WILL UNWOUND #148: “Will’s Mystery Project…Book 6 – “Cimarron Rose” by James Lee Burke
June 20, 2010This book made it past the 50 page rule, but I’m sorry it did.
Basically I hated this book from beginning to end. The main character is a defense attorney named Billy Bob. The setting is a dusty little Texas town a couple hours north of San Antonio. A young woman is raped and murdered. The young man arrested for the crime is Billy Bob’s illegitimate son. For 300 sadistically brutal pages of beatings, shootings, rapes, and torture the reader watches Billy Bob beat his way through a bloody gauntlet of random acts of violence in search of the real killer. Even Billy Bob’s horse gets slashed. By the way, the horse is the only character in the book that you have even an ounce of sympathy for.
Why did I keep reading? Simple. James Lee Burke is considered a master storyteller in the mystery/crime genre. The man is a machine. He has written over 20 best sellers featuring his down home, world weary tough guy detectives, Dave Robichaux and Billy Bob Holland. Each title has gotten glowing reviews. I was so looking forward to enjoying the sharp edged magic of his pen. What I got was a rusty machete to my midsection and an ax handle to the head. At times this book literally made me sick to my stomach. It got so I just skimmed quickly through the sadistic parts, which is to say much of the book.
Cimarron Rose is the first of the Billy Bob Holland series. It should have been the last. There are probably 20 fairly prominent characters in Cimarron Rose and I can’t think of one I’d like to sit down with for lunch, tea, or coffee. Heck, I wouldn’t even want to say hello to any of these people. A more sympathetic reader might call Burke’s characters colorful. I call them criminally deranged stereotypes. Let’s see there’s the corrupt small town southern sheriff, the sadistic prison warden, several insane convicts, ex cons and escaped cons, the tainted FBI agents who have sold their souls to double dealing Mexican drug lords, and the rich kids who torture the poor kids, but the poor kids are just as obnoxious as the rich kids so who really cares?
Oh, and then there’s Billy Bob. Talk about stereotypes! If James Lee Burke is such a great writer why couldn’t he have come up with a more original name than Billy Bob? How about Jim Billy? Or Bobby Jim? Or even Willie Billie? But no, we get stuck with a Billy Bob, and you all know what that means…a foul mouthed wiseass with a severe anger management issue.
Don’t get me wrong. Billy Bob is a real colorful guy if the color you prefer is blood red. One minute he’s escorting a nine year old boy to Mass, and the next minute he’s beating someone senseless with an axe handle. But one thing about this Billy Bob is that he’s a lot more creative in his violence than your average Billy Bob. One time B.B. gets so damn mad that he rides his horse into a pool parlor, lassoes a guy, and then drags him face down out of the pool hall and across the parking lot. But don’t get upset, this poor guy gets into a knife fight with someone else later on and so the skid marks Billy Bob inflicted on him are nothing compared to the fatal wound in his stomach.
Had enough? I thought so.
Since this book takes place in Texas (and by the way the state of Texas should sue James Lee Burke for libel), I give this bloody piece of dreck one star * in honor of the Lone Star state, and that’s being generous.
I’m in the mood for a nice quiet civilized cozy. Anybody got any suggestions?
QUESTIONS OF THE DAY FOR UNWINDERS: What book or books most disappointed you especially after reading positive reviews about them? And oh yeah, I really am in the mood for a nice civilized cozy where people drink tea and the murders happen off stage in nice, merciful, non-violent ways. Any suggestions?
Time Traveler’s Wife. God, I hate that book! Visceral reaction, makes me want to puke. I felt she was jacking me around emotionally to the point where I couldn’t take it any more. I got past 50 pages, but dumped it about half way through. I’m surely glad I did not buy it outright; I would have thrown it away. I know some people here liked it. I don’t care. I don’t want to hear about it. It’s that bad.
I know you don’t want any MORE mysteries on your list, but I’m enjoying the John the Eunuch series by Mary Reed & Eric Mayer. It’s Falco-like but takes place a few cebturies later in Constantinople during the Justin/Justinian time frame. Emphasis on sleuthing. Kind of reminds me of Jane Marple.
Thanks, Mick. After this last book, I could use something Falco like
After several hours rehearsal & gig, ‘nice quiet civilized cozy’ sounds lovely.
A frequent remedy is a little jazz–Bill Evans is a favorite, and you can never go wrong with Ella Fitzgerald; a beverage of choice–heat waves bring ‘veh-ry tahrt’ gimlets to mind. Usually on the porch or in a hammock, but definitely with your feet up somewhere. Enjoy.
