In hot and sultry Texas, Hack, an attorney and Korean War POW, is being pushed by his wife, his brother, and his so-called friends in the oil business to run for political office. But Hack would prefer to drink, look after his beloved horses, and represent the occasional long-shot pro bono case at his law firm. When Hack attempts to overturn a conviction for an old army buddy, he finds himself embroiled in the seamy underbelly of the Texas patronage system—and in the earliest beginnings of the United Farm Workers movement, led by a beautiful woman who speaks to his heart in a way no one else has. As Hack begins to bring justice to the underserved, he finds both a new love and a new purpose.

With his skillful blend of engaging plotlines, compelling characters, and graceful prose, James Lee Burke demonstrates the shimmering clarity of vision that has made him beloved by suspense fans all over the globe.

In the early 1800s, nineteen-year-old Son Holland is falsely accused of stealing a purse and condemned to ten years in a brutal Louisiana prison camp. Determined not to spend the next decade behind bars, Son teams up with a fellow inmate and a beautiful Native American woman, and the trio flees. Killing a guard in the process, however, ensures they’ll face a punishment far worse than the chain gang if they’re caught. They realize their best chance for escape is seeking cover in the violent storm of revolution led by General Houston and James Bowie. Soon they find themselves in the midst of historic battles, attempting to secure not only their own freedom but that of the Republic of Texas.

“Two for Texas is a western that boils down genre conventions the way Balzac did coffee until something dark, bitter, and invigorating is left.”
—The Washington Post

Lucas Smothers, nineteen and from the wrong end of town, has been arrested for the rape and murder of a local girl. His lawyer, former Texas Ranger Billy Bob Holland, is convinced of Lucas’s innocence—but proving it won’t be easy amid the deceit and corruption that spreads like wildfire in a gossipy small town where everybody knows everybody else’s business. That includes the poorly kept secret that Billy Bob isn’t just Lucas’s lawyer but, as the result of an extramarital affair, the boy’s father. As Billy Bob seeks to clear his son’s name, he attracts enemies far more dangerous than any he ever faced as a Ranger.

“A book that will cost you some sleep.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

“[A] fine, multitextured novel, full of Burke’s lilting, elegiac prose and unflinching in its portrait of the human heart in turmoil.”
—Booklist

Heartwood is a kind of tree that grows in layers. And as Billy Bob's grandfather once told him, you do well in life by keeping the roots in a clear stream and not letting anyone taint the water for you. But in Holland's dusty little hometown of Deaf Smith, in the hill country north of Austin, local kingpin Earl Deitrich has made a fortune running roughshod and tainting anyone who stands in his way. Billy Bob has problems with Deitrich and his shamelessly callous demeanor, but can't shake the legacy of his passion for Deitrich's "heartbreak-beautiful" wife, Peggy Jean.

When Holland takes on the defense of Wilbur Pickett--a man accused of stealing an heirloom and three hundred thousand dollars in bonds from Deitrich's office--he finds himself up against not only Earl's power and influence, but also a past Billy Bob can't will away.  A wonderfully realized novel, rich in Texas atmosphere and lore, and a dazzling portrait of the deadly consequences of self-delusion, Heartwood could only have been written by James Lee Burke, a writer in expert command of his craft.

When Billy Bob Holland gets a call from a fellow Vietnam War veteran, he closes his Texas-based law practice for an extended trip to the Bitterroot Valley in Montana. Once there, he finds his friend Doc Voss has tangled with a local mining company threatening to severely damage the area’s ecology. It quickly becomes apparent that an assortment of nefarious characters is on the side of the mining interests, and they will stop at nothing to see that Voss and Holland back down.

“Beautifully written . . . stands head and shoulders above most other crime fiction.”
—The Guardian

“Soaring descriptions of the majestic setting contrast sharply with the evildoings of the people who live there. . . . Those who relish Burke’s patented mix of supercharged violence and overheated passions are in for a treat.”
—Publishers Weekly

Newly arrived in Montana, Billy Bob Holland fears for his family’s safety when Wyatt Dixon, the depraved killer rodeo clown he sent to prison back in Texas, is released on a technicality. Dixon declares he has found Jesus and is currently stable on a cocktail of chemicals, but Billy Bob remains dubious of any claims of reformation. He doesn’t have much time to dwell on his suspicions, however, as he’s hired to defend a young Native American activist who is charged with the murder of two mysterious men. As he investigates, Holland discovers a web of intrigue and begins to wonder why Washington has become so concerned with an obscure murder case on the fringes of the Bitterroot Mountains.

