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Harbor Lights
A dynamic, gripping collection of short stories from “America’s best novelist” (Denver Post), the New York Times bestselling James Lee Burke
Harbor Lights is a story collection from one of the most popular and widely acclaimed icons of American fiction, featuring a never-before-published novella. These eight stories move from the marshlands on the Gulf of Mexico to the sweeping plains of Colorado to prisons, saloons, and trailer parks across the South, weaving together love, friendship, violence, survival, and revenge.
As an atmosphere of suspicion pervades their Louisiana town, a boy and his father watch a German submarine sink an oil tanker. A girl is beaten up outside a bar as her university-professor father navigates new love and threats from a group of neo-Nazis. A pair of undercover union organizers are hired to break colts for a Hollywood actor, whose “Western hero” façade hides darkness. An oil rig worker witnesses a horrific attack on a local village while on a job in South America and seeks justice through one final act of bravery.
With his nuanced characters, complex prose, and ability to write shocking violence in the most evocative settings, James Lee Burke’s singular skills are on display in this superb anthology. Harbor Lights unfolds in stories that crackle and reverberate as unexpected heroes emerge.
Harbor Lights is a story collection from one of the most popular and widely acclaimed icons of American fiction, featuring a never-before-published novella. These eight stories move from the marshlands on the Gulf of Mexico to the sweeping plains of Colorado to prisons, saloons, and trailer parks across the South, weaving together love, friendship, violence, survival, and revenge.
As an atmosphere of suspicion pervades their Louisiana town, a boy and his father watch a German submarine sink an oil tanker. A girl is beaten up outside a bar as her university-professor father navigates new love and threats from a group of neo-Nazis. A pair of undercover union organizers are hired to break colts for a Hollywood actor, whose “Western hero” façade hides darkness. An oil rig worker witnesses a horrific attack on a local village while on a job in South America and seeks justice through one final act of bravery.
With his nuanced characters, complex prose, and ability to write shocking violence in the most evocative settings, James Lee Burke’s singular skills are on display in this superb anthology. Harbor Lights unfolds in stories that crackle and reverberate as unexpected heroes emerge.
355 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 23, 2024
433 people are currently reading
4415 people want to read
About the author
James Lee Burke
119 books4,154 followersJames Lee Burke is an American author best known for his mysteries, particularly the Dave Robicheaux series. He has twice received the Edgar Award for Best Novel, for
Black Cherry Blues
in 1990 and
Cimarron Rose
in 1998.
Burke was born in Houston, Texas, but grew up on the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast. He attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the University of Missouri, receiving a BA and MA from the latter. He has worked at a wide variety of jobs over the years, including working in the oil industry, as a reporter, and as a social worker. He was Writer in Residence at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, succeeding his good friend and posthumous Pulitzer Prize winner John Kennedy Toole, and preceding Ernest Gaines in the position. Shortly before his move to Montana, he taught for several years in the Creative Writing program at Wichita State University in the 1980s.
Burke and his wife, Pearl, split their time between Lolo, Montana, and New Iberia, Louisiana. Their daughter, Alafair Burke, is also a mystery novelist.
The book that has influenced his life the most is the 1929 family tragedy "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner.
Burke was born in Houston, Texas, but grew up on the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast. He attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the University of Missouri, receiving a BA and MA from the latter. He has worked at a wide variety of jobs over the years, including working in the oil industry, as a reporter, and as a social worker. He was Writer in Residence at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, succeeding his good friend and posthumous Pulitzer Prize winner John Kennedy Toole, and preceding Ernest Gaines in the position. Shortly before his move to Montana, he taught for several years in the Creative Writing program at Wichita State University in the 1980s.
Burke and his wife, Pearl, split their time between Lolo, Montana, and New Iberia, Louisiana. Their daughter, Alafair Burke, is also a mystery novelist.
The book that has influenced his life the most is the 1929 family tragedy "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 182 reviews
July 9, 2024
“Mercy grows, evil is consumed by its own flame.”
