Book 12 for 2012 Feast Day of Fools is book three in another of Burke’s series featuring Hackberry Holland,  and I must say that this series is just as good,  if not better than the Robicheaux

Looking back through my Goodreads.com bookshelf,  I see that I read my first James Lee Burke book, The Neon Rain and was introduced to the world of Dave Robicheaux in 1990!

Now 22 years and 17 books later, I still can’t wait for the next book Creole Belle which is due out in July! In the meantime, I figured I’d read a book from Burke’s Hackberry Holland  series!

Hackberry Holland first appeared in Burke’s 1971’s Lay Down My Sword and Shield and didn’t appear again until the release of Rain Gods last year! Holland is the sheriff in a small southern Texas border town and in this book he faces some pretty nasty villains!

 The Synopsis from Burke’s website:

When alcoholic ex-boxer Danny Boy Lorca witnesses a man tortured to death in the desert and reports it, Hack’s investigation to the home of Anton Ling, a regal, mysterious Chinese woman whom the locals refer to as La Magdalena and who is known for sheltering illegals. Ling denies having seen the victims or perpetrators, but there is something in her steely demeanor and aristocratic beauty that compels Hackberry to return to her home again and again as the investigation unfolds. Could it be that the Sheriff is so taken in by this creature who reminds him of his deceased wife, that he would ignore the possibility that she is just as dangerous as the men she harbors?

Danny Boy Lorca is only one of the many memorial character in a book that is loaded with them. Others include a Mexican named Krill. and his comparde Negrito, Reverand Cody Daniels,  an evil Russian mobster, but perhaps the most memorial one is Preacher Jack Collins, Holland’s nemesis in Rain Gods. Collins was thought to be dead  at the end of Rain Gods, but he is far from dead and he and his Thompson machine gun rip it up in this book. It seems that the majority of characters including Hack are flawed, and they are haunted by their past, as they battle for the future!  Overall, this is one of the best books that I’ve read in a long time!!

Again from Burke’s website!

 Praised by Joyce Carol Oates for “the luminosity of his writerly voice” James Lee Burke returns with his most allegorical novel to date, illuminating vital issues of our time—immigration, energy, religious freedom—with the rich atmosphere and devastatingly flawed, authentic characters that readers have come to celebrate during the five decades of his brilliant career.

If you’ve never read a James Lee Burke book this is a great place to start and if you do read it,  I know you’ll be back for more!!!

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