Wayfaring Stranger

By: James Lee Burke

Narrated by: Will Patton

Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

2015 Audie Award Finalist for Thriller/Suspense

From "America’s best novelist" (The Denver Post): a sprawling thriller drenched with atmosphere and intrigue that takes a young boy from a chance encounter with Bonnie and Clyde to the trenches of World War II and the oil fields along the Texas-Louisiana coast.

It is 1934 and the Depression is bearing down when 16-year-old Weldon Avery Holland happens upon infamous criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow after one of their notorious armed robberies. A confrontation with the outlaws ends as Weldon puts a bullet through the rear window of Clyde’s stolen automobile. Ten years later, Second Lieutenant Weldon Holland and his sergeant, Hershel Pine, escape certain death in the Battle of the Bulge and encounter a beautiful young woman named Rosita Lowenstein hiding in a deserted extermination camp. Eventually, Weldon and Rosita fall in love and marry and, with Hershel, return to Texas to seek their fortunes. There, they enter the domain of jackals known as the oil business. They meet Roy Wiseheart - a former Marine aviator haunted with guilt for deserting his squadron leader over the South Pacific and Roy’s wife, Clara, a vicious anti-Semite who is determined to make Weldon and Rosita’s life a nightmare. It will be the frontier justice upheld by Weldon’s grandfather, Texas lawman Hackberry Holland, and the legendary antics of Bonnie and Clyde that shape Weldon’s plans for saving his family from the evil forces that lurk in peacetime America and threaten to destroy them all.

©2014 James Lee Burke. All rights reserved. (P)2014 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

An Epic Tale 100/100

Listened to about 15 Robicheaux novels and decided to step out, while staying with JLB and Will Patton. Absolutely incredible story spanning over 35 years, WWII and the beginnings of Big Oil in the SE United States. 100/100

Great Read

Love James Lee Burke 31\2 stars over all. He is one of my favorite go too.

One of his best and that is saying something!

Burke is a master at everything this genre has to offer. Period. Exclamation point! Mike drop.

challenging listen

Burke is a wonderful story-teller i enjoy, but too far-fetched, depressing and laborious for me

Hauntingly Great

Brilliant author — the best of his books, as far as I’ve read.
Terrific narrator — Shelby Foote reincarnated.

Fantastic find

Really enjoyed this book love will Pattons cadence and voice would highly recommend this book seems like a great beginning of a series.

PHENOMENAL

Best book I’ve listened to in a long time! Can’t wait to listen to everything else he’s written. Such a poignant story, beautifully written by James Lee Burke, and flawlessly narrated by Will Patton.

Almost a bullseye

I think James Lee Burke is in a very small category of elite contemporary fiction writers with the likes of Adrian McKinty, Michael Gruber, and Nelson DeMille. There's nothing about this effort that makes me think differently. The writing is excellent. The story is good. The characters are mostly what I've come to expect from this author. And Will Patton is the ideal choice to narrate James Lee Burke. He does not disappoint.

Still, Burke's books tend to be very dark, peppered with philosophical ruminations about the essence and manifestations of evil. So it was with this one. What was missing for me was the comic relief from the constant barrage of depressing events, recollections, and story twists that a character like Cletus provides in the Dave Robicheaux series.

James Lee Burke Has Out Done Himself Again

What made the experience of listening to Wayfaring Stranger the most enjoyable?

If you are a JLB fan w/ Will Patton as Nar. than you get the draw of the coupling!!! If not, well , you havent istened enough. Burke is by far the king of is style and Patton has the voice to capure what this novel, witch leaves you wanting more, takes you to, a time past that is not flatering but so real you can taste it.

What did you like best about this story?

it is flawless through every transition, never forced or off beat, Perfect timing.

Which scene was your favorite?

The wink. It is the tread that runs true through the entire book, or the meaning of it anyway.

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

Yes and I did.

Any additional comments?

Once again we get to see reality through the eyes of a master story teller and word smith, that has the abiliy to make one feel every emoition God gave us, in spades. Thank you Mr Burke and Mr Patton for a wonderful day.

I listen due to Will Patton but backfires here

I am a fan of these books (James Lee Burke) and love the narration of Will Patton. The problem is if you are addicted to these books, you find yourself listening but associating the character with voices in earlier books. Will Patton has this husky voice he used for Cleet in earlier books and it resurfaces here. So when you listen to this book it's hard not to think that you are not listening to a character that is not even in this book. I suppose that this is the problem with being an "audible" book. If I was James Lee Burke, I would think about this and maybe change the character profile so it incorporates "new" voices, I am sure that Will Patton could so something of asian descent for example.