I’m familiar with James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux books (one of which I reviewed here). Before reading Every Cloak Rolled in Blood, I had not read any of his Holland Family Saga works. Y’all know how this goes. Now I gotta go read all of them. I need to win the Powerball and be independently wealthy just so I have time to read all of the books that are calling my name.

Aaron Holland Broussard is cut adrift. Since the sudden, violent death of his daughter, Fannie Mae, he has lost his anchor. Death isn’t unfamiliar to him, but the loss of Fannie Mae cuts deep – deeper than deaths on the battlefield in Vietnam, deaths of parents, deaths of friends. He is determined to find a way to reconnect with her, to bring her back or join her beyond the veil. He isn’t actively suicidal, but you get the feeling he wouldn’t mind if the Good Lord called his number.

When two local boys paint a swastika on his barn, his 911 call leads Broussard to an ally – a friend? a soulmate? – state trooper Ruby Spotted Horse. Ruby is also struggling with her own grief over the death of her niece, and, like many others in the story, is not entirely what she seems. She confesses to Broussard that she is one of a group called the Guardians, and that the Old People – monsters wrapped in myth and story from ages past – are trapped in her basement.

Broussard knows that people, that things, are not always what they appear to be. He’s seen – and talked to – Colonel Eugene Baker, the long-dead architect of a horribly brutal attack on a peaceful band of Blackfeet. He’s faced a malevolent little girl who looks like Ruby’s murdered niece, but probably isn’t. And as the evils of the past bleed over ever more forcefully into Broussard’s present, he knows that he must fight evil, in human or spiritual form, with everything he has. Otherwise, it may overtake them all, and Fannie Mae may be lost to him forever.

Burke’s books are always filled with turns of phrase sometimes graceful, sometimes spare, sometimes philosophical, and this book is no exception. That, for me, is one of the greatest pleasures of reading his novels – seeing how he will express himself when I turn the next page. Whether Burke wrote the words himself or, as he says in the note at the beginning of the book, “another hand wrote it for me,” the prose is magnificent, and it stayed with me long after the last page was turned.

Burke tackles a lot of chewy issues in this book. The pandemic, social distancing, BLM, white supremacy, twisted politics. But it all takes a backseat to the constant underlying thrum of the pain and loss a parent feels upon losing a child. If this story is Burke’s most autobiographical yet, he is surely sharing his grief with us here, and inviting us to feel its weight for a moment.

This is not necessarily an easy read, as emotionally laden as it is, but it is worthwhile. Love opens us up to pain and loss, but it also offers healing and redemption. Burke portrays both masterfully.

I would like to claim power and personal direction over my life. But a day doesn't go by that I don't experience a reminder of an event that left me at the mercy of strangers. - James Lee Burke, Every Cloak Rolled in Blood. When James Lee Burke writes about his personal experiences, he is writing with a clarity few writers. This new book is a break from usual mystery series as it is more autobiographical and focuses on the death of his daughter. The storyline is full of the supernatural and perhaps some mental dissociation, but that is part of experiencing the black lake of grief.

Burke, in the preface to this novel, writes of his daughter Pamala, her life, and his intense grief at her death. Aaron, the 85 year old protagonist of this eerie and sometimes tough tale set in Montana, is also grieving the untimely death of his daughter Fannie Mae, a woman who had been beset at times by demons but who had a large and soft heart, especially for animals. He's struggling, hard, and then one day catches a teen painting a swastika on his barn. Leigh's father is a former Klansman now hooked up with a woman running a church which is actually a cover for a motorcycle gang. Aaron finds himself taken by Ruby Spotted Horse, a State Trooper who warns him off but she has something-or someone- in her basement. Those who have read this series (and this latest will be fine as a standalone) know that Burke has a fascination with ghosts and the paranormal so will not be surprised that there are evil spirits afoot with which he, and Ruby, will struggle. There's a war on the reservation, not only the current one with an evil meth dealer, but also a ghost war from a massacre. There's cruelty, corruption, murder. This is a relatively short offering from Burke but it's not a fast read because his writing demands attention. It is however, a fascinating look at Montana past and present but more importantly at grief. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. A don't miss for Burke fans and just a terrific read.

I received a free electronic copy of this remarkable novel from Netgalley, James Lee Burke, and Simon Schuster publisher. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read Every Cloak Rolled in Blood of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. I am always thrilled to receive a new Burke novel, be it featuring Dave and Clete in Louisiana or Aaron Holland Broussard and family in the mountains of Montana. Burke is one of those writers who, whatever focus he is writing from, he shares it in a way that it is exactly the perspective you will see it from.

