"Rain Gods," by James Lee Burke (Simon & Schuster, 434 pages, $25.99).
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DAYTON, Ohio — James Lee Burke is that rare author who just keeps getting better with each book. That's hard to do.
He is best known for his series that features the Louisiana lawman Dave Robicheaux. Last year he published his 17th book in that series.
Burke has written a dozen other books. These include short story collections, stand-alone novels, and a series featuring former Texas Ranger turned Montana lawyer Billy Bob Holland. Burke's latest novel, "Rain Gods," is a stand-alone that reconnects readers with Billy Bob's cousin, Hackberry Holland, a Texas sheriff.
Longtime fans might recall the last time Hackberry turned up in a Burke book. It was back in the early 1970s. Well, Hack is back, older, still fiercely enforcing the law in his rural county on the Mexican border.
As "Rain Gods" opens, Sheriff Holland has gotten an anonymous tip about a terrible event. Human smugglers murdered a group of women. Hackberry Holland finds their graves near an old deserted church. Who could have done such an awful thing?
Hackberry and his deputy Pam Tibbs focus in on their only clue, the anonymous tipster who called in the information which led to this gruesome find. It came from Pete Flores, a young veteran of the Iraq War. Pete and his girlfriend Vikki Gaddis have gone underground, hiding out from the killers who once offered Pete money to help smuggle those unfortunate women across the border.
When the smugglers began killing the women, Pete ran off. Now everybody is looking for him; the sheriff, federal agents and a network of shadowy professional assassins.
Pete already had plenty of demons on his plate. Badly burned by an explosion in Iraq, he has nightmarish memories. He battles a powerful temptation to drown his emotions with alcohol.
This struggle with alcoholism is a recurring theme in many of Burke's books. Dave Robicheaux is a recovering alcoholic. His best friend and sidekick, Clete Purcell, remains a heavy drinker. This creates conflict in their relationship.
Sheriff Hackberry Holland is another former imbiber. He resists the infrequent desire for a shot of Jack Daniels on ice. Like Pete Flores, Hackberry is also plagued by flashbacks to wartime atrocities. His war was the Korean War. He was a POW, and tortured.
Burke's villains are extraordinary creations. "Rain Gods" has an entire range of bad guys; pornographers, drug smugglers, cold-blooded enforcers. Jack Collins is the worst of these. They call him "The Preacher." He has to be the most complicated, perplexing villain Burke has ever done.
"The Preacher" believes that he is on a mission from on high. His warped and distorted vision of heavenly retribution is brutally enforced with his Thompson submachine gun. In classic Burke fashion the good guys and the bad ones circle one another until the final showdown.
"Rain Gods" is a potent allegory that kept me up until the wee hours of the morning. James Lee Burke never cheats his readers — nobody does it better.
Vick Mickunas writes for the Dayton Daily News. E-mail: vick(at)vickmickunas.com.
