I was very disappointed in this book. Having read all of his previous books, I assumed this one would be good too. The main character Hack Holland is believeable but there is not enough substance to carry the plot. I bought this book to read for my summer vacation up north and ended up with no book to read and no place to buy another one.... can anything be more depressing!..sorry James Lee

I thoroughly enjoyed this book about Hank Holland. The JLB style remains the same with the tough, rough main character, plagued by his own demons,but ultimately righteous in the end. It was enjoyable (and available in Mexico in Paperback, so not thoroughly out of print...) I'd read another book about the same character and I've read all but the most recent one of the Dave Robicheaux collection.

This will be a departure in some way for people that have read the series about Dave, but for those of us that simply love his written word, this is a stunning piece of work by Burke. I have read this book twice, something I don't do too often because there are just too many things stacked up in my "to read" pile. Hack is a good man plagued by demons of his own making, something that is NOT a departure in a Burke novel and is what makes this book one that is not easily forgotten. I think that the struggle we all make in our lives to do what is "right" is just rife with areas of grey. This is what makes reading this (and any) Burke novel an experience rather than several hours to kill time with a story. Just my opinion, I've been wrong before, as someone much wiser than me once said.

The best way to read any literary series, including those involving hard-boiled detectives, is to pick them up in the order the books were written. That way, the individual stories take on greater meaning as part of the ongoing evolution of a principal character as he or she develops and changes. In light of this, it's tempting to recommend that prospective readers of James Lee Burke's Louisiana-based Dave Robicheaux series should start with *The Neon Rain*, which sets the stage for the numerous subsequent books.

Anyone who reads Burke's prose should be impressed by his unusual gift for verbal description. His ability to paint word pictures of places, characters, moods, and feelings is exquisite, and for this reason alone a reader might plow through the entire story. However, the plot construction of *The Neon Rain* is so anemic that I would not be surprised if many of those who read this New Orleans-based story simply refuse to go on to the subsequent stories set in New Iberia. This is a shame, since most of these later works are excellent mysteries in which the stories are far more complex and engrossing.

In this novel, and to some extent in all of them, Burke employs a formulaic approach in which his protagonist veers from crisis to self-inflicted crisis (in pursuit of righteousness and justice, of course), with the narrative invariably punctuated both by breathtaking descriptions of places and people (and also meals), and periodic episodes involving bloody mayhem. After a while it gets pretty predictable; in his later works, however, Burke develops story lines that are sufficiently interesting that he can make the formula work, at least most of the time.

It should be noted also that Burke demonstrates throughout his *corpus* an admirable sympathy with the downtrodden and disadvantaged both in America and abroad, along with a sneering dislike of the rich and powerful. This political aspect of his writing is certainly unusual within the detective genre, and for me, at least, is highly refreshing.

So, should people seeking a great detective novel read pick up *The Neon Rain*? Yes, but ONLY if they resolve beforehand to view it as a kind of "prequel" to the higher quality Robicheaux novels that follow.

The David Robicheaux novels of James Lee Burke are simply some of the best fiction out there. You will be hard pressed to find a more exciting, more thought provoking, well written, and interesting series.

Neon Rain is not the best book of the series. In my opinion the best are In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead and Dixie City Jam. If you are like me you are thinking of reading this book after you have read some of the later novels. I started at Dixie City Jam and worked my way back. So I agree that in the scheme of things Neon Rain is not the best in the series, but it is a great start to a great thing.

To read about David as a cop in New Orleand working with Clete. To see how it all began.

So in short, this is a great series. I recommend reading some of the later books and going back to this one.