BTW, you were probably looking for a different response, but this is what immediately came to mind since I was still de-compressing from the day.
I’m thinking Sketches of Spain by Miles Davis and a bit of Sangria.
A nice cozy: Aunt Dimity’s death. Can’t get much cozier than that. Go for it.
I know there was one book I seriously considered throwing across the room in the last year but can’t remember what it was. Ah hah! Checked my notes. Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol. I admit it, I enjoyed The Da Vinci Code. But I can only repeat Maureen Dowd’s comment re Lost Symbol: He spent five years researching for THIS??????
Joan …let me get this straight…Aunt Dimity is a ghost/detective? How does that work? BTW…Dan Brown let a lot of people down.
Aunt Dimity is an aunt by adoption. She is a ghost who communicates via a diary. Lori, who is alive and the detective, was the daughter of Aunt Dimity’s best friend. Lori’s Mom used to tell her stories about Aunt Dimity which she assumed her Mom had made up. She didn’t discover Aunt Dimity was um, real till after both Mom and Dimity are dead. Being a ghost, Aunt Dimity has access to info that most do not have and doesn’t have the travel problems that people were begging the genie to take away on FF. If I tell you much more, I’ll be giving away important points in the story.
In a way I wasn’t surprised by the Lost Symbol. I had tried a few of Brown’s other thrillers and found them disappointing. Lost Symbol is typical for him. Da Vinci code isn’t. The amount of good quality research that went into Da Vinci Code and showed, simply wasn’t present in the other titles I read.
Joan, I’ve decided to put Aunt Dimity on hold and start one of the Sayers’ books: Murder Must Advertise or Gaudy Night. Might have to flip a coin.
I certainly can’t argue that decision. Sayers will likely be around long after we end up WI Atherton, Aunt Dimity’s author! Which title won?
I’m waiting for some of the Unwinders to chime in. The Murder Must Advertise vs. Gaudy Night debate brings out the best in librarians. I love the passion library folks have for books. This blog has been beaucoup fun in that regard.
Will, I have a problem. I really want to keep up with the Unwinders, but I’m falling way behind on reading my paper type books that are coming up due at the library! What to do? Can the genie clone me so I can do both activities? I know, it isn’t FF so the genie is on vacation for now!
The genie says stick with the blog but be more selective in your books. Abracadabra.
OK, genie, thanks. Now, which ones to toss?
You know where I fall on the Sayers argument – Murder Must Advertise!
Read with a double dose of Pepto-Bismol: anything by James Patterson, enough said.
Tensy…thanks for the warning!
Aunt Dimity’s Death is a fine cozy. I enjoyed it. Right now I’m reading Bleeding Heart Square by Andrew Taylor. It’s living up to the blurb it got in the Bas Bleu catalog.
I enjoyed The Time Travelers Wife …
Ellen, I told you today’s book would be a bust. Texas is not a fourth world country run by drug lords, rogue defense attornies, and escaped convicts.
We do, however, have to claim Joe Barton …
I find Catch-22 impossible to get through. Somewhere between 17 and 40 pages in, I can no longer remember what I’ve read because I’ve fallen asleep reading it too many times. I’ve tried several times in several different phases of my life – always the same mind-numbing effect.
Tim, you’ve given me an idea for a future post…books in which you keep re-reading the preceding page to try to figure out what’s going on and you haven’t been drinking.
Sounds like you should stick to having Sophie pick your books out for you, Will. Definitely doesn’t sound like this was the right book for you right now.
I was disappointed by The Lovely Bones but, like Ellen, I really like the Time Traveler’s Wife.
Well, to be honest with you (I don’t want to give Joan a big head) but Sophie did pull down an Aunt Dimity book last week. Hope your hanging in there. How will DC be staffing their new buildings?
Will, teach Sophie how to read already! The kid is clearly a genius
Will, my ego is not hurt in the slightest by Aunt Dimity being on hold. It only makes sense to retreat to a definitely superior author after your last experience! Can’t have you going off mysteries because you struck out too many times in a row!
You read my mind…exactly my thinking. I loved Christie and am hoping Sayers will re-kindle that magic.
Thanks, Will! I’m hanging in. Lots of support all around me, which definitely helps. I need it. It’ll be difficult to staff the buildings that open this FY, but I guess they’ll figure it out. In Oct, 7 FTE’s will be hired, and in Jan, 10 more FTE’s will be hired. Maybe they’ll consider letting 2 of us part-time children’s LOL’s share one FTE. Keeping my fingers crossed, but working on figuring out what’s next just in case the answer to that is “no”. Like I said, Sophie is quite the little librarian already.