This book especially touched my heart. Losing a child is the hardest thing we humans can experience. Without apology, Burke lays his heart open to share his personal loss with us. And those of us who have been there, that pain so devastating there isn't even a name for a surviving parent, appreciate the fact that he has been able to put words to it for us all. Thank you, James Lee Burke. Almost everyone in my whole extended family has lost a child or young adult to an accident or military duty or illness. This work gave me closure and solace I have not accepted until now. It is a book I will want to share with all the parents of those cousins we have lost over the years.

And you know the older we get, the easier it is to understand the whoo-whoo bits, as well.

Worth the Fighting For

Montana author Aaron Holland Broussard can no longer see what is left for him. His world exploded into a million fiery fragments of hell the day his daughter died. He will not accept his daughter’s death, he will either find a way to bring her back or he will go to her. He says he feels like he’s in a house of mirrors and wants to break every one of them. In a wrenching scene we see him tasting the barrel of his gun…”Oh, God, don’t let me do this.” Heartbreaking business.

The physical world revs up to push the man even further. A teenage son of a former imperial wizard spray-paints a swastika on Aaron’s barn. The kid’s father is now active in a hate group with outlaw bikers, posing as a church. Two young meth-head members show up armed at Aaron’s in the middle of the night, possibly to take him out. Subsequent murders pop up, interwoven into all of this. Finally, a cold-blooded drug dealer arrives to deliver more evil to Aaron’s doorstep.

And the supernatural world has its part to play. Aaron’s lost daughter, Fannie Mae, answers her father’s pleas and appears to him, attempting to counsel and comfort. State trooper Ruby Spotted Horse reveals to Aaron she is the guardian to an underworld portal– spirits are locked up in her cellar. These spirits may include Major Eugene Baker, the man who pushed through the Marias Massacre of 1870, where over 200 Piegan Blackfeet human beings were butchered. Baker approaches Aaron in the guise of friendship, but he recognizes Baker as a threat not only to the living but somehow also a threat to Fannie Mae.

Friends question how much supernatural involvement can be directly related to the mental distress Aaron is going through. Aaron subscribes to the belief some of James Lee Burke’s other characters do; his Dave Robicheaux has said he does not believe we all come from the same gene pool, there are monsters among us lying in wait to commit any kind of atrocity. In this respect Aaron is reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy’s Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in “No Country for Old Men,” a man at a loss for what society has become, what evil it is capable of. In the Preface, Burke states “...I also believe the Garden of Eden is within our grasp…That’s what this book is about. Some scars never leave us. But scars can’t break us; only we can do that. As Ernest Hemingway said, the world is a fine place and worth the fighting for.” (Quote taken from the ARC), At 85 years old, Aaron Holland Broussard is not giving in to evil, though. He may be demoralized by the loss of his daughter, but he can not turn his back and let that evil stand.

The constant throb throughout the novel is the pain of Aaron’s loss. Author James Lee Burke lost his own daughter Pamela a year prior to the book’s writing and the torment is real in these pages. In the acknowledgements he thanks her, saying she literally helped him write the last few pages.

This is a magnificent book, easily one of his best. We can all be grateful this master is still delivering at the top of his game. Thank you to Simon & Schuster, NetGalley, and James Lee Burke for the advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was sent to me by Netgalley for review. This is a well known author who is a genius at weaving a story. This reads like nonfiction but is partly fiction. Enjoy

There are times while reading where you feel transported, inside someone's head, and see things through different eyes. I felt that feeling numerous times during this book. James Lee Burke simply has a gift that cuts through the daily monotony of life and examines mortality, good and evil and the meaning of being human.

His way with prose is masterful. He has a gift in his way of looking at the past and the future, and I would gladly continue this reading journey with him.

I received a complimentary copy of this book book in exchange for an honest review.

By Mystery Writers of America Grand Master James Lee Burke, is his 50th novel and most unique ever . . . it’s autobiographical in nature, a heart-wrenching lament in honor of his daughter Pamala, who, in August 2020, died unexpectedly while still in her mid-fifties, and it’s also a genre-jumping slice of paranormal escapist crime fiction drama that has it all . . . evil spirits, heroic guardians, and a tragic hero whose name is Aaron Holland Broussard; an 85 year old author.

