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Read Heartwood (2000)

Heartwood (2000)

Online Book

Rating
3.95 of 5 Votes: 2
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ISBN
0440224012 (ISBN13: 9780440224013)
Language
English
Publisher
island books

Heartwood (2000) - Plot & Excerpts

"In my mind's eye I saw Ronnie Cross and Esmeralda Ramirez flying down an empty six-lane highway through the countryside, the chromed engine roaring, the green dials on the walnut dashboard indicating levels of control and power that seemed to transcend the laws of mortality itself.I thought of horsemen fleeing a grass fire in Old Mexico and civilian soldiers who waited with musket and powder horn at an adobe wall and a preacher who baptized by immersion and created a cathedral out of trees and water and sky. I smelled banks of roses and saw Ronnie Cross speed-shift his transmission and floor the accelerator, tacking up now, the rear end low on the road, the twin exhaust pipes thundering off the asphalt. Esmeralda twisted sideways in the oxblood leather seat and grinned at him, pumping her arms to the beat from the stereo speakers, she and Ronnie disappearing down the highway, into the American mythos of gangbangers and youthful lovers and cars that pulsed with music, between hills that had been green and covered with sunlight only an hour ago."

FINALLY! What publisher would publish this piece of nothing. This was a terrible book. Not only were things happening that didnt matter there wasnt even a whole story. it was like if i were a receptionist in a lawyers office and only got bits and pieces to the case as he was putting the story together and i had no idea what he was putting together.. The characters were terrble and had hardly any personality. Also the main character was talking to his dead partner the entire book and he wasnt much help so there was no point in him being there at all. Now i did give it one star instead of a half and that was only because the end was OK. i did laugh out loud at the end but it was only because i saw it coming. this was a very sloppy piece of writing. i dont even want to call it literature. it was all over the place. it was almost what you would expect a very bad movie about an ok book to be like. please give me my time back

What do You think about Heartwood (2000)?

I sometimes feel like my 'Great American Detective' shelf should be called 'Great American Vigilantes', considering that Spenser and Jack Reacher share space on it with Harry Bosch and Elvis Cole. (It's a very chauvinistic category I've created for myself, here. Have to see about fixing that.) Billy Bob Holland is a lawyer, and justice is more important to him than fitting nicely into the system.Burke is amazing storyteller, and I don't mean just that he has a knack hand with plot. He uses language in a way that makes me linger over these books, often reading passages aloud to myself. His descriptions of Texas - both scenery and society - are fascinating. He's the kind of writer who makes me want to be not only a good writer, myself, but a great writer.
—Suzy

I love any book by James Lee Burke and am determined to read them all. I especially enjoy his descriptions of the Louisiana landscape. This book is different: it takes place in Texas and stars Billy Bob Holland, a lawyer. I am so enamored of Burke's other hero, Dave Robicheaux, that I couldn't help but wish he was in this book too. I think I'm getting a little crazy when I'm starting to think of a book character like Dave as real but that gives you an idea of how good James Lee Burke's writing can be. For lovers of this author, I heartily recommend this book.
—Clare

James Lee Burke does not disappoint in Heartwood. It's not my favorite of his, but it's solid. Burke continues to paint a perfect portrait of the landscape and of the times of which he writes. He captures social classes and the regional identities of his subjects wonderfully. He continues his theme of good versus evil, battle of the sexes, and battles of the haves versus the have-nots. He tells the story of how Heartwood trees grow in layers from the inside out; this was told to the main character, Billy Bob Holland, by his grandfather when he was river-baptized as a teen. The story is passed down and the symbolism has significance in this novel.
—James Seawel

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