“James Lee Burke tells a story in a style all his own, in language that’s alive, electric. He’s a master at setting mood, laying in atmosphere, all with quirky dialogue that’s a delight.” —Elmore Leonard

“Burke is probably the most descriptive mystery writer at work today and In the Moon of Red Ponies contains pages of romantic, luminous descriptions of landscapes. . . . I look forward to the next in the Billy Bob series as eagerly as I do the next Dave Robicheaux. Thrilling stuff.”— Peter Guttridge for The Guardian

“Readers will savor Burke’s lyrical prose and finely shaded psychological tension as Billy Bob and his cohorts teeter between idealism and brutality.”—Entertainment Weekly

In a heat-cracked southern border town, the bodies of nine women, killed execution-style, are unearthed in a shallow grave. One teenager might even have been buried alive. They had been serving as drug mules for the terrifyingly powerful crime boss Hugo Cistranos. To help with the slayings, Cistranos hired a damaged young Iraq War vet named Pete Flores. But Flores bolted in fear, and now he and his girlfriend, Vikki, are running for their lives. To solve the case, Sheriff Hackberry Holland must contend with suspicious, intruding federal agents, as well as Preacher Jack Collins, a God-fearing serial killer for hire. Holland quickly finds himself caught up in a frantic race for survival—for Pete, Vikki, and himself.

“Burke spins a tale replete with colorful prose and epic confrontations in his second novel to feature small-town Texas sheriff Hackberry Holland . . . [and a] full roster of sharply drawn lowlifes. The battle of wills and wits between Holland and Collins delivers everything Burke’s fans expect.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Nearly every scene builds to a fine crescendo of tension.”
—Kirkus Reviews

Featuring Texas Sheriff Hackberry Holland in an epic tale that is equal parts thriller, Western, and literary masterpiece.

Sheriff Hackberry Holland patrols a small Southwest Texas border town with a deep and abiding respect for the citizens in his care. Still mourning the loss of his cherished wife and locked in a perilous almost-romance with his deputy, Pam Tibbs, a woman many decades his junior, Hackberry feeds off the deeds of evil men to keep his own demons at bay.

When alcoholic ex-boxer Danny Boy Lorca witnesses a man tortured to death in the desert and reports it, Hack’s investigation leads 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 victim or the 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?

The danger in the desert increases tenfold with the return of serial murderer Preacher Jack Collins, whom The New York Times called “one of Burke’s most inspired villains.” Presumed dead at the close of Rain Gods, Preacher Jack has reemerged with a calm, single-minded zeal for killing that is more terrifying than the muzzle flash of his signature machine gun. But this time he and Sheriff Holland have a common enemy.

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.

In 1934, sixteen-year-old Weldon Avery Holland encounters Bonnie and Clyde after one of their notorious armed robberies. Weldon is smitten by Bonnie, but a confrontation with the outlaws ends with Weldon firing a gun, unsure whether it hit its mark.

Ten years later, Weldon barely survives the Battle of the Bulge, in the process saving the lives of his sergeant and a young Spanish prisoner of war, Rosita Lowenstein—a woman who holds the same romantic power over him as Bonnie Parker. The three return to Texas where Weldon gets in on the ground floor of the nascent oil business.

In just a few years’ time Weldon will spar with the jackals of the industry, rub shoulders with dangerous men, and win and lose fortunes twice over. But it is the prospect of losing his one true love that will spur his most reckless act yet—one inspired by that encounter long ago with the outlaws of his youth.

“One of the most hopeful and ambitious books he’s ever written . . . Burke seems to get better and better with every book.”
—Benjamin Percy for Poets & Writers

“Burke at his best—vivid, finely wrought, highly evocative writing. . . . A wonderful slice of midcentury American life overlaid with the roiling drama of individual lives as only Burke can portray them.”
—Booklist (starred review)

The story of a father and son separated by war and circumstance—and whose encounter with the legendary Holy Grail will change their lives forever.

From its opening scene in revolutionary Mexico to the Battle of the Marne in 1918, and on to the bordellos and saloons of San Antonio during the reign of the Hole in the Wall Gang, House of the Rising Sun is an epic tale of love, loss, betrayal, vengeance, and retribution that follows Texas Ranger Hackberry Holland on his journey to reunite with his estranged son, Ishmael, a captain in the United States Army.

After a violent encounter that leaves four Mexican soldiers dead, Hackberry escapes the country in possession of a stolen artifact, earning the ire of a bloodthirsty Austrian arms dealer who then places Hack’s son Ishmael squarely in the cross hairs of a plot to recapture his prize, believed to be the mythic cup of Christ.