The yarn begins when a teenaged boy spray paints a swastika on Broussard’s barn door in the mountains of western Montana, not far from the city of Missoula. He files a report with local law enforcement and confronts the teen at his home in front of his father—who was driving the truck the boy was riding in when the vandalism occurred. But the boy and his father refuse to apologize or rectify the damage. The responding officer is a Montana state trooper named Ruby Spotted Horse, a member of the Blackfoot tribe, who, in the first supernatural twist, turns out to be the guardian who prevents evil spirits of the dead—known as The Old People—from escaping a portal of Hell beneath her house. She is Broussard’s only living ally as he becomes the adversary of a ton of villains, including a methamphetamine dealer who’s suspected to have buried people alive, a crazed evangelical preacher who dreams of producing movies, and her congregation of outlaw bikers. The grieving writer also receives visitations from his dead daughter, Fannie Mae, who appears to offer advice, conversation, encouragement . . . and warnings from the spirit world in this most unusual novel. One thing is for certain, it’ll nail you on page one and won’t let you go until, with tears in your eyes, you finish the last word of the last sentence on page 288. Mr. Burke thinks it’s his best ever work . . . and I find it hard to argue with that!!

What’s it about (in a nutshell):
Novelist Aaron Holland Broussard is 85 and recently lost his daughter of 53, Fannie Mae, from a heart attack. In his daughter’s honor, he tries to save a few different members of the town’s underground drug trade while confronting evil past and present at its most horrifying.
Initial Expectations (before beginning the book):
The title intrigues me and, mixed with the cover picture of a burning house, makes me think of using a blood-soaked item (instead of a water-soaked blanket) to protect someone from a fire which is an unusual idea and thought. This is book 4 in a series, so there’s always that worry for me that I won’t be able to follow since I haven’t read the previous three, but thrillers often can be read as a stand-alone, so I’m not overly worried. The idea of supernatural outlaws caught my attention from the blurb, and my overall impression is that the story will be very intense. I think I’m in for a story that I won’t soon forget.
Actual Reading Experience:
The first aspect that stood out is the noir writing style, which is direct and almost staccato. It fit the setting of mid-west ranch lands so perfectly that it felt genuine and raw, much like the story. This is not a style of writing that I gravitate toward, but once I get used to it, I can see the beauty of telling a story this way.
The writing also portrayed what it’s like to grieve a loved one in a way that no other writing style would have done justice to. Aaron’s grief over losing his daughter is so perfectly poignant that I felt myself grieving with him. This is a lovely tribute to the author’s real-life daughter, who passed away in 2020.
I also loved the significant part that the supernatural world played in this good versus evil story. Aaron was forced to confront more evil in such a short amount of time than is even fathomable to most of us. The ghosts that make themselves known create such a significant element of suspense and intrigue while at the same time bringing in the afterlife of loved ones recently departed. The breadth and depth bundled into these parts of the story took my breath away.
Characters:
Aaron Holland Broussard is a successful novelist and respected member of a small mid-western town. He owns and maintains his beautiful ranch all on his own. When he loses his only daughter, his life is overwhelmed by grief and the many evils around him – natural and supernatural. This character, developed poignantly and beautifully, invited me to sit in his grief with him as he confronted each evil.
No matter how minor, all of the characters are developed, with the various sides making them who they are exposed to and laid bare for all to see.
To Read or Not to Read:
If you are looking for a poignant look at death and grief and good versus evil, Every Cloak Rolled in Blood is just that rolled into a crime thriller.

In the introduction Burke says he thinks this is his best book. I don't agree, but, like almost anything he writes, it's a great read. He is a master of terse prose; in a very few words he can take your breath away with descriptions of the landscape or build a full-blooded, complicated character. His description of the author's grief at the loss of his daughter is raw and devastating.

As in all of Burke's books, the past is a major character - this time around it's 19th century massacres of Native Americans and 20th century Jim Crow malevolence. There is also, as happens in Burke's later works, a strong element of the supernatural, leading to a climactic battle of Good and Evil.

Even though this is one of a series of books about the Holland family, it stands well on its own. .

Writer Aaron Holland Broussard is grieving the death of his daughter Fannie Mae. While trying to get on with his life, Aaron experiences some other world sightings. Trying to accept and understand what he sees he meets Ruby Spotted Horse who has many secrets of her own that only Aaron will understand. Fannie Mae tries to help her father handle his foes from the past and the present world, and to learn why he sees the past deeds so clearly and why he has interactions with them

In the preface of his new novel #EveryCloakRolledInBlood, James Lee Burke says that he believes it to be his best book yet. I most adamantly agree. He also emphatically states that this book is a work of fiction, even though Burke and his alter ego author from #Every Cloak Rolled In Blood have both just suffered the death of an adult daughter and the overwhelming grief this has let loose. Aaron Holland Broussard is now being haunted by evil spirits, men who have been responsible for genocide throughout American and World History, and as has been said , those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it. Make no mistake about it, #Every Cloak Rolled In Blood is a morality tale, the likes of which brought back the terrors I experienced when I read Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown in college over fifty years ago. My only hope is that Burke found some solace when creating his latest masterpiece.