Short stories and a novella by my favorite author using a familiar theme. Good people confronting true evil and how they react when faced with this darkness.
These are the two, though all are good, that have stayed with me. The short story, Assault, where a young girl is savagely attacked and her father cannot get justice through legal methods. So, he confronts this evil on his own.
His Novella, Strange Cargo. People who have read his Broussard series will be familiar with the name, Aaron Broussard. He is trying to find value in his life by starting a wildlife sanctuary. He wants to live a peaceful but familiar life. His teenaged and dead daughter is his frequent companion and sometimes warning signal. There is more magical realism as Burke often draws a thin line between present and the past. An unscrupulous sheriff wants to make sure that Broussard life is anything but simple.
Burke is a storytelling master.
Short stories and a novella by my favorite author using a familiar theme. Good people confronting true evil and how they react when faced with this darkness.
These are the two, though all are good, that have stayed with me. The short story, Assault, where a young girl is savagely attacked and her father cannot get justice through legal methods. So, he confronts this evil on his own.
His Novella, Strange Cargo. People who have read his Broussard series will be familiar with the name, Aaron Broussard. He is trying to find value in his life by starting a wildlife sanctuary. He wants to live a peaceful but familiar life. His teenaged and dead daughter is his frequent companion and sometimes warning signal. There is more magical realism as Burke often draws a thin line between present and the past. An unscrupulous sheriff wants to make sure that Broussard life is anything but simple.
Burke is a storytelling master.
February 18, 2024
I usually love this author, but these stories did not feel much like his novels. I liked a few of them, particularly the last one, Strange Cargo. That was the longest story in this volume and it reminded me the most of his other books. The writing here was beautiful as always, but maybe the stories were too bleak for me. 3.5 stars rounded up for the quality of the writing. If you are new to Burke, I recommend that you start with another book.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
December 16, 2025
Any new book published by James Lee Burke is an event worth celebrating. I really prefer his longer fiction, but a collection of short stories is still, for me, a satisfying feast. This collection features at least one story I’d read before (there may be others, but I’ve been reading his material for so long I really can’t be sure). There’s also a novella that is published here for the first time.
As is the way with JLB, the themes are consistently dark and feature acts of extreme violence. The settings and timeframe vary but a certain bleakness, or at least a sense of threat, permeates every tale. One of my favourite stories is set in a prison, where an inmate tries (unsuccessfully as it turns out) to mind his own business and simply get through his days peacefully. Another tells of a man who wishes to publicise an event he’s witnessed in order to forewarn others, but as a result he finds himself pitted against the forces of evil. As I worked through these tales a I noticed that a degree of metaphysical activity started to creep in. This is the 42nd book penned by this author that I’ve read, and my experience is that this element is a relatively new component in his writing - although it’s fair to say that his novel In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead (1993) strongly featured such elements.
The novella – entitled Strange Cargo – is a direct follow-up to his 2022 novel Every Cloak Rolled in Blood. Novelist Aaron Holland Broussard has now purchased an antebellum home built by his ancestors in Southern Louisiana, where he continues to be regularly visited by the spectre of his late daughter, Fannie Mae. As is frequently the case in Burke’s tales, a bully – this time in the form of the local sheriff – is to become a threatening figure in his life. In addition, Aaron starts to find himself visiting places and meeting people who haven’t existed here for many years. It’s a haunting story which features the author’s recurring themes of regret, loneliness and an ache for things to return to the way they used to be.
It’s a not a collection I was able to work through at any pace, partly because each story here takes it’s emotional toll. Also, although the writing is beautiful, if stubbornly uncompromising, the author’s constant references to historical events kept interrupting my flow as I researched yet another happening of which I was previously unaware. I’m a huge admirer of Burke’s writing and I’d urge anyone who hasn’t yet dipped into his catalogue, but who enjoys literary crime fiction or who simply appreciates top quality writing, to give him a go.
My thanks to Grove Atlantic for providing an early reader copy of this book, via NetGalley, in return for an honest review.
