Feast Day of Fools: A Novel

James Lee Burke

Sep 2011 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

The critically acclaimed thirtieth entry from New York Times bestselling author James Lee Burke, featuring Texas Sheriff Hackberry Holland in an epic tale that is equal parts thriller, Western, and literary masterpiece.

James Lee Burke returns to the Texas border town of his bestseller Rain Gods, where a serial killer presumed dead is very much alive…and where sheriff Hackberry Holland, now a widower, fights for survival—his own, and of the citizens he’s sworn to protect.

When alcoholic ex-boxer Danny Boy Lorca witnesses a man tortured to death in the desert, Hackberry’s investigation leads him to Anton Ling, a mysterious Chinese woman known for sheltering illegals. Ling denies any knowledge of the attack, but something in her aristocratic beauty seduces Hack into overlooking that she is as dangerous as the men she harbors. And when soulless Preacher Jack Collins reemerges, the cold-blooded killer may prove invaluable to Hackberry. This time, he and the Preacher have a common enemy.

Ratings and reviews

In rugged southern Texas by the Mexican border, Danny Boy Lorca, a former boxer and alcoholic witnesses a brutal murder. Danny tells Sheriff Hacberry Holland and the sheriff's chief deputy, Pam Tibbs about the murder and that one person got away. He heard them mention La Magdelena, aka Anton Ling, a free spirited Chinese woman who provides shelter for illegal immigrants. He also heard the leader referred to as Krill. Krill had been hired to find the missing man, who was a former federal employee and had information about the Preditor program. He wanted to sell this man to Al Qaeda. The characters are bound together in their passionate struggle to survive in the unforgiving desert area. Hack Holland is a large man and elderly, he's been compared to John Wayne in True Grit. I had difficulty with Hack Holland. He tells of being a prisoner in the Korean war which ended in 1953. This would make him about eighty years old. It is hard to imagine a man of this age accomplishing the physical things that Hack did in the story or to have us believe that Pam, who is decades younger, could have romantic feelings for him. In addition, I didn't think Holland was very original, more like taking the characteristics of Dave Robicheaux and moving them to Holland. Both men are widowers, both former war vets, both dislike the government and authority, and both criticize people who use bad language around them. Regardless of that issue, I recommend the story as a wonderful read with colorful characters and an exciting climax.

Another great novel from James Lee Burke. Sherriff Hack and his deputies face a group of evil doers that seek the plans for a drone. Some "bad" guys find their humanity, some never do.

Should be called 'Ghost Road' they all carry spirit baggage - the landscapes are the most living phantastic characters; and the dialogue between characters is the real story: some of it is Don Quixote

About the author

James Lee Burke is a New York Times bestselling author, two-time winner of the Edgar Award, and the recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts in Fiction. He has authored forty novels and two short story collections. He lives in Missoula, Montana.