My dad listens to a ton of audio books and James lee Burke is at the top of his list; he has most of Burke's books on tape. I listened for months about how good this series was until I just had to give it a try. I ordered the whole series and a few days later a bunch of paperback books were piled high on my desk. Now, a couple of months later I'm on Dixie City Jam and I'm not looking back. Dave is one of the most self-destructive characters I've run across, but that's what makes the book so engrossing. Neon Rain is a great mystery read

I've read just about every book James Lee Burke has written -- from his Dave Robicheaux series to Cimmaron Rose and others. I've loved them all and eagerly await new ones. This is the first time I've read one of his books that I didn't like it. I couldn't connect with the characters, didn't bond with them, didn't find their situation to be compelling to read about. It took all I could do to finish it. It certainly wouldn't dissuade me from reading anything else he writes (although there isn't much left that I haven't read...) but this is not a great book, not up to his usual exploration of characters or his colorful description of surroundings. There was not a likeable character in the book, nor was I able to get a good visual for the surroundings. Skip it if you love Burke, you'll only be disappointed.

James Lee Burke's first novel does not have the fast paced, action packed movement as does his Dave Robicheaux novels, but he is clearly setting his penchant for detail and human suffering early in his career. Three stories combine to form the core of this novel - life is not all wine and roses. The book centers on the success and failures of three south Louisiana men who have a great deal of promise but ending up on life's darker side. Burke doesn't have a hero nor does he need one. One man driven to alcoholism by his desire to escape his father's shadow is consumed and fate has led him to prison, let him out and returned him in one foul stroke. Another man is a promising boxer who is set up by greed and sentenced to life in prison can only escape one way. A third man, poor but very talented, falls to the pressures and luxuries of stardom. His excesses leads him to the palace. These three stories are linked by prison and intoxicating substances. They are linked by one man who succombs to temptation and goes to prison. This is a great book, but it is unlike any of Burke's more famous novels. He does remain constant in his ability to capture the surroundings and the human spirit. A must read for any fan of Dave Robicheaux to catch the young wild pen of a man destined for fame.

James Lee Burke looks like a cowboy or a roustabout, but writes like a poet. His love of place is evident in his novels, whether they are set in New Iberia, Lousiana, or Deaf Smith, Texas. He also displays his affection for life's underdogs, and returns again and again to the theme of the abuse of power by the priviliged few.

In this book, "Heartwood" refers to a type of tree whose core increases in strength as the tree grows, until it is so strong that saws cannot cut through it. Burke's protagonist, Billy Bob Holland, is on his way to becoming a man with a center of heartwood. He has a tragedy in his past, an illegitimate son who is also on his way to becoming a fine and courageous man, and an idealized love for the town beauty, Peggy Jean Dietrich. Peggy Jean is married to the rich, powerful and ruthless, Earl Dietrich. When Earl sets up the naive dreamer, Wilbur Pickett, as the thief who stole a fortune in bearer bonds from his home, Billy Bob takes his case. That's when all hell breaks loose in Deaf Smith, Texas!

The plot is densly populated and complex. Burke has always infused his tales with a lot of mysticism, and this one is no exception. Wilbur's blind wife is gifted with second sight, and Billy Bob has visions of the man who was his partner when both were Texas Rangers. Burke writes of gangbangers, drug dealers, crooked cops and the overpriviliged sons and daughters of the wealthy. This book is beautifully written and peopled with fully realized characters, admirable, evil, and all the degrees in between. I have not yet read "Cimmaron Rose", but I am looking forward to another visit to Deaf Smith, Texas.

I have to say that I was somewhat suspicious of James Lee Burke after having read CIMARRON ROSE. His new main character, Billy Bob Holland seemed to be just a Texas version of Dave Robicheaux and Deaf Smith, Texas was a poor substitute for New Iberia, LA. But I stuck with the book and overcame my intitial reservations. While the similarities are there and very palpable, if one has never read the Robicheaux series, then the Billy Bob character is as new and alive as any character readers are likely to meet in popular fiction today.