As is the way with JLB, the themes are consistently dark and feature acts of extreme violence. The settings and timeframe vary but a certain bleakness, or at least a sense of threat, permeates every tale. One of my favourite stories is set in a prison, where an inmate tries (unsuccessfully as it turns out) to mind his own business and simply get through his days peacefully. Another tells of a man who wishes to publicise an event he’s witnessed in order to forewarn others, but as a result he finds himself pitted against the forces of evil. As I worked through these tales a I noticed that a degree of metaphysical activity started to creep in. This is the 42nd book penned by this author that I’ve read, and my experience is that this element is a relatively new component in his writing - although it’s fair to say that his novel In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead (1993) strongly featured such elements.
The novella – entitled Strange Cargo – is a direct follow-up to his 2022 novel Every Cloak Rolled in Blood. Novelist Aaron Holland Broussard has now purchased an antebellum home built by his ancestors in Southern Louisiana, where he continues to be regularly visited by the spectre of his late daughter, Fannie Mae. As is frequently the case in Burke’s tales, a bully – this time in the form of the local sheriff – is to become a threatening figure in his life. In addition, Aaron starts to find himself visiting places and meeting people who haven’t existed here for many years. It’s a haunting story which features the author’s recurring themes of regret, loneliness and an ache for things to return to the way they used to be.
It’s a not a collection I was able to work through at any pace, partly because each story here takes it’s emotional toll. Also, although the writing is beautiful, if stubbornly uncompromising, the author’s constant references to historical events kept interrupting my flow as I researched yet another happening of which I was previously unaware. I’m a huge admirer of Burke’s writing and I’d urge anyone who hasn’t yet dipped into his catalogue, but who enjoys literary crime fiction or who simply appreciates top quality writing, to give him a go.
My thanks to Grove Atlantic for providing an early reader copy of this book, via NetGalley, in return for an honest review.
January 22, 2024
Harbor Lights in Murky Waters
Four stars. I cannot believe I would give James Lee Burke anything less than five, but here it is.
“Harbor Lights” is a collection of short stories by one of our greatest writers. I have read dozens of his books through the years and, even at 87, he shows no signs of slowing down, with a much-anticipated novel, “Clete,” scheduled for June and another, “Don’t Forget Me Little Bessie,” finished and slated for next year.
What “Harbor Lights” brings us is a theme Mr. Burke has been focusing on the past few years. In the witnessing of good versus evil, he remains convinced that some people are different, springing from a different gene pool, with the capacity and nature to bully. It is the burden of good people to confront this evil– frequently in these stories in a violent way. Burke’s heroes are often men moved to their violent side due to some uncontrollable episode or justifiable response to the harm to others.
Burke’s works have always had violence woven in, with the evil in the past walking hand in hand with the evil of the present; as he says, since Cain bashed Abel with the rock The same venom which fed the atrocities of slavery still runs in the veins of many today. In his last few books, I keep harkening back to the disillusioned Sheriff Ed Tom Bell from Cormac McCarthy’s “No Country for Old Men,” an older man unable to fathom the evil people are capable of.
“Harbor Lights” is a five-star read, but a four for me. His prose is beautiful, his characters unforgettable, the plotlines riveting, and there are always thought-provoking themes. I just want to see a glimmer of hope from one of my favorite authors, but he is painting very believable cages of despair. On the plus side, I am champing at the bit to tear into June’s “Clete” release. Clete from the Robicheaux series is one of my favorite characters and it is about time he gets his own vehicle.
Thank you to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley and Edelweiss for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
#HarborLights #NetGalley
Four stars. I cannot believe I would give James Lee Burke anything less than five, but here it is.
“Harbor Lights” is a collection of short stories by one of our greatest writers. I have read dozens of his books through the years and, even at 87, he shows no signs of slowing down, with a much-anticipated novel, “Clete,” scheduled for June and another, “Don’t Forget Me Little Bessie,” finished and slated for next year.