Maybe she should have her own book recommendation blog (of books that she randomly pulls off the shelf). I’d read it.
If you’re looking for cosy, try Laura Childs’s Tea Shop Mysteries. The protag is a woman who owns a tea shop in Charleston, SC. First in the series is DEATH BY DARJEELING.
Sue, good to hear from you. When is your retirement date? Does Laura Childs have an Earl Grey edition?
As far as other books on your list, how about the Dorothy Sayers? She’s uber-civilized and not too violent. Not exactly a cozy, but not a bloodbath.
Jane…you read my mind. Right now I’m sitting at my desk looking at two books: Murder Must Advertise and Gaudy Night and trying to decide which one to start. Which do you recommend? I am so ready for Dorothy Sayers and some civilized murder.
Of the two, I’d recommend Murder Must Advertise first because it’s earlier in the series and centers on Lord Peter only. Gaudy Night is near the end of the series and includes Harriet Vane (his love interest) with a major role as well.
Thanks, Vicki. This really helps in the decision making process.
Hello, Will,
Regarding books that disappoint, there are some that simply don’t ‘stick,’if you know what I mean. For most titles, I can recall the main character’s names and the plot. Bradbury’s Illustrated Man is a book I’ve read perhaps five times now, and I can only remember the cover and that the tattoos moved. Same with Cold Comfort Farm, which my mother loved– I remember only the phrase “I saw something nasty in the woodshed.” And I’ve read that one probably three times! On the plus side, I’ve enjoyed reading them each time…
Jeanne, did you see the movie version of Cold Comfort Farm? Probably that made it stick more in my mind.
Jeanne, thanks for the topic for a future post: books that stick. It is amzaing that some books stay with you and other books (even if you loved them) don’t.
I have never been a James Lee Burke fan myself but have friends who love his Dave Robicheaux series set in Louisiana. I did read ONE of that series to see what all their interest was about, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Sounds like the one you read was a real turkey. Being a native Texan I get really weary of the Texas cliche.
Yeah, the Texas stereotype is out of date by what? 50 years? A century?
Well, it’s complicated. The cliche is dated and yet shadows of it still exist hither and yon. Like most negative stereotypes there may be a kernel of truth. Someday when less on personal plate I might try to address this issue again if I segue it into a reply. Today is not that day. Suffice to say for native Texans,who would just like to be appreciated as regular folks and not have to defend their IQ’s or their accents, it is tiresome.
On another topic, I just finished reading Laura Lippman’s LIFE SENTENCES and have a plot question. Any of you read it and up up for a question? If not I’ll see if LL has a website and ask it there. Thanks!
Oops–nevermind about the Lippman question. I just found an online discussion of LIFE SENTENCES on FB.
MC Beaton’s Hamish Macbeth (Death of a….) books are a nice cozy village police series. Hamish is a police in a small town in the Highlands, Lochdubh and he is quite determined to stay a constable and in his cozy little house/police station. Light and humorous, but also tends to be quite good mysteries.
Just what I need. Jessica, you like J.L. Burke, don’t you? Why?
Not me! I’m not into traditional American set mysteries and the gory gritty ones just don’t do it for me.
Now gory, gritty, grim, Scandinavians those are whole other story. Love those, will read one any time
I’ve only read Gaudy Night, but my husband, a real Sayres fan, says Murder Must Advertise is one of her best and Gaudy Night of lesser quality. [Why do you suppose he didn't tell me this earlier?] He also recommends Clouds of Witness, Nine Tailors, and Busman’s Honeymoon over Gaudy Night, but you probably don’t have those on your desk.
Enjoy!
Thanks, Marnie, and thank your husband for me.
The Nine Tailors is excellent, particularly if you have any interest in change ringing. I read the books in sequence and when Harriet Vane arrived on the scene I thought: Lord Peter deserves someone better than this!!
Eek. Thanks for saving me from a book – sounds simply awful.
I was very disappointed in Charlaine Harris’s “Sookie Stackhouse” series. I think by the time I got around to reading it, it had been hyped up so much it was bound to fail me. For what it is, it’s fine, but I was expecting Vampire Perfection. It’s not.
True Blood, on the other hand, kicks butt. One of those rare instances where the small screen version trumps the print; hard to believe it was based on the same books I didn’t like!
I’m not getting the whole vamp thing, LAV. Vamps are a literary metaphor for ____________?
Will, sometimes a vampire is just a vampire.
