gander at CIMARRON ROSE. It's no New Age Flower shop tour for sure..And in this one, The Lone Ranger doesn't use silver bullets...(4 and 1/2 stars)
Rating:
Summary: But Bitterroot is better!
Review: I liked part two (Bitterroot) of James Lee Burke’s Billy Bob Holland saga so well that I gave this first part a listen on unabridged audio. Boy howdy, Billy Bob gets better with age! Cimarron Rose is our introduction Billy Bob Holland, an attorney/former Texas Ranger (the Law Enforcement kind – not G.W.’s former baseball team) and his friends and relatives, including his dead ranger partner, L.Q. Navarro, for whose death Billy Bob, a “river-baptized” Baptist turned Roman Catholic, feels all the guilt that the latter can impose. The plot exposes small-town caste sociology to the light - without proselytizing - like Stephen King did in the horror venue with “Carrie.” But what’s up with Great-grandpa’s journal? This reader doesn’t see the point - except to exploit the extreme predjudices of the period against Native Americans. The author’s forays (via excerpts from an old journal) into Billy Bob’s outlaw/preacher great-grandfather’s lust for the “savage” Cimarron Rose, and concomitant self-hatred, seem superfluous and gratuitous. Burke’s writing is superb. At one point I just had to stop and write down a quote. Billy Bob (the tale is written in the first-person) is telling us about his Daddy, who had gone nearly blind as a welder. Then, “Clarity of sight” came only when he was welding “and saw again the flame that was as pure to him as the cathedrals bells were to the deaf bell-ringer Quasimodo.” This tour of Burke’s Deaf Smith County, Texas is well worth the trip. Stay on board for Bitterroot, Montana!
Rating:
Summary: Small Town Defense Lawyer Plays Lone Ranger
Review: Cimarron Rose is a typically offbeat James Lee Burke tale, set in the small town of Deaf Smith, Texas. Defense attorney, Billy Bob Holland, is asked to take on the cases of two young men, and soon finds himself in the middle of a complex set of corrupt relationships that will not be sorted out unless he does it. The book has a fascinating story within a story delivered in the form of a journal inherited from his Great-grandpa Sam that Billy Bob reads almost daily while pursuing the case. The book has fascinating characters whose evil, blindness, and carelessness make the story develop in unexpected ways. Although the book has much violence in it, there is a genuine attempt to keep the violence within some sort of limits that makes the book more appealing. I like books that feature significant character development, and this one does an exemplary job with Billy Bob and Lucas Smothers, who is accused of a rape and murder. These two men are very complicated but in a way that will draw you in, and cause you to root for them to keep following their ideals and dreams. The backdrop is a crooked town, in a corrupt county, with lots of bent government types running around. Although probably no worse than a lot of other places, this book is about a sort of Texas Sodom and Gomorrah. There is a need for someone to do more than what is required, and Billy Bob takes on that role. You will find those who are satisfied with their wealthy lives just as culpable as those who are totally corrupt. Fans of the Dave Robicheaux novels will find this one follows the general approach of those rich, complex stories. Clearly, Billy Bob is a fellow who operates well outside the law, a sort of modern day Lone Ranger. At the same time, he can barely keep himself from going off the deep end mentally. As a result, he is sort of like a ticking time bomb, and you keep expecting him to go off. And he does. The plot culminates in a trial that presents the kind of unexpected developments that you will recognize from Perry Mason stories. After you finish reading this novel, you should think about when you should follow God's law, when men's laws, and when your own conscience. How would you have handled the dilemmas presented here for Billy Bob and Lucas? How could they have handled them better? Live in the present and make a pathway for good!
Rating: 
Summary: Not up to Author's Standards
Review: This is the eighth James Lee Burke book I have read. It may well be the last. Unhappily, Mr. Burke has adopted the "cookbook" approach to his novels, and I, for one, don't approve. As long as they sell, though, I suspect that he will continue to use that approach. However, one can always hope.
"Cimarron Rose" has the predictable human monster, hyper-introspective protagonist, stupid lawmen, and Burke's other standard characters. Unlike his earlier Dave Robichaux novels, though, characters in this book are cardboard-cutout in nature. I'm sorry I wasted my time on this one. Mr. Burke, do better; you are eminently capable of that!
Rating:
Summary: Distinctively Burke, for better or worse
Review: Having read several of James Lee Burke's novels now, I have come to see that his approach to weaving together a story is intriguingly unorthodox. His narrative is choppy and at times almost disjointed; short vignettes, encounters, and episodes are cobbled together, and change-of-voice digressions and flashbacks are not unusual. Readers accustomed to a smoother ride will find Burke's approach difficult in places. At the same time, Burke can positively hypnotize readers through the beauty of the language he employs and his ability to capture a thought, a moment, a mood, or a concept in a few well-chosen words or phrases. This combination of organizational looseness and powerful, evocative writing makes reading Burke a truly distinctive literary experience. In *Cimarron Rose*, Burke has taken a break from his Dave Robacheaux series and has introduced a new protagonist, Billy Bob Holland in a new setting, Deaf Smith County, Texas. Still, the overall tone and style of the story will be familiar to readers of previous Burke novels. Holland is another fallen lawman-type haunted by his past, and his similarity to Robacheaux in terms of his patterns of action and thinking are hardly surprising. The story itself is populated by desperate criminal types, fallen women, drunkards, corrupt "leading citizens," a demented maniac, and in fact, a entire cast of typical denizens of Burke's stories. With its loosely woven whodunit plot line and its accompanying quota of broken noses and gunshot wounds, the story is a kind of classic combination of police mystery and violent pulp fiction novella. Added to this are some interesting added elements, including recurring reference to Billy Bob's great-grandaddy's journal and the regular appearance of the ghost of Billy Bob's ex-best friend and partner. Combined with a rather weird ... ending, the whole mish-mash makes for interesting reading but doesn't constitute a satisfactorily well-woven novel overall. Despite its flaws, *Cimarron Rose* is worthwhile not only because of Burke's talents as a wordsmith, but also because of his astute eye for social and class interactions and conflict in his small-town southern setting. His descriptions of the myriad ways in which the affluent "East enders" dominate the small Texas community in which events unfold in this book shows Burke's keen understanding of the sociological and economic as well as psychological aspects of his human subject matter. Clearly, his own sympathies are with the lower classes, the downtrodden, the underprivileged, and the way he skewers the powerful and hypocritical in this book is impressive, indeed.
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