James Lee Burke is simply brilliant.

Burke's daughter died two years back and in writing this book, he has a fictional daughter die. The grief that he feels is so vivid throughout this book. I don't think I have ever read an author so adequately capture and convey this emotion.

Every Cloak Rolled in Blood takes Burke into the world of mystical realism and it is such an integral part of the book that it lifts it beyond any of his other books.

The man has written another brilliant book.

The Nature of Evil is to destroy. The Nature of Humanity is to provide a stalwart and unwavering front that annihilates those seeds that grind their way into the hearts of the good.

Every Cloak Rolled in Blood is a raw response by James Lee Burke in presenting the seeping stains and the sharp-ended aftermath of loss and profound grief. The world takes on a far different hue when your soul reflects the finality of death. Burke allows us into those private corners after the loss of his daughter, Pamala, in July of 2020. He threads his way into this novel with his mourning on the march. The storyline carries a heavy heart towards the sunrise instead of lingering forever in the dusk.

Aaron Holland Broussard has lived in many places in his eighty-five years, but Bitteroots Valley near Lolo, Montana is where his ranch stretches for acres. Broussard made his living as a successful writer. He wants for nothing. But the void within is the loss of his daughter, Fannie Mae. Fannie Mae was a lively soul who surrounded herself with animals and whatever she desired in the moment. Sometimes he catches a glimpse of her here and there. Goodness seems to stick around.

One morning Broussard notices a Nazi swastika painted on the side of his barn. He knows who is responsible. John Culpepper and his son, Leigh, finally admitted it. Broussard calls the state police and Officer Ruby Spotted Horse shows up. And here is where the Gates of Hell will swing open and the subcultures will fly through. Broussard and Ruby work together as the bottom feeders of life reveal themselves in many forms.......and not all of them are human. Fannie Mae will step forward as she warns her father of what is to come.......the past, the present, and the fear of the future.

Every Cloak Rolled in Blood packs and unpacks the crimes against humanity at large and the personal impact of individual cruelty against one another. Reflection never comes to evil doers. They seem to be on auto-drive. But Burke also lines this one with the edges of hope even though his own great personal loss would be expected to cloud it. He refers to it as "on the other side of the veil". The last few pages of this novel are written so profoundly from one who sat surrounded in grief, but who chose to move forward even on unsteady feet. A remarkable read.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Simon & Schuster and to the highly talented James Lee Burke for the opportunity.

In what James Lee Burke has called his most personal novel, art imitates life. Aaron Holland Broussard is a wealthy author who has relocated from Louisiana to a small place outside Lolo, Montana, itself a small town outside Missoula. As we find Aaron, he is deep in mourning for his daughter, Fannie Mae who died suddenly not long before, whose passing he can’t accept. Everything I have written here can equally apply to Mr. Burke who also has migrated across country and north to Montana, who also has lost a daughter within the past two years. No parent ever thinks to mourn their child.

With this as background, the story takes on many issues of today, and the past, and likely of the future, hard problems this country has been trying to deal with for a long time and Burke’s novels have never shied away from. But here in the conservative northwest Aaron is facing tormentors who bait him because of his success, because he hasn’t joined them. And he has conflict with race baiters, some who appear as evangelical, and then there are the others…those from beyond.

Burke has been incorporating the supernatural/spiritual realm and religious elements increasingly in recent books and now it is a major element. For the spiritual world crosses into Aaron’s world repeatedly throughout this novel in ways that I found exhilarating and exciting, while also somber and sometimes frightening. The distant past tries to return at times and Aaron Broussard wonders what he can do. And yes, the ghost of Fannie Mae does appear and talk with him. He doubts his sanity at times. But he keeps trying to do the right thing, help the good people.

His struggle is hard, but I don’t want to give too many details. As always, the prose is wonderful with lush descriptions of the country, the weather, sun rising and setting, and of Aaron’s innermost experiences.