The second installment in this parallel series is called HEARTWOOD and in it, James Lee Burke continues to delve into the psyche of Billy Bob Holland and the lives of various miscreants he comes across in the small Texas town he calls home. HEARTWOOD does not differ from previous JLB offerings. The prose is alternatively lush and spare. The descriptions of places and people are without peer. Whether it is New Iberia, LA or Deaf Smith, TX, James Lee Burke's descriptions are so well constructed that I can imagine myself in either location and viewing the action of the story as it takes place around me. That is a technique that Burke is a master of and he retains that stylistic approach in HEARTWOOD.

It would be easy to say that HEARTWOOD is a continuation of CIMARRON ROSE and that Burke is just expanding on that novel's previously offered theme. Some readers might find it so. But what Burke does so well is explore classic American literary themes. In these two books, it happens to be the struggles between the haves and the have-nots; the rich and the poor. Deaf Smith, Texas is a study in contrasts. There are those who have money, creature comforts, status, prestige and power and then, there are those who have none of the above. To contrast the two ends of the spectrum, Burke even geographically juxtaposes the groups by placing them at opposite sides of the town.

Burke is and always will be a master at creating characters antagonistic to the order of the rest of society. In HEARTWOOD,that person is Earl Deitrich, a man who has made his life's work (and fortune) by stomping people who get in his way. His wealth has bought him power and he is a man totally unafraid to use that power to whatever advantage he thinks he is entitled to.

As in the Robicheaux novels, the main character, Billy Bob Holland has a past that he is trying to live down. Once a Texas Ranger and Assistant U.S. Attorney, Billy Bob has taken to defending the lesser elements of society; they are the people who violate the law as easily as the rest of us turn on a light. Many are people who are criminals through the accident of not having enough common sense to realize that what they are doing violates all normal standards. Billy Bob and Burke show a world weary sympathy for the folks in this category and it is another feature continued from previous books.

Burke always provides a paradox in his novels, however. While Billy Bob may defend the sociopathic members of society, Burke points out that the well-to-do are not without their own monsters, too. Scions of powerful fathers tend not to be nice people in the books of James Lee Burke and Earl Deitrich's son Jeff is no different.

Burke always supplies his readers with a large cast of characters to keep track of. But what he does so well and continues here is that he delivers well-realized people. The good folks are the ones you root for. The vile ones are the folks you hope he kills off. Of course, that doesn't always happen either, so there are few (if any) plot gimmicks that would make these stories all too tidy.

Readers of the Robicheaux series root for Dave, Bootsie, Alafair, Batist and Helen. In HEARTWOOD, readers will root for Billy Bob, Lucas Smothers, Pete and Temple Carroll. It was nice being able to transfer sympathetic feelings for another set of characters in this new location.

Burke also retains one of the features from CIMARRON ROSE that I found annoying and that was the use of conversations between Billy Bob and his dead partner L.Q. Novarro. While not as noticeable as in CIMARRON ROSE, they are still there and somehow this time, I found them less intrusive and annoying. I think that Burke retained them and uses them to remind his readers that we all have little foibles that haunt us from time to time and sometimes these hang-ups are mysterious to others. They are however, what make each of us individuals. Billy Bob is a flawed human being just like the rest of us. He is looking for respite and redemption but the crazies in Deaf Smith just won't give him a chance.

I still think that James Lee Burke is showing us the less attractive side of America. HEARTWOOD is no different than his previous works in that regard. What it does do exceedingly well is explore a man's limits and his sense of personal honor and integrity. Just like Dave Robicheaux, Billy Bob Holland is a man of action but no longer one of barely restrained violence. While I once thought they were two sides of the same coin, I now realize that I must modify my opinion. Dave and Billy Bob are more cousins than they are brothers. The brotherly part only comes to the fore when th reader realizes that both man stand for doing the right thing.

The Billy Bob Holland novels ARE NOT the Dave Robicheaux stories despite the similarities and the imitative plot devices. I recommend that readers of HEARTWOOD forget Dave Robicheaux and read this book as if they had never read any others by JLB. When you do, you'll realize that James Lee Burke really is at the top of his form and is the undisputed master of this genre.

