::READERS REVIEWS::

About as good a contemporary legal thriller as you'll get - Burke has created an imperfect protagonist with Billy Bob Holland, and although the book has some complex plots and subplots that may seem a bit conventionalized, the strength of the descriptive writing is such and the broad swath of characters he creates makes up for it. But more significantly is that James Lee Burke has in his more recent books created reverberations between the local and the culture at large. Virtually every law enforcement organization from the feds to the Mexican federales are shown to be not the law abiding and enforcing institutions they claim to be, and it's about as accessible a metaphor to the degradation of the cultural ideas of fairness, goodness, concern for the underdog and the perversion of personal independence that seems to have befallen a good number of Americans. You can read it for the language, the characters, the attention to emotional and physical detail, but when all is said and done, you have a portrait of America that is not very pretty and not painted by a so called 'liberal' but by a protagonist who, as Hemingway said every good writer should have, "A built-in Sh-T detector."

Drop the vietnam verbage - I have read quite a few of Burkes books and am getting a bit bored with his reference to vietnam and LQ in all his Billy Bob books. Like the characters though and will continue to read James Lee just ready for another plot line will try Whit Dove next

Texas' Lone Ranger - Defense attorney Billy Bob Holland is an ex-Texas Ranger who has taken a murder case where the chief suspect is his illegitimate son. But this isn't a simple plot; it involves his father and his great grandfather's diary as well. The past also haunts him literally-in the form of L.Q. Navarro. As a Ranger, Billy Bob accidentally killed his partner and friend. Periodically L.Q. appears to Billy Bob and offers him advice. The intricate plot and fluid writing definitely draw you into the Billy Bob's world in Deaf Smith. For instance, there isn't just one villain; the novel is full of unsavory characters. I fell in love with the lyric images floating from the pages and atmosphere, but I have to admit the ending was a bit confusing.

Burke begins a new series set in Texas - 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.

Great Mystery Novel - If you want a good mystery with Texas flavor and a touch of darkness - this is a great read.