I do recommend this book highly. Some who have had difficulty with Burke’s incorporation of the spiritual, almost mystical, in his stories, might be slowed but I encourage giving it a try. After all, 85 year old Aaron took on a whole lot more.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I enjoyed reading this story. This is a well written story about family, love and just a great emotional story with good and evil. I enjoyed how the author used their writing skills to bring the story to life. The characters are relateable and had me coming back for more. They kept the story engaging and hard to put down. I enjoyed how they are supportive of each other and they have great growth throughout. They also took me on an emotional roller coaster in a good way for sure. This is an entertaining story and easy to read. There are some tiwsts and turns that I didn't see coming but it just added to the story. I really enjoyed reading this book. I highly recommend this book.

grief, grieving, violence, visions, PTSD, famous-author, family-dynamics, h@te crimes, law-enforcement, historical-places-events, cultural-exploration, Montana, reservation, relationships, rural, drug-trafficking, drugs-issues, ghosts, legend*****

This book is a paean to every parent who has lost a child before their time. It is a story of an overwhelming grief told in the visions of pain of those who suffered at the hands of people whose fear of those different from themselves led to unspeakable acts of mass murder right here in this country. It is a story that will stay with some of us for a very long time.
I requested and received a free e-book copy from Simon and Schuster via NetGalley. Thank you!

EVERY CLOAK ROLLED IN BLOOD by James Lee Burke
Publication: 5/24/2022 by Simon & Schuster


A marvelously written gem in the Holland family saga. Eighty-five-year-old author Aaron Holland Broussard is living a solitary existence on his Montana ranch, as he is poorly coping with the all too early death of his beloved daughter, Fannie Mae. His grief is continually fractured and complicated by being immersed in the evils of both earthly and supernatural villains. As customary with Burke’s writing, he will explore many weighty problems effecting our society: social injustice (both present and past), racism, drugs and the most personal … loss of a child. He easily accomplishes his goals with lyrical and poetic prose, and character development that rivals any living novelist.
The initial insult is a Swastika painted on his barn by a boy under the guidance of his father (a former Klan member). His 911 call brings the ethereal beautiful young state trooper, Ruby Spotted Horse to his front door. She appears to be the only person Aaron can trust, and yet, she appears to be the Guardian of a score of malevolent spirits, entrenched and locked in her basement. Earthly and supernatural sinners pile up on his doorstep …. two young brothers, involved in the drug trade … a Klan member guilty of indiscriminate killing … false preachers … and a drug trafficker and killer. Interspersed accompanying his travails are apparitions{?} of Fannie Mae, offering advice or warnings, while Aaron “sees” historical reenactments of the evils and massacre of the indigenous people. Along the way, Burke manages to lament regarding the pandemic, masks, social-distancing, BLM, and white supremacists. But, by far the most moving element is the visceral feeling of trying to cope with the loss of a child. There is no amount of superlatives that does justice to this heart rendering tale and tribute to the loss of his own beloved daughter.
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review. As always…. I can hardly wait for Burke’s next novel.

Every Cloak Rolled in Blood by James Lee Burke is the fourth novel in the Holland Family Saga series. Categorized as a crime novel and as a paranormal mystery, it brings to life rural Montana, and specifically, eighty-five-year-old novelist Aaron Holland Broussard. Aaron is having a tough time accepting his daughter Fannie Mae’s death. When two young men are on pace to a life of crime, he tries to set them on a different path in her memory. However, the community is full of drugs, violence, murder, and more. His only ally seems to be a young state police officer with secrets and mystery surrounding her. With both evil spirits and the ghost of Fannie Mae entering the story, Burke has crafted another riveting book.

The author combines clear physical descriptions of the characters with their shortcomings and strengths. Facing evil that is not abstract, Aaron is a compelling character that is flawed, but wants to do the right thing. His loneliness, grief, and courage stand out to me.

The author painted vivid descriptions throughout the book that helped me easily picture the people, places, and actions. However, the sheer amount of it slowed the pace of the book substantially. The battle between good and evil was clear and fought on multiple levels. There was one thing that was not neatly wrapped up enough to satisfy me that I can’t describe here without spoilers.

Several themes run through the story line including social justice, racism, drugs, murder, grief, and much more. Overall, the book was complex and suspenseful. It mixes fiction with events that have occurred in the author’s life. It demanded my attention from start to finish.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and James Lee Burke for a complimentary ARC of this novel via NetGalley and the opportunity to provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. Publication date is currently scheduled for May 24, 2022.

Forget the ins and outs of the plot; they're really secondary in this exquisitely written and most personal of Burke's novels, a novel that is difficult to describe. Devastated by the sudden death of his daughter, 85-year old novelist Aaron Holland Broussard, the protagonist of this latest in Burke's Holland family series, writes of his agony and his redemption, telling his story through his relationships with a younger woman, a police officer who lives on the Res, and two young men whom he helps start their lives anew. His daughter as well as local historical figures visit him and guide him, setting up comparisons and tensions with issues in the world of 2020. Burke is one of our living masters of the English language; he could write about almost anything and most of his readers would hang on its every word. Every Cloak Rolled in Blood is no exception.