What “Harbor Lights” brings us is a theme Mr. Burke has been focusing on the past few years. In the witnessing of good versus evil, he remains convinced that some people are different, springing from a different gene pool, with the capacity and nature to bully. It is the burden of good people to confront this evil– frequently in these stories in a violent way. Burke’s heroes are often men moved to their violent side due to some uncontrollable episode or justifiable response to the harm to others.
Burke’s works have always had violence woven in, with the evil in the past walking hand in hand with the evil of the present; as he says, since Cain bashed Abel with the rock The same venom which fed the atrocities of slavery still runs in the veins of many today. In his last few books, I keep harkening back to the disillusioned Sheriff Ed Tom Bell from Cormac McCarthy’s “No Country for Old Men,” an older man unable to fathom the evil people are capable of.
“Harbor Lights” is a five-star read, but a four for me. His prose is beautiful, his characters unforgettable, the plotlines riveting, and there are always thought-provoking themes. I just want to see a glimmer of hope from one of my favorite authors, but he is painting very believable cages of despair. On the plus side, I am champing at the bit to tear into June’s “Clete” release. Clete from the Robicheaux series is one of my favorite characters and it is about time he gets his own vehicle.
Thank you to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley and Edelweiss for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
#HarborLights #NetGalley
dnf
September 8, 2023This is my first book by James Burke. I couldn't get into any of the stories, though the writing is quite good. I like reading short stories, so the length of the stories was not the problem. The locations and the timelines were too far off for me and I was not interested in any of the characters. Fans of James Lee Burke might like this, but it was not for me.
January 7, 2024
This is a DNF for me. I couldn't get into any of the stories. Writing was great but the characters were eh and the pacing was incredibly slow. My first foray into James Lee Burke, so maybe I'm just not his audience though I would be willing to try a full length novel of his.
January 17, 2024
Each of these stories, many of which have appeared elsewhere, bears similarities to the full length novels of James Lee Burke. They are difficult, gritty and beautifully written. One is even a continuation of a previous novel. The reader may find themselves in the familiar territory of Bayou Teche, or the wooded areas of Washington State, but Burke's touch is unmistakable. Highly recommended.
November 8, 2021
Great short story from one of the best authors alive. Harbor Lights by James Lee Burke is set in 1942 where we get to follow Aaron Broussard possibly related to the Holland family. It's a really dark story but that is usually the case with Burkes writing. I have never been disapointed with his work. A true master.
April 3, 2024
I have always loved James Lee Burke's books and this one is no exception. Several short stories and a new novella take the reader on a journey through the heart of darkness of present and past day America. Several of the characters from his Holland series are featured, and his Bayou Teche locale is prominent. These stories are quite dark, the battle between good and evil ongoing...the evil that men have always done and the guilt of the good hearted become stirred together so it is hard to distinguish who is what sometimes. As always, Burke writes in beautiful, lyrical and gripping prose, even when dealing with the ugliest subjects. I found this collection hard to put down.
Just a hint...if you have not read this author before, I would start with his earlier work, the Dave Robichaux series as an example, to get your feet wet. Harbor Lights is pretty heavy duty in the darkness department.
Just a hint...if you have not read this author before, I would start with his earlier work, the Dave Robichaux series as an example, to get your feet wet. Harbor Lights is pretty heavy duty in the darkness department.
February 27, 2024
I did not like this book. Obviously, I mean I gave it 1 star. It was in first person yet all of the characters were the flattest and blamdest characters ever. They all were the same white man who's better than other white men and is seeing others be oppressed and is upset about it and they went to war in the past. There is room for this perspective of the past. There is room for the perspective of white men, but not all white men were perfect throughout history. If you're going to write short stories with multiple characters, first give them different personalities and then make them not all perfect. AKA, this all could have been. one cohesive storyline. Also, it could have not been boring as anything. In what I assume from other reviews was supposed to be tragic moments that I was supposed to feel and react to, I felt nothing. I've read good books and descriptions of the South at that point in history, so I know it's possible to at least begin to make the readers feel the tragedy and have it affect them. Yet somehow, I felt more sympathy for characters in fantasy books in violent situations than this book that pulls some history with it. I'm sure someone very different from me liked this book, I'm sure there is SOMETHING for SOMEONE to gain from this book, but I very very much disliked it. I may try another James Lee Burke work in the future because I've heard he has some really good stuff, but this book was not for me.