I’ve enjoyed Sookie Stackhouse but I was a fan before the series on TV so perhaps missed the high expectations standard. The last few haven’t been as good so I don’t know how much longer I’ll continue with the series. Haven’t seen True Blood either.
The newest one Dead in the Family, came out in May and is better. I agree that the last couple weren’t the best. I felt like the central mystery got a little lost and the body counts were getting a little high for me.
I love the Sookie Stackhouse books, but I also started reading them long before True Blood. It seemed like she was tying up loose plot points in the last couple before Dead in the Family, so that she could get back on track. I watch the TV show, but have to divorce it completely from the books in order to enjoy it. The producer, who is quite impressed with himself based on his NPR interview, seems to have missed most the the salient plot points and basic personalities of the characters, as well as all the humor. He changed it from chick lit to boy fantasy.
Ooh, Deb, maybe that’s the thing: I will ALWAYS pick boy fantasy over chick lit. Does that make me confused? Or just boy crazy?
Will, the better ones are a way to talk about us people without being so threatening. Ditto for the better sci fi. Also to daydream about powers it would be a blast to have you know, jump over buildings with a single bound or however it goes. Same reason people like superman, etc. I’ve never understood the ooohhh SCARY I love it reaction so I’m lost there. But I was scared of the Wicked Witch of the West so I really don’t comprehend the scary type lit. These vampire books are not particularly scary.
Sorry, still don’t get it.
Don’t worry about it. I’m only fond of the Sookie Stackhouse series because the telepathic barmaid is an appealing character. Most of the vampires seem to be male chauvinist pigs really. And a few of the witches are positively dippy. You aren’t missing much imho. Stick with mysteries and Harry Potter. Or maybe someone more enthusiastic than me can explain better and get us both interested. I hope not. Even with the winnowing I did of the library books, there are way too many!
I can’t see myself ever getting into vampire books…ever.
I understand… but, the Sookie Stackhouse are really just slightly campy cozy small town mysteries. It just happens that there are also vamps around, including Bill who has recently moved back (after 150 years) into his old family home across the woods from Sookie. There is less sex and blood and more camp in the books. More of a mystery focus too.
On a related note, I had my entire RA class read a vampire romance today, Dark Lover by JR Ward and amazingly not only did most of them enjoy, they agreed that they now understood the vamp appeal. No one hated it, which is rather unusual for an assigned book.
Classic vampire stories like Dracula or Le Fanu’s Carmilla were basically allegories for the ills of society at the time. Good vampire fiction can still serve that purpose, such as the early Anne Rice books. The vampire stands outside of society, common morality, and human emotion and gives the author a voice that is not contempory “wisdom” or politically correct. A vampire can ask questions that we mortals are not supposed to.
Probably most of the vamp stories today tend to be of the romance/fantasy variety – they are the ultimate sexy bad boys that intrigue us, but we wouldn’t really want to live with.
Vampires may also represent empowerment. Sookie Stackhouse, for example, doesn’t have the physical strength of the vampires around her, but she stands up to them and usually resolves the situation where their physical power can’t. There are many vampire books with female vamps or other supernaturals, in which the female is the lead and ultimately has the power. The Twilight books not only represent powerful teens, but present challenges to those vamps and ‘weres that normal teens face, wrapped in a supernatural setting.
Vamp books aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, and that’s fine. I love them, my husband doesn’t. He likes war stories, which I have no use for.
And, honestly, that’s okay. More vampires for me-ee, er, us.
Seriously, Deb nailed it with her thoughtful comment about traditional literary vampires. I think they’ve heavily influenced my preferences, as I simply cannot get with the vampire romances. The archetype of “monster out for your soul who must be destroyed” resonates more strongly with me personally than “hawt misunderstood guy who needs to be redeemed.” Maybe because redemption is for recyclable bottles? Hm.
Jessica, Deb, LAV, et. al..okay, I’m beginning to understand the importance of vampires to a culture that is grasping for answers. Next year, maybe, I should do a Vampire Project.
A “great” book that has been published in the last ten years that I didn’t care for is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. Perhaps it’s because we had a lower functioning autistic boy who lived next door. I just couldn’t get sympathetic with the characters.
As for Sayers, as I said above, read Murder Must Advertise first, if only because it’s written earlier in the series. I’m a big proponent of reading most mystery series in order.
Vicki, I didn’t care for “The Curious Incident” either. Thanks for sharing.