Read HEARTWOOD as a stand alone and judge it on that basis. If you do that, without comparing this series to the one containing Dave Robicheaux, then I think you'll find this to be a most enjoyable read.

Paul Connors

I should have purchased HEARTWOOD last year when it first came out in hardback, but I was so irritated with James Lee Burke for not writing a "Robicheaux" novel that I decided to get my revenge by waiting for the paperback to come out. I mean, it's bad enough to have to wait a year in between novels that have your favorite character in them, but two years is simply intolerable. Anyway, I just finished reading HEARTWOOD in paperback and consider it to be one of Burke's best novels to date. The story deals with Billy Bob Holland (first introduced in CIMARRON ROSE), who is an ex-Texas Ranger and assistant U.S. attorney, and who now practices law in his home town of Deaf Smith, Texas. When Wilbur Pickett, a down-and-out ex-rodeo bull rider and current employee of millionaire Earl Deitrich, is accused by his boss of stealing an antique watch and three hundred thousand dollars in bearer bonds, Billy Bob, against his better judgment, decides to take the case. Wilbur freely admits to taking the watch, but not the bonds. This makes Billy Bob wonder if Earl has set Wilbur up so that he can run a scam on the insurance company for the supposedly missing bonds. The question is why? Earl is rich. Why risk something like this? Billy Bob also has another problem to deal with. He is still in love with his old, teenage flame, Peggy Jean, who happens to now be married to Earl Deitrich. Billy Bob doesn't want to do anything which might hurt Peggy Jean, but at the same time, he doesn't want to see Wilbur get railroaded for something he didn't do. It isn't long, however, before Billy Bob has his hands full when he begins to suspect that there is something more going on behind the scenes than the apparent theft of the watch and bearer bonds. What he finds out may cost him his life, as well as the life of his son, Lucas. HEARTWOOD is the most complex novel Mr. Burke has written so far. There are so many hidden layers here that I haven't even touched the tip of the iceberg. Billy Bob will have to deal with gangbangers, ex-mercenaries, corruption in the local police department, the guilt he still harbors over the death of his best friend who he accidently killed, and the love he has for another man's wife. HEARTWOOD is a powerful novel of love, betrayal, greed, and murder. It is skillfully woven with characters that burst from the pages with a life all of their own. You won't want the book to end...it is that good! James Lee Burke doesn't just write an excellent novel, he gives you a "reading experience" that I wish other authors could duplicate. Needless to say, when the next "Billy Bob Holland" novel comes out, I won't wait for the paperback.

If you think (like me) that JL Burke is America's finest writer, then buy "In the Electric Mist" or "Laying down my Sword", both of which were superbly crafted (or any of the Robicheaux novels, for that matter). "Texas", though, is brief, thin, and unBurkean. I'd give his other books 5 stars, but this one doesn't even deserve a 1.

Hard not to like and enjoy a James Lee Burke book. This is really more of a short story full of action in the period of the Alamo. One can see the genesis of the future Burke works. Wonderfully descriptive phrases, fully drawn characters and the ever present feeling of danger. As a James Lee Burke fan I am glad it has been reissued...it's well worth taking the time to explore his origins...and it's got lots of action and thrills.

More of a long short story than a novel, this 1982 Burke effort does not have the depth of plot and characters that the latest Burke novels offer. Basically two escaped convicts, one old one young, exit a Louisiana hell hole of a prison and move south into Texas ending up with Sam Houston's near the Alamo. The young convict is a Holland, the great-grandfather of Billy Bob from Heartwood.

After waiting several months I finally received a used copy of Sabine Spring. It is an understatement to say that I was disappointed to discover that this book is a reissue of Two For Texas, origionally published by Pocket Books, Inc. in 1982. I have no idea why Burke issued the same book under two different titles but I hope that this review will prevent others from purchasing the same book twice as I have.