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(More customer reviews)And, for the most part, succeeds. If Burke doesn't twist and torture and then so beautifully reassemble passages in McCarthy's unique version of the English language, he is certainly no rookie when it comes to spinning his own brand of moody, atmospheric prose never too far a field from Faulkner's steamy bayous and weighty themes - but decidedly more readable. In the spellbinding "Rain Gods", Burke moves west from Louisiana's delta and Dave Robicheaux's perpetual but lovable gloom to a Texas southern border town where Korean War veteran Hackberry Holland is sheriff. "Hack" stumbles upon the shallow churchyard grave of nine illegal alien women, setting off a deliciously convoluted mystery/thriller featuring a rich field - rich even by Burke's lofty standards - of characters ranging from the mildly flawed to the unrepentantly deranged. Like Robicheaux, Sheriff Holland is haunted by ghosts from his past - hefting a trunk full of baggage that carries the nightmares of North Korean POW camps, the guilt from days of alcoholism and debauchery, and sorrow over the loss of his second wife. Holland pursues his own brand of justice battling these internal demons as well as a host of those in real flesh and blood - from the serial-killing psycho "Preacher" to three-letter government agencies not afraid to sacrifice the mostly innocent to bag the bigger game.
Like McCarthy's "No Country For Old Men", "Rain Gods" deals with the drug trade across the border, and like "No Country", it is brutal, violent, and realistic. Burke, always the champion of the poor working class and never afraid to proselytize, lays it on thick here, though without Bush in the White House to cast as the villain, the targets of his righteous but sincere venom is a bit confused. Where McCarthy wraps "No Country" around simple, apolitical despair, Burke shades "Rain Gods" with a heavy hand of morality. But it works. Hackberry is a complex but likable protagonist - the stoic and troubled loner cast perfectly for the Clint Eastwood of "Gran Torino" - with a Texas accent. Hack's deputy Pam Tibbs adds color and sexual tension, and Iraq War vet Pete Flores and his talented girlfriend Vikki Gaddis make credible fugitives. But most fascinating is the almost mystical "preacher", a complex and unpredictable villain, already an urban legend among those who pursue him on both sides of the border.
In the final analysis, despite some minor flaws, this is a powerful novel - entertaining while sobering, beautifully written, the uncommon and intelligent page-turner one would expect from James Lee Burke, who is without any doubt is back in full "Jolie Blon's Bounce" or "Last Car to Elysian Fields"-form. Hackberry Holland will no doubt fill pages of subsequent Burke novels, which I'll be anxiously awaiting. Well done, Mr. Burke, and good to have you back.
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