Rain Gods

A Novel

By: James Lee Burke

Narrated by: Will Patton

Length: 15 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

When Hackberry Holland became sheriff of a tiny Texas town near the Mexican border, he'd hoped to leave certain things behind: his checkered reputation, his haunted dreams, and his obsessive memories of the good life with his late wife, Rie. But the discovery of the bodies of nine illegal aliens, machine-gunned to death and buried in a shallow grave behind a church, soon makes it clear that he won't escape so easily.

As Hack and Deputy Sheriff Pam Tibbs attempt to untangle the threads of this complex and grisly case, a damaged young Iraq veteran, Pete Flores, and his girlfriend, Vikki Gaddis, are running for their lives, hoping to outwit the bloodthirsty criminals who want to kill Pete for his involvement in the murders. The only trouble is, Pete doesn't know who he's running from: drunk and terrified, he fled the scene of the crime when the shooting began. And there's a long list of people who want Pete and Vikki dead: crime boss Hugo Cistranos, who hired Pete for the operation; Nick Dolan, a strip club owner and small-time gangster with revenge on his mind; and a mysterious God-fearing serial-killer-for-hire known as Preacher Jack Collins, with enigmatic motives of his own.

With the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and a host of cold-blooded killers on Pete and Vikki's trail, it's up to Sheriff Holland to find them first and figure out who's behind the mass murder before anyone else ends up dead. In this thrilling and intricate work, James Lee Burke has once again proven himself a master storyteller and a perceptive chronicler of the darkest corners of the human heart.

©2009 James Lee Burke (P)2009 Simon & Schuster Audio

kind of boring

Who-done-it? who cares? the story was difficult to follow and after a while I realized I did not care about any of the characters or what happened to them!

Silky Smooth

I am a big fan of the awesome combo of author James Lee Burke and narration of Will Patton. Simply terrific. A real joy getting to know Hackberry Holland.

James Lee Burke and will Patton are wonderful as always

This was not one of my favorite Burke stories. There were too many really nasty characters and too few kind ones to balance the mix. I almost dreaded listening to it as the nastiness got worse and worse. I have very little tolerance anymore for all the violence and nastiness, but I do like how Burke's villains always have some redeeming character. I miss Dave Robichaux and the glorious Clete Purcell.

Loved This Story!

Would you listen to Rain Gods again? Why?

I really enjoyed this book. This story was gripping. I listen while I walk and I ended up walking a long way just to listen to this story!

What other book might you compare Rain Gods to and why?

I really enjoy James Lee Burke. I have read all of the Hackberry Holland books and several other Burke novels.

Have you listened to any of Will Patton’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This is the first one that I have listened to..

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes! It was hard to stop listening.

Any additional comments?

A really great listen/read

Great Book Great Writer

James Lee Burke reminds me of John D. MacDonald, both writers who could develop interesting characters and tell a story that keeps you on the edge of your seat. This was just one of many of his excellent books. Michael K. McMahan

Divided Loyalties and Sultry Prose

Only a master writer can leave you rocking on a see-saw between grinding your teeth over the moral imbeciles and cheering for the women of courage and backbone in this book. You think you'd hate these guys, but Burke finds and shows you just enough of their humanity that you understand the main characters.

Take your time and enjoy the pictures painted because you're going to be right there, smelling and tasting the Texas days and nights. This author gets under your skin with the characters; he doesn't tell you through trite phrases and meaningless gestures.

No highbrow literature here. Just a fine story, skillfully told. If you haven't read James Lee Burke before jump right in. If you have, you'll feel right at home. The narrator is like a fine barbecue, slow and low so the story is so tender it falls off the bone.

sure was a long book

Don't get me wrong, I am a huge fan of James Lee Burke, and Will Patton is an incredible narrator. Great imagery as usual, but this novel just did not grow on me. Maybe the whole cowboy, Texas type story. I am not sure if there were too many characters or places or maybe too much going on in my life to follow the story, but I can't wait for it to be over....I only have an hour or so left and I could not really care what happens to folks in this book. Kind of a huge disappointment since I love all of his New Orleans based novels.

Rain Gods (Unabridged)

Big Fan of Burke and Will Patton combination, was looking for more books with these characters but appears these are new. Hope we get a new series with these characters, good listen.

Classic JLB!!!

I was always a huge fan of the Robicheaux novels so I was really curious to see how Hackberry Holland turned out. Burke has done another amazing job with character development in Rain Gods and to have Will Patton narrate only makes the story that much better!!

Words can't even describe the superb job Patton does!! This is the 4th Burke and Patton collaboration that I've listened to and they always keep me wanting more! I would compare Will Patton's knack for narration to the great Jim Dale!

Rain Gods

Great in every repect. Great story and Great Narration.