Along the way, we meet three extraordinary women: Ruby Dansen, the Danish immigrant who is Ishmael’s mother and Hackberry’s one true love; Beatrice DeMolay, a brothel madam descended from the crusader knight who brought the shroud of Turin back from the Holy Land; and Maggie Bassett, one-time lover of the Sundance Kid, whose wiles rival those of Lady Macbeth. In her own way, each woman will aid Hackberry in his quest to reconcile with Ishmael, to vanquish their enemies, and to return the Grail to its rightful place.

House of the Rising Sun is James Lee Burke’s finest novel to date, and a thrilling entry into the Holland family saga that continued most recently with Wayfaring Stranger, which The New York Times Book Review described as “saturated with the romance of the past while mournfully attuned to the unholy menace of the present.”

A powerful novel in the Holland Family series, an atmospheric coming-of-age story set in 1950s Texas, as the specter of the Korean War looms.

On its surface, life in Houston is as you would expect: drive-in restaurants, souped-up cars, jukeboxes, teenagers discovering their sexuality. But beneath the glitz and superficial normalcy, a class war has begun, and it is nothing like the conventional portrayal of the decade. Against this backdrop Aaron Holland Broussard discovers the poignancy of first love and a world of violence he did not know existed.

When Aaron spots the beautiful and gifted Valerie Epstein fighting with her boyfriend, Grady Harrelson, at a Galveston drive-in, he inadvertently challenges the power of the Mob and one of the richest families in Texas. He also discovers he must find the courage his father had found as an American soldier in the Great War.

Written in evocative prose, The Jealous Kind may prove to be James Lee Burke’s most encompassing work yet. As Aaron undergoes his harrowing evolution from boy to man, we can’t help but recall the inspirational and curative power of first love and how far we would go to protect it.

The American West in the early 1960s appears to be a pastoral paradise: golden wheat fields, mist-filled canyons, frolicking animals. Aspiring novelist Aaron Holland Broussard has observed it from the open door of a boxcar, riding the rails for both inspiration and odd jobs.

Jumping off in Denver, he finds work on a farm and meets Joanne McDuffy, an articulate and fierce college student and gifted painter. Their soul connection is immediate, but their romance is complicated by Joanne’s involvement with a shady professor who is mixed up with a drug-addled cult. When a sinister businessman and his son who wield their influence through vicious cruelty set their sights on Aaron, drawing him into an investigation of grotesque murders, it is clear that this idyllic landscape harbors tremendous power—and evil. Followed by a mysterious shrouded figure who might not be human, Aaron will have to face down all these foes to save the life of the woman he loves and his own.

The latest installment in James Lee Burke’s masterful Holland family series, Another Kind of Eden is both riveting and one of Burke’s most ambitious works to date. It dismantles the myths of both the twentieth-century American West and the peace-and-love decade, excavating the beauty and idealism of the era to show the menace and chaos that lay simmering just beneath the surface.

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Novelist Aaron Holland Broussard is shattered when his daughter Fannie Mae dies suddenly. As he tries to honor her memory by saving two young men from a life of crime amid their opioid-ravaged community, he is drawn into a network of villainy that includes a violent former Klansman, a far-from-holy minister, a biker club posing as evangelicals, and a murderer who has been hiding in plain sight.

Aaron’s only ally is state police officer Ruby Spotted Horse, a no-nonsense woman who harbors some powerful secrets in her cellar. Despite the air of mystery surrounding her, Ruby is the only one Aaron can trust. That is, until the ghost of Fannie Mae shows up, guiding her father through a tangled web of the present and past and helping him vanquish his foes from both this world and the next.

Drawn from James Lee Burke’s own life experiences, Every Cloak Rolled in Blood is a devastating exploration of the nature of good and evil and a deeply moving story about the power of love and family.

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At the beginning of the twentieth century, as America grapples with forces of human and natural violence more powerful than humanity has ever seen, Bessie Holland yearns for the love that she has never known. She finds a soulmate and mentor in a brilliant but tormented suffragette English teacher, who inspires Bessie to fight the forces of evil that permeate her world.

Watching the vast Texas countryside being destroyed by an oil company and a menacing figure with a violent past, Bessie is prepared to defend her home and her family. But when she accidentally kills an unarmed man to defend her father Hackberry, she must flee to New York. There, her older brother introduces her to boys who will grow into gangsters, but as children admire and respect Bessie’s spirit and fortitude as she is cast into a gangland that yearns for justice and mercy.

A welcome return to the beloved Holland series and populated with characters both radiant and despicable, Don't Forget Me, Little Bessie is an epic story of a remarkable young girl who fights against potentially overwhelming forces.