Not one, or two but three terrifyingly brutal killers are mixed with a some fundamental religion for a powerfully heady and intense story. Sheriff Hackberry Holland is back for a 3rd appearance in this 30th novel from James Lee Burke; we also get a second outing for the sociopathic killer preacher Jack Collins. As ever Burke delivers confirming his premier league author status on both sides of the Atlantic.
Danny Boy Lorca was used to having apocalyptic visions - the beatings he'd taken in jail and the booze he drank to forget them made sure of that. But what he saw and heard that night out in the desert was more terrifying than anything even his battered spirit could have conjured. A man tortured to death. Slowly and methodically and with inhuman cruelty. When Danny Boy tells his tale to Sheriff Hackberry Holland, Hack knows something evil has leaked over the border into his corner of South Texas. What he doesn't realize is that this brutal slaying is just the beginning of a twisted three-way manhunt that will pit a psychotic killer seeking release for the souls of his murdered children against a religious maniac in love with death, and a Russian gangster whose name is a byword for fear...
James Lee Burke is the author of many previous novels, many featuring Detective Dave Robicheaux. He won the Edgar Award in 1998 for Cimarron Rose, while Black Cherry Blues won the Edgar in 1990 and Sunset Limited was awarded the CWA Gold Dagger in 1998. He lives with his wife, Pearl, in Missoula, Montana and New Iberia, Louisiana.
