Time is twisted from today to yesterday in a continuum that Burke has created to construct the thought provoking universe at the heart of this collection. As he has done in his Dave Robicheaux novels, he questions the essential nature of time. Burke purists will recognize the blur that is time -- now, then or always. It's a hypnotic -- and often bewildering -- trip. Thank you to NetGalley for this advanced copy.

Harbor Lights by James Lee Burke is a phenomenal read. You can never go wrong with Burke and this book of short stories is no exception.

His prose flows and his characters get inside your head. These stories cross geographical and socioeconomic barriers.

You don't want to miss this book

I'm not a big fan of short fiction in general, but I had very much enjoyed a prior collection of Burke's short fiction, JESUS OUT TO SEA, so I thought I might give this one a go. It's fine writing, of course, and bulging with James Lee Burke's trademark lyricism, and I have no doubt that Burke is one of the greatest writers of our time, but I cannot tell you I enjoyed reading HARBOR LIGHTS.

Maybe the extraordinary grimness and bleakness of every narrative in this collection is a function of Burke's age, or maybe the take that it is grim and bleak is a function of mine. Either way, the unremitting wretchedness and undercurrents of personal bitterness simply left me cold. "The world is a fine place and worth the fighting for," Hemingway wrote in FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS, and Burke even allows a character to cite that line in passing, but the world Burke creates for us in HARBOR LIGHTS offers little cheer and less hope of redemption. It is a wholly bleak and piteous place.

I hope if and when I reach Burke's age that I don't see the world like this.

James Lee Burke explores the darkness inhuman beings brought on by emotional, physical and even spiritual abuse. The abuse is usually from a combination dealt by those with power and by oneself as well as by experiences in war. While Mr. Burke’s characterizations are raw and merciless, they are juxtaposed by his lyrical descriptions of nature and remembrance of times past.

James Lee Burke is never a light read, his work is beautiful and should never be missed. He is a national treasure.