Twenty years ago John Costello's life, as he knew it, ended. He and his beautiful girlfriend, Nadia, became victims of the deranged 'Hammer of God' killer who terrorised New Jersey City throughout the summer of 1984. This murderer went after young courting couples in an attempt to 'save their souls'. Nadia was killed by the first blow of the hammer. John survived, but was physically and psychologically scarred to an extent that few people could comprehend. He withdrew from society, hid in his apartment and now only emerges to work as a crime researcher for a major newspaper. Damaged he may be, but no one in New Jersey knows more about serial killers than John Costello. So, when a new spate of murders starts - all seemingly random and unrelated - John is the only one who can discern the complex pattern that lies behind them. But could this dark knowledge be about to threaten his life?
And in Edinburgh of all places. I mean, you never think of that sort of thing happening in Edinburgh, do you...?' 'That sort of thing' is the brutal abduction and murder of two young girls. And now a third is missing, presumably gone to the same sad end. Detective Sergeant John Rebus, smoking and drinking too much, his own young daughter spirited away south by his disenchanted wife, is one of many policemen hunting the killer. And then the messages begin to arrive: knotted string and matchstick crosses - taunting Rebus with pieces of a puzzle only he can solve.
A brilliantly layered novel of crime, character, and place from the two-time Edgar Award winner, Gold Dagger Award winner, and New York Times bestselling author of Sunset Limited.
Few writers in America today combine James Lee Burke's lush prose, crackling story lines, and tremendous sense of history and landscape. In Cimmaron Rose, longtime fans of the Dave Robicheaux series found that the struggles of Texas defense attorney Billy Bob Holland show Burke at his best in exploring classic American themes--the sometimes subtle, often violent strains between the haves and the have-nots; the collision of past and present; the inequities in the criminal justice system.
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 Earls 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.
The young woman was shot dead in cold blood, dropped outside the stadium, in front of a stand selling Moet for $7.50 a glass. Once her tennis career had skyrocketed. Now, at the height of the US Open, the headlines were being made by another young player from the wrong side of the tracks. When Myron Bolitar investigates the killing he uncovers a connection between the two players and a six-year-old murder at an exclusive club. Suddenly Myron is in over his head. And with a dirty US senator, a jealous mother and the mob all drawn into the case, he finds himself playing the most dangerous game of all...
A Thursday night in October: DI McCadden is hanging around in casualty, waiting for his partner to be fixed up after she drove them into a lamp post to avoid a child. His attention is caught by the little man with the fruit and roses, who doesn't seem to be visiting or waiting for treatment, and is more interested in who comes in than in who leaves. What's he up to?
Whatever it is, it's enough to get him beaten up in the hospital car park by a bunch of amateur vigilantes. And enough to involve McCadden in a case which ultimately leads to his discovery that the term 'kneeling at the altar' has more than one meaning.
Exactly what was Billy Power machinist at the plastics factory, keeper of greyhounds and Jack the Lad about Waterford involved in? And why did he have to die? Unshaven, unorthodox and unpopular with his superiors, DI Carl McCadden finds straight answers about Power or anything else hard to come by. And as McCadden searches for the truth through the bleak and dilapidated housing estates, the bars and the dog track of Waterford, Byzantine business machinations and self-righteous politicking muddy the waters . . .