Rain Gods

A Novel

By: James Lee Burke

Narrated by: Will Patton

“America’s best novelist” (The Denver Post) brings back one of his most fascinating characters—Texas sheriff Hackberry Holland, cousin to lawman Billy Bob Holland—in this heart-pounding bestseller.

In a heat-cracked border town, the bodies of nine illegal aliens—women and girls, killed execution-style—are unearthed in a shallow grave. Haunted by a past he can’t shake and his own private demons, Hack attempts to untangle the grisly case, which may lead to more bloodshed. Damaged young Iraq vet Pete Flores, who saw too much before fleeing the crime scene, and his girlfriend, Vikki Gaddis, are running for their lives. Sorting through the lowlifes who are hunting down Pete, and with Preacher Jack Collins, a Godfearing serial killer for hire, in the mix, Hack is caught up in a terrifying race for survival—for Pete, Vikki, and himself.©2009 James Lee Burke; (P)2009 Simon & Schuster Audio

Critic reviews

"Burke is a deliberate storyteller; he doesn't skimp on the action, but his exploration of human foibles is deep, and his characters are true...Rain Gods is about catching the bad guys, but it's also a moving, melancholy examination of how we do wrong, then try our best to atone." -- Connie Ogle, Miami Herald

"If James Lee Burke has the deepest regional voice in the genre -- and I do believe that's so -- it's because he understands those feelings that keep people connected to the places where they have, or once had, roots...Preacher is one of Burke's most inspired villains..." -- Marilyn Stasio, New York Times Book Review

"...readers will find some of the best and most memorable prose of Burke's career...It is the narrative...that is the biggest strength of this character-driven novel. Burke is at heart a poet capable of describing the light and the dark in equal measures of the beautiful and horrific, one who can both gradually illuminate the darkness and cast dark shadows across the sun, often within the space of a single short paragraph. Rain Gods is a work of deep, violent and, yes, beautiful magic, a wondrous manifestation of one of our best American authors becoming even better, as improbable and impossible as that may seem." -- Joe Hartlaub, Bookreporter.com

"...there's something so winning about Hackberry Holland, something so perfect for the times in which we're reading...anger and bitterness fuel a fair amount of James Lee Burke's fiction, showing how the best and the worst of us are driven by demons -- the memories of bad family history; of wars past and present; the pull of the bottle; the furious engine that drives some to desire money or power, by whatever means; the slow, seeping poison of grief and regret. In Rain Gods, Burke once again renders the cautionary tale he has perfected over 28 books." -- Susan Larson, New Orleans Times Picayune

Dynamic Duo

The best writer teams up with the best narrator for an enjoyable audio book. This book is similar to No Country For Old Men. Just similar but a very different story and it is better in several ways. For one it is twice as long so you get twice as much enjoyment. Two there are some nice characters in this book. Sheriff Hackberry Holland for one but every time they said his name I thought Huckleberry Hound and chuckled. Strange name. Will Patton does a super job as usual and I only wish he could go back and read all Burke's books. There are many of them but they are useless to me with other narrators. Pretty convoluted and fast paced. Worth a credit.

A Modern Masterpiece

This book and the narration are so good that they almost deserve a class of their own. As another reviewer noted this story does bear a passing resemblance to No Country for Old Men, so if you liked that movie that's likely a good indicator for this book. I'm not a huge fan of Burke, I find his Louisiana novels (much like True Blood on HBO) a little hard to take, but this Texas badlands story is simply a masterpiece. The narration is spectacular, it's a little disconcerting that the lead villain sounds exactly like George W Bush, but it's hard to imagine how it could be improved upon. The story is complex with many interwoven threads so you need to be able to give the story your reasonably full attention to really appreciate the mastery of plot and language deployed here. The chief bad guy (W.) may be the best drawn and most complex literary monster since Hannibal Lector. The hero is grittier than a sandwich eaten at the beach, the cavalcade of supporting cast have such a comprehensive range of character flaws and challenges that it does get a bit Dostoyevsky grim from time to time, but never ceases to enthrall.

Eloquent Writing and Reading

Will Patton is absolutely the best reader I have encountered. Burke is highly descriptive and employs memorable, believable characters, always with severe flaws. This was a really fun book to listen to...

A great listen

Generally, I download audiobooks that are of the 'brain candy' variety, as a change to some of the heavier reading I do for the sake of work and such, so this book came as a bit of a surprise to me, since I've never read anything by James Lee Burke.

The author's style is at turns lyrical and lovely, and harsh and gritty, and I'm not sure that there's anyone else who could have narrated this book as well.

I've since downloaded one of the author's Dave Robicheaux novels, and while it's a good book, I greatly prefer the characters in Rain Gods, and hope that there will be more books featuring Hackberry Holland as the main character.

At times, the writing in Rain Gods was a bit overdone, and some of the dialogue was kind of... well, a little more poetic than realistic, but even so, I enjoyed this book thoroughly, and would highly recommend it.

Absolutely fabulous

The story itself is spectacular, a real page-turner, and Will Patton's narration is impressive. I've just ordered all of James Lee Burke's other audiobooks;that's how great RAIN GODS was. I teach creative writing; will use this book as an example of excellent storytelling, concrete and specific details, and how to keep suspense until the very last second.

Stop and get the first Hack Holland before this

All three Hack Holland novels are great, but you get a lot of perspective on Hack and others in this book if you start with Lay Down My Sword and Shield. Dave Robicheaux novels don't require this, but I advise you read the Hack novels in order.

Good story but flawed

I love Burke and Patton reads him perfectly. This one had some very odd and unbelievable scenes though. Not his best work, IMO. Still a fun listen

Cliche

Characters of this novel are cooky cutter personalities from different Hollywood movies. The narrator is great and the title is good.

James Lee Burke Meets Cormac McCarthy

In Rain Gods, Burke takes the same narrative style found in his Dave Robicheaux series and transplants it to Southern Texas. We have a new assortment of, as Dave would say, "moral imbeciles" pursuing and being pursued by the novel's protagonist, Hackberry Holland, an aging lawman. It's "No Country For Old Men", but with Burke's special brand of dialogue and narration as opposed to the lean, stripped down style of McCarthy. Will Patton, as always, does a great job of telling the story but not getting in the way of it. Once again Burke does a great job of exploring the darker side of humanity and the road to redemption. However, Hackberry's sidekick, Pam Tills, is a poor substitute for Clete Purcell.

Burke never fails to entertain

The more I read Burke, the more I appreciate his sensibilities. He puts thought into his characters, his plots, and his writing. As a keen observer of the natural world, his settings invariably serve as a stark foil to the human machinations at play. The hobbled dignity and isolation of his protagonists serve the genre well, and the reader always learns from them. Will Patton is outstanding as a narrator. Burke has done it again with a great "read"....