January 24, 2025
These short stories felt like they are for 70 year old men who need something to read at jury duty. The last two were ok but didn’t keep my interest.
August 8, 2024
This is very effective writing with brilliant descriptions of people, places, things and events, and of the deepest thoughts and feelings of the characters. His use of themes from classic literature is clever and keeps the reader thinking. This collection is also very depressing, a combination of malevolence, noir, PTSD, and paranoia with a hint of hillbilly elegy. These short stories do have a connection with each other and get better as one reads through them. Yet the people do not. They drift aimlessly burdened by guilt, fear, superstition. They tend toward violence as victims seeking revenge against evil exposed. They have no hope. One sure constant is that the characters try to figure out life and what to do about their abysmal condition on their own. As Francis Schaeffer would say, the author and his characters are very good at describing the particulars of their unsaved condition but they miss out on the eternal universals. Apart from the miserable and physical situations from which escape is nearly impossible none of them seeks true redemption. That is what nags in the background. They do not really need to suffer psychologically, emotionally, spiritually yet they do. That is depressing.
December 14, 2023
Even though I had read most of these stories previously they are good enough to read again. Harbor Lights by James Lee Burke is a short story collection of great stories and they are mostly very dark. Burke is one of my all time favorite authors and he has a way with words few others have. Some of the stories are a little supernatural but even though I don't usually read that stuff I love it when Burke is writing them. I have not come across another author that can write so effortlessly despite what time he sets his stories in. I must thank Atlantic Monthly Press, Ingram Publisher Services, Netgalley, Grove Atlantic and Edelweiss for letting me read this great book. It's highly recommended by me.
September 28, 2024
I know, I'm a glutton for literary punishment, especially in regards to Burke, who is the author of whose books I have read the most. Kind of a love/hate relationship with his writing, but I did generally like these stories even if his characters all sound the same to me. I especially liked the second one about an inmate bucking the system. He mentions the dead bodies in the levee it seems quite often. And my biggest gripe herein is his overuse of consecutive "and"s in sentences. Maybe just a personal dislike on my part, drilled into me by one of my old professors.
May 28, 2024
4.2🌟
I really enjoyed the first like 6 stories! Were something quite different to what I am used to, paired with the fact that it was a bunch of short stories! There was a couple that I wasn’t too interested in because of the paranormal aspects but they were still pretty cool.
One of the narrators had such an attention grabbing voice it was so nice to listen to as apposed to some boring ass narrators I’ve heard before!
Overall LOVED!
I really enjoyed the first like 6 stories! Were something quite different to what I am used to, paired with the fact that it was a bunch of short stories! There was a couple that I wasn’t too interested in because of the paranormal aspects but they were still pretty cool.
One of the narrators had such an attention grabbing voice it was so nice to listen to as apposed to some boring ass narrators I’ve heard before!
Overall LOVED!
May 11, 2024
I'm not going to finish this as all 5 stories I've read so far have been exactly the same... a holier-than-thou war hero with left wing leanings battles against some truly evil right-wingers. Don't get me wrong, I'll gladly piss on Trumps grave and if you ever need a hand burning down a church I'm here for you, but this book is just way too black & white to be enjoyable.
March 20, 2024
This group of 7 short stories and one novella are gripping, gritty and beautifully written.
March 24, 2024
Mmmmm, dark, violence, short stories….not the Burke I love! I enjoy longer stories, good character development and an awesome plot-I usually get this from the author but not today…Enjoy
May 9, 2024
Somewhat of a mixed bag from one of my favorite authors. These are pretty long short stories (8 stories, 360 pages) and a few of them feature characters from his novels--or references to them--the Hollands, but not Dave or Clete. The mysticism that I find both appealing and annoying is present in the last two rather long, stories works well in these instances and adds to the pace and story.
I prefer the short story form, but where Burke is concerned, his novels rule.
I prefer the short story form, but where Burke is concerned, his novels rule.
June 13, 2024
The first 2 stories were very good but the rest of them were the usual incoherent gibberish about ghosts, etc that made no sense
January 1, 2025
I fully understand why Burke was one of my husband’s authors. His presence is authentic in each story; his prose both poetic and melodic. The last story is my favorite…I could hear his voice and spirit:
June 30, 2024
James Lee Burke is most known for his many Dave Robicheaux books about a rogue, Vietnam veteran, deputy sheriff in Louisianna. Harbor Lights, however, is a collection of short stories and one novella, Strange Cargo.
While this book mostly sticks to genres of crime, mystery, and thriller, these short stories allow Burke to explore elements of surrealism and magical realism that I have yet to experience in the Robicheaux series. Similar to other Lames Lee Burke books, these stories contain well-developed characters that are tough, independent, and contain a renegade spirit.
Probably my favorite thing about Burke’s writing is his beautiful and descriptive prose that practically allows the reader to use all five senses.
While not all of these stories were a 5 for me, I do recommend this one for fans of Burke, especially the Strange Cargo novella.
Thank you to Grove Atlantic for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
While this book mostly sticks to genres of crime, mystery, and thriller, these short stories allow Burke to explore elements of surrealism and magical realism that I have yet to experience in the Robicheaux series. Similar to other Lames Lee Burke books, these stories contain well-developed characters that are tough, independent, and contain a renegade spirit.
Probably my favorite thing about Burke’s writing is his beautiful and descriptive prose that practically allows the reader to use all five senses.
While not all of these stories were a 5 for me, I do recommend this one for fans of Burke, especially the Strange Cargo novella.
Thank you to Grove Atlantic for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.
May 27, 2024
Quite a read. East story send you in a different direction, with what seems like truth (and could be based on it) and great worded fiction. Each character comes alive on the page. Some stories about the darker side of human behavior, some not so much. And in one story you have the paranormal? Enjoy
July 25, 2024
James Lee Burke is a good writer whose novels I invariably find frustrating. His Harbor Lights, a collection of longish short stories, provides examples of both qualities. Its final story, “Strange Cargo," perfectly demonstrates why I’ve never been able to finish one of his books - in fact I gave up on that novella as well, about halfway through. On the one hand, the writer has a real way with words and knows whereof he speaks. Describing a powerful local official, he says: “He’s a cretinous man, an aggregate of ignorance, tribalism, visceral appetites, and cruelty, the kind of man who should be wiped from the earth. But his complexity and his raison d’être should not be underestimated. His political power was not acquired; it was given to him by an electorate that would legitimize the racial anger they have kept unto themselves for decades.” Unfortunately, the story’s insightful character quickly plunges into the supernatural hallucinations which plague all of this writer’s navel-gazing heroes - ‘150 years ago my great-great-uncle committed atrocities (or at least lived during an atrocious era) and now his victims’ ghosts keep dropping by but it’s too late for me to do anything about it except experience - and discuss in this book - unremitting guilt.’
That this writer’s books are so popular is evidence that most readers do not find this style nearly as off-putting as I do, and I suggest that those who haven’t already made up their minds about Burke use Harbor Lights to get a sense of how his work is going to strike them.
That this writer’s books are so popular is evidence that most readers do not find this style nearly as off-putting as I do, and I suggest that those who haven’t already made up their minds about Burke use Harbor Lights to get a sense of how his work is going to strike them.
September 8, 2023
Harbor Lights is the first James Lee Burke book I have read. Strictly speaking, this book is not a novel. It is, instead, a series of vignettes. Some are focused on a single character’s life, while others are varied by time or location. These stories cannot be classified as uplifting. Just the opposite. These are stories of despair about people whose lives have too often reached rock bottom.