I enjoyed Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night. Read it based on Amazon’s recommendation, before it became popular, and was pleased when it enjoyed so many positive reviews. I deal with youngsters in schools, and we have a number of autistic kids. So this resonated with me, for myself and for them.
Unfortunately, the three books that I abhor are classics. Red Badge of Courage, The Awakening, and Wuthering Heights. I can appreciate the significance of The Awakening, but that same significance (the main character becoming independent and free) was also what made me hate it (she seemed too self-centered to me, and I couldn’t get over it throughout the novel). The other two are just too dang boring.
As for cozy, of course there’s Jane Austen or Agatha Christie. I would also recommend Water for Elephants, Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, and The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society. All three are great books, but also what I consider “cozy.”
ry…thanks for the comment. Red Badge is a tough one to get into. On the other hand, in yesterday’s comments, someone mentioned it as a favorite war story. Personally, I liked it after the 5th time I tried to get past page 50.
I can’t get through “A Tale of Two Cities”. I’ve read the opening chapter several times, just because I kept thinking that sooner or later I would get what other people see in it. Never happened. It is the only book I ever bought Cliff Notes for in school, and I bought them again for my daughter when she had to read it and couldn’t get past the first chapter.
I also can’t read books by authors that gratuitously kill off animals. I’ve quit reading several books at the point when they resort to animal cruelty, but gratefully I have erased their names from memory.
Deb…I love the whole redemption and rebirth theme in Tale. And even though I love Dickens I always find it very slow reading.
How about a mystery that doesn’t have a murder at all? There’s “The Case of the Missing Books” by Ian Sansom. In this book a newly minted librarian moves from London to a small town in Northern Ireland because it’s the only place he can get a job (sound familiar?) When he gets there, he finds that most of the collection is missing and he needs to figure out what’s happened to the books. Perhaps not the best written book in the world, but it is light and fun, includes a fair amount of library-related issues, and DEFINITELY not gory.
Sounds great. Thanks, Susan.
Book that didn’t pass the 50 page test: “The Lost Symbol”. And I liked “Angels and Demons” better than “The DaVinci Code”. Book that I finished, but really disappointed: “The Corrections”… read it for a book group, but hated every minute of time I wasted on it.
At the moment I’m supposed to be reading “The Mill on the Floss” for a Victorian literature class I’m taking, but I just can’t get into this supposedly ‘great’ book.
I’m looking forward to your review of whichever Sayers you choose since in all of my mystery reading I’ve never read her.
Donna…you have company. Others have shunned The Lost Symbol. The Victorians definitely take time, but I have found they are worth the effort. Keep slogging.
I really hated the Time Traveler’s Wife too. It just made absolutely no sense, and I gave it over 100 pages. I had no interest in either of the characters, and could not figure out the point. I guess that one is a love it/hate it kind of book. On another note, I’m sorry you tried the Billy Bob series instead of the Dave Robichaux. They are quite good, especially the early ones. The do tend towards the violent side, but not unnecessarily. I’ve read most of those and couldn’t even touch the Billy Bob series. I’m not sure why he wrote it, to be honest.
Thanks, Pamela. This is a reality check for me. I appreciate your point of view.
When I was in my 30′s I read Prince of Tides. Everyone raved about that book and I absolutely hated it. So, the brother has a dysfunctional family, his dad was psychotic and his sister is nuts. Why did it take over 300 pages to tell us this? I don’t have anythinga against Pat Conroy, just this particular book.
As far as mysteries go, what is it about them that you dislike specifically? Is it not knowing who committed the crime? The fact that the characters have to spend the entire book figuring this out? Or that the crime even happened in the first place? Until you pin point your mystery phobia it’s going to be hard to make any recommendations. I hate romance novels. I wouldn’t read a romance novel if it was the only one on a desert island. But, they’re still extremely popular.
Not liking mysteries doesn’t exclude you from being a full-fledged librarian. It just puts you on the fringe during certain conversations!
Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd – main character was SO self-centered….I got so exasperated! I was tempted to hurl the book across the room. the ending redeemed the book some…so i am glad I finished it, but my experience with the book was very different from reviews and patron recommendations. (I did however like Secret Life of Bees)
Will, my recommendation is The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. I think it is already on your list…it is not a cozy, rather a genrebuster – hard to catagorize, but it is hilarious…lots of literary references…I think you would totally love it!
On one hand I see the appeal of the recent spate of Vampire books, on the other hand – Enough Already!!
(BTW Joan, i was also scared of the Wicked Witch of the West – glad to know I was not the only one.:-)
Thanks for making my day Amy! It’s real nice to know I’m not the only one who found her scary!