James Lee Burke Wayfares A Stranger

Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut Barrow captured the attention of the American public during the Great Depression. And at age 16, Weldon Avery Holland was no exception when Bonnie and Clyde happened to drive through his grandfather's farm in the spring of 1934.

While Weldon had no love for them as outlaws, he envied their audacity to defy convention and change their fate rather than accept it. If he could muster a similar strength, there would be no question what he would do. He would convince them to rescue his mother from a mental institution.

But Weldon, as taken by the outlaws as he was, never has the chance to solicit their help the first time. His grandfather, retired lawman and struggling rancher Hackberry Holland, asked them to move along. They oblige, but only long enough to return and tempt Weldon into the woods.

Wayfaring Stranger is a sweeping historical epic.

The second encounter might have proved fatal for Weldon Holland had Parker not intervened. She asks him to pretend they never met, but imagination is not enough. His grandfather confronts them and Weldon takes a shot of their car as they drive away. Later, however, he would grow to think of Bonnie as his first real love.

He would meet his second real love, Rosita Lowenstein, a little more than 10 years later after he and his sergeant Hershel Pine barely survive the Battle Of The Bulge. The two men find Rosita abandoned and left for dead in an extermination camp. The three of them manage to walk out of the Ardennes together.

The bond between them is inseparable, even if they are briefly separated after reuniting with the Allied lines. Hershel pledges to make Weldon a partner in an oil pipe company. And Weldon convinces Rosita to come back to Texas with him, where the two men intend to make their fortunes.

It's in Texas that James Lee Burke lays out his epic story of a plaintive soul on a journey through life as the reward for surviving the war is cut short when they meet millionaire and former Marine aviator Roy Wiseheart and his anti-Semitic wife Clara. Although Wiseheart makes himself out to be an ally, his wife takes exception to Rosita for her heritage and Hershel's wife, Linda Gail, for catching the eye of her husband.

Burke manages to capture both the promise and the plague of the American dream in that it invites both honorable underdogs and unscrupulous elitists to the same table. In doing so, however, there is never any guarantee elitists will like it. They are just as inclined to shake someone's hand to buy someone's ingenuity as they are to bite it and then take what they want. Their resources are deep.

A few more graphs about author James Lee Burke. 

Although Burke's fascination with allowing stories to circle back to the beginning may feel predictable to some, most will discover the Wayfaring Stranger as his finest work. As a historical thriller painted with the lush and vivid colors of the final frontier days and his proclivity to test the mettle of his characters, Wayfaring Stranger resurrects an American dream in all its glory and trappings.

The novel feels especially authentic as Burke has often said that he considers the Holland family to be the one that bears the most resemblance to his own. Some similarities are apparent. Burke grew up along the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast. While he earned bachelor's and master;s degrees from the University of Missouri, he has also worked as a landman for an oil company, college professor, and social worker.

Wayfaring Stranger By James Lee Burke Wanders 9.6 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale. 

Wayfaring Stranger is a thriller at its core, but a love story at its heart and a tale of perseverance in its head. As such, the story is both ambitious and beautifully told as it shares the life of a man who grew up and out of the American Depression. Simply put, it is an inspiration from a time when men were tough and women were cut from a different cloth as they faced challenges with nothing but each other.

Wayfaring Stranger: A Novel by James Lee Burke can be ordered from Amazon or downloaded for iBooks. The audiobook is narrated by Will Patton, who is well regarded for the life he breathes into the work. Nobody could read this book better. Wayfaring Stranger by James Lee Burke is also available at Barnes & Noble.

The Glass Rainbow Is A Lushly Southern Literary Mystery

Never mind that there have been 18 novels featuring Dave Robicheaux, a sure-footed, steadfast and compassionate detective who lives along the Bayou Teche in the small and slow-moving parish seat of Iberia Parish, Louisiana. The Glass Rainbow can be picked up and read cold, without a stitch of an introduction.

Seven young women in neighboring Jefferson Davis Parish have been brutally murdered, with only the death of Bernadette Latiolais falling within his jurisdiction. At first blush, Latiolais seems to fit in with the other women who are apparently being targeted by a serial killer.

In addition to being disadvantaged and at risk, her brother has had trouble with the law. Robicheaux agrees to meet with him, traveling to see Elmore Latiolais where he is incarnated and part of a work gang outside Natchez. He wants justice, insisting his sister was a good girl while imploring Robicheaux to investigate a pimp and drug dealer named Herman Stanga.

The Glass Rainbow is powerhouse literary mystery thriller, unrestrained by genre.

As the investigation deepens, Robicheaux learns Latiolais did not fit the characteristics of the other victims. The young girl was a high school honor student and already had plans to escape her situation with a scholarship to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. That is not all he uncovers.

With each new lead, Robicheaux begins to collect a number of names that are all loosely connected; if not for the murders, then for something else equally foul. Among them are Stanga; ex-con Vidor Perkins; the suspicious and affluent Layton and Carolyn Blanchet; the deputy sheriff Emma Poche; the ex-con and celebrity author Robert Weingart; the ancient area patriarch Timothy Abelard; and his subservient son, Kermit Abelard, who is also dating Robicheaux's daughter.

His primary ally is his crass former partner and private investigator Clete Purcel, who often comes across as a liability as much as he is an asset as a friend and reliable lifesaver. Purcel is especially likable as an extra large alcoholic who dispenses with the thoughtfulness that Robicheaux typically exhibits. He also leans heavily on Iberia Parish Sheriff Helen Soileau, who is often forced to balance her role as a confident, admiring colleague and boss.

"It has been my experience that most human stories are circular rather than linear. Regardless of the path we choose, we somehow end up where we commenced - in part, I suspect, because the child who lives in us goes along for the ride." — James Lee Burke as Dave Robicheaux

Set against the backdrop of Iberia, James Lee Burke masterfully paints an environment as dense as the formalities observed by a culture that will feel out of time for urban readers. The blended vividness of his insight into the human condition, precise metaphorical descriptions of the surroundings, and wisdom that comes from a full life make for a compelling, authentic read from start to finish.

About Author James Lee Burke.

Burke is a Houston native who grew up on the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast. Before becoming an author, he worked as a pipeliner, land surveyor, newspaper reporter, college English professor, and social worker. His richly diverse life gives every character an additional depth not found in many books. Both his wife of 48 years, Pearl, and daughter, Alafair, are successful in their respective careers.

Burke has earned dozens of awards for his work over the years. He also provides inspiration for writers in that his novel The Lost Get-Back Boogie was rejected 111 times over a period of nine years. Once it was finally accepted and published, it was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

The Glass Rainbow By James Lee Burke Shatters 9.4 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.

The Glass Rainbow moves slowly along in literary lushness while exploring people, relationships, and the capacity for flawed characters to keep dark secrets and justify evil deeds as Burke lays out seemingly unconnected threads and clues that cannot be guessed. It isn't toward the last tenth of the story that the various elements are pulled together in an explosive finish in 448 pages.

The Glass Rainbow: A Dave Robicheaux Novel by James Lee Burke is available on Amazon. The book is also at Barnes & Noble. On iTunes, Will Patton narrates The Glass Rainbow, perfectly capturing the tone of the book and Dave Robicheaux. Patton is the same narrator who brought new life to On The Road by Jack Kerouac. The audio times out at just more than 15 hours, unabridged.