Cimarron Rose

By: James Lee Burke

Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte

James Lee Burke, bestselling author of the Louisiana-based Dave Robicheaux crime fiction series, now begins a new series with a new landscape. In Cimarron Rose, Burke brings his talent for lyrical writing and hard-edged suspense to the American West.

Billy Bob Holland is a lawyer for the people of sunbaked Deaf Smith, in southern Texas. Although occasionally he is haunted by memories of a violent past, his life is serene—until a local guitarist, Lucas Smothers, lands in jail for raping and murdering a young woman. As Billy Bob gathers information to defend him, the evidence soon points to the son of a wealthy local businessman. In the ensuing battle, money is pitted against the law. But a deeper struggle also arises, for Lucas is Billy Bob’s illegitimate son.

©1997 James Lee Burke (P)1998 Recorded Books

Play it straight.

The narrator has Lucas sounding like Forrest Gump. the accent of the Texas hill country is profoundly different from that of South and Coastal Georgia. Regional accents are difficult to portray. If one is not up to the task, best to "play it straight".

Never disappointed with JLB!

The BIGGEST and only complaint is the constant mispronounciation if the word CHAPS! It is derived from a Mexican/ Spanish word, therefore pronounced with a SH sound not a CH sound! Don't Amercanize the word . Please let the world know!

Not bad

5th book from Burke I’ve read and while it was enjoyable enough, probably my least favorite so far. Partially because courtroom thrillers are less my thing, though it feels a mix of that and detective crime thriller. For someone else it might be a perfect mix.

I felt the writing was a little lower quality than others I’ve read, appreciate the sparse tactful dialog from other works. This one felt it could have been edited a bit more, too much he said/she said and areas where words could have been left out. It was enjoyable enough that I’ll likely continue the series, but not with any priority. I do appreciate his series being self contained where the next book is a new story and this one was concluded satisfactorily.

Stechschute is a fine enough narrator, I find he benefits from a slight bump up in speed to feel more natural.

It was okay

Let me start by saying I LOVE James Lee Burke. This book wasn't my favorite of his though. I think it may have been the narrator that let it down. When listening to his other novels, the narrator made the story come alive for me, this time, not so much. It was worth a listen, but if you are a first time Burke reader chose one of his others first.

The ending is rushed and does not complement the book.

James Lee Berg is a phenomenal writer and I love all of his stuff. I highly recommend you read all of his books. However, the ending on this book is not done well. It leaves a lot of questions and the main characters are just finished off in a hurry pace without any real understanding of how the whole thing plays out and for what reason.