Following
his
acclaimed
bestseller
Purple
Cane
Road,
James
Lee
Burke
returns
with
a
triumphant
tour
de
n/a
in
the
Bitterroot
Valley
of
Montana,
home
to
celebrities
seeking
to
escape
the
pressures
of
public
life,
as
well
as
to
xenophobes
dedicated
to
establishing
a
bulkhead
of
patriotic
paranoia,
Burke's
novel
features
Billy
Bob
Holland,
former
Texas
Ranger
and
now
a
Texas-based
lawyer,
who
has
come
to
Big
Sky
Country
for
some
fishing
and
ends
up
helping
out
an
old
friend
in
trouble.
And
big
trouble
it
is,
not
just
for
his
friend
but
for
Billy
Bob
himself
--
in
the
form
of
Wyatt
Dixon,
a
recent
prison
parolee
sworn
to
kill
Billy
Bob
as
revenge
for
both
his
imprisonment
and
his
sister's
death,
both
of
which
he
blames
on
the
former
Texas
lawman.
As
the
mysteries
multiply
and
the
body
count
mounts,
the
reader
is
drawn
deeper
into
the
tortured
mind
of
Billy
Bob
Holland,
a
complex
hero
tormented
by
the
mistakes
of
his
past
and
driven
to
make
things
--
all
things
--
right.
But
beneath
the
guise
of
justice
for
the
weak
and
downtrodden
lies
a
tendency
for
violence
that
at
times
becomes
more
terrifying
than
the
danger
he
is
trying
to
eradicate.
As
USA
Today
noted
in
discussing
the
parallels
between
Billy
Bob
Holland
and
Burke's
other
popular
series
hero,
David
Robicheaux,
"Robicheaux
and
Holland
are
two
of
a
kind,
white-hat
heroes
whose
essential
goodness
doesn't
keep
them
from
fighting
back.
The
two
series
describe
different
landscapes,
but
one
theme
remains
constant:
the
inner
conflict
when
upright
men
are
provoked
into
violence
in
defense
of
hearth,
home,
women,
and
children.
There
are
plenty
of
parallels.
Billy
Bob
is
an
ex-Texas
Ranger;
Dave
is
an
ex-New
Orleans
cop.
Dave
battles
alcoholism
and
the
ghosts
of
Vietnam;
Billy
Bob
actually
sees
ghosts,
including
the
Ranger
he
accidentally
gunned
down....But
most
of
all,
both
protagonists
hold
a
vision
of
a
pure
and
simple
life."
In
Bitterroot,
with
its
rugged
and
vivid
setting,
its
intricate
plot,
and
a
set
of
remarkable,
unforgettable
characters,
and
crafted
with
the
lyrical
prose
and
the
elegiac
tone
that
have
inspired
many
critics
to
compare
him
to
William
Faulkner,
James
Lee
Burke
has
written
a
thriller
destined
to
surpass
the
success
of
his
previous
novels.
Following
his
acclaimed
bestseller
"Purple
Cane
Road,
"
James
Lee
Burke
returns
with
a
triumphant
tour
de
force.
Set
in
the
Bitterroot
Valley
of
Montana,
home
to
celebrities
seeking
to
escape
the
pressures
of
public
life,
as
well
as
to
xenophobes
dedicated
to
establishing
a
bulkhead
of
patriotic
paranoia,
Burke's
novel
features
Billy
Bob
Holland,
former
Texas
Ranger
and
now
a
Texas-based
lawyer,
who
has
come
to
Big
Sky
Country
for
some
fishing
and
ends
up
helping
out
an
old
friend
in
trouble.
And
big
trouble
it
is,
not
just
for
his
friend
but
for
Billy
Bob
himself
--
in
the
form
of
Wyatt
Dixon,
a
recent
prison
parolee
sworn
to
kill
Billy
Bob
as
revenge
for
both
his
imprisonment
and
his
sister's
death,
both
of
which
he
blames
on
the
former
Texas
lawman.
As
the
mysteries
multiply
and
the
body
count
mounts,
the
reader
is
drawn
deeper
into
the
tortured
mind
of
Billy
Bob
Holland,
a
complex
hero
tormented
by
the
mistakes
of
his
past
and
driven
to
make
things
--
all
things
--
right.
But
beneath
the
guise
of
justice
for
the
weak
and
downtrodden
lies
a
tendency
for
violence
that
at
times
becomes
more
terrifying
than
the
danger
he
is
trying
to
eradicate.
As
"USA
Today"
noted
in
discussing
the
parallels
between
Billy
Bob
Holland
and
Burke's
other
popular
series
hero,
David
Robicheaux,
"Robicheaux
and
Holland
are
two
of
a
kind,
white-hat
heroes
whose
essential
goodness
doesn't
keep
them
from
fighting
back.
The
two
series
describe
different
landscapes,
but
one
theme
remains
constant:
the
inner
conflict
when
upright
men
are
provoked
into
violence
in
defense
of
hearth,
home,
women,
and
children.
There
are
plenty
of
parallels.
Billy
Bob
is
an
ex-Texas
Ranger;
Dave
is
an
ex-New
Orleans
cop.
Dave
battles
alcoholism
and
the
ghosts
of
Vietnam;
Billy
Bob
actually
sees
ghosts,
including
the
Ranger
he
accidentally
gunned
down....But
most
of
all,
both
protagonists
hold
a
vision
of
a
pure
and
simple
life."
In
"Bitterroot,
"
with
its
rugged
and
vivid
setting,
its
intricate
plot,
and
a
set
of
remarkable,
unforgettable
characters,
and
crafted
with
the
lyrical
prose
and
the
elegiac
tone
that
have
inspired
many
critics
to
compare
him
to
William
Faulkner,
James
Lee
Burke
has
written
a
thriller
destined
to
surpass
the
success
of
his
previous
n/a
Texas
Ranger
Billy
Bob
Holland
heads
to
Montana's
Bitterroot
Valley
to
help
an
old
friend
in
need,
but
he
becomes
the
target
of
Wyatt
Dixon,
a
prison
parolee
who
believes
Billy
Bob
caused
his
imprisonment
and
his
sister's
death.
However
tormented
he
feels
about
his
past
mistakes,
Billy
Bob
manages
to
be
a
formidable
opponent--and
he
sets
out
to
make
things
right.
Recenzii
The
New
York
TimesJames
Lee
Burke
writes
exceptionally
clean,
unforced
prose
that
has
a
pronounced
streak
of
poetry
in
it.