Burke shows readers a side of life not often the focus of fiction. This is literary studies, which is likely where Burke’s stories belong. While these stories depict lives many readers would prefer not to see, I have no doubt that these stories would ring true to many people. Perhaps that proves their worth. Maybe we all need a greater appreciation and understanding of our fellow man. Truthfully, there is a grittiness to this life I might not want to recognize, but I am still glad that I read this collection of stories. .
Thank you to the author and to Grove Atlantic for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was not an easy book to read, but I am glad I read it. These are the stories students should read. Thank you to NetGalley for making it so easy for me to access this book.
Burke shows readers a side of life not often the focus of fiction. This is literary studies, which is likely where Burke’s stories belong. While these stories depict lives many readers would prefer not to see, I have no doubt that these stories would ring true to many people. Perhaps that proves their worth. Maybe we all need a greater appreciation and understanding of our fellow man. Truthfully, there is a grittiness to this life I might not want to recognize, but I am still glad that I read this collection of stories. .
Thank you to the author and to Grove Atlantic for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was not an easy book to read, but I am glad I read it. These are the stories students should read. Thank you to NetGalley for making it so easy for me to access this book.
February 8, 2024
For fifty years James Lee Burke has been leading the way among American novelists in general, not just crime writers. His lyrical, multi-layered explorations of the darkness, addiction, and evil that can exist within humanity, alongside white-hot light, have raised the bar and inspired countless authors. Harbor Lights brings the same and different for long-time Burke fans; there’s no Dave Robicheaux and it’s a collection of eight thematically (and genealogically) entwined stories, rather than a single tale, but there’s plenty of what we’ve come to expect. In each story he soaks us in time and place, abuts richly evoked settings with stark violence, and makes us witness to cruelty and humanity through the eyes of downtrodden characters, while crafting a semi-permeable membrane between eras. Two prison inmates are set up to fight each other in “Big Midnight Special”; a history professor takes matters into his own hands after his daughter is beaten up at a bar in “The Assault”; a farmer and his grandson try to protect Mexican immigrants in “Deportees”; federal agents intimidate a war veteran who reported a burning oil tanker in the titular tale. An impressive collection that whets the appetite for backlist revisiting as well as whatever comes next from a living legend.
August 28, 2023
The good thing about this book, is that it's like the author's other books in transporting you to the south. There are also lots of colorful characters, but the stories are not for me. The first ones are strange, the last ones are too much nonsense, and even though I like history, I like my novels set in the present.
Read
September 4, 2024Such an eloquent way with words, insightful introspection and deep reflection into how we view our place in the world and how we interact with our fellow man. I find Burke's writing to be lyrical, heart breaking and brilliant. Sometimes, it's just too dang sad...
September 22, 2024
Having read numerous books by James Lee Burke and enjoyed them I found Harbor Lights a disappointment. The stories and writing, in my opinion were not up to his usual high standard.
January 22, 2024
James Lee Burke is one of the most acclaimed mystery writers of our time, with a list of accolades including multiple Edgar awards and the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award. However, the vast majority of his prolific output has been full-length novels. His current short story collection, “Harbor Lights,” is his first such effort in fifteen years. After reading these stories, I understand why Burke prefers the longer form. The stories are descriptive with colorful characters, but several ramble on with little point.
The stories in “Harbor Lights” have settings ranging from the Louisiana Bayou country to the Rocky Mountains. Most take place in the past, either the Depression/World War II era or the more recent 1960s. Several feature members of the Holland/Broussard family who are the protagonists of various Burke novels. However, they are self-contained and require no knowledge of other Burke's works.
The best story in the collection is the last and longest, “Strange Cargo.” Aaron Broussard, an aging writer who may be dying of cancer, returns to his ancestral home in the Louisiana Bayou. There, he runs afoul of the local redneck sheriff, who is determined to thwart Aaron’s plans of turning his property into an animal sanctuary. But Aaron is also visited by ghosts, including his dead daughter, who serves as his conscience, and slaves who lived in the area before the Civil War. (A younger version of Broussard is also the main character in the collection’s title story, set during World War II.) The mix of reality and the supernatural works, thanks to a setting where the paranormal occurrences seem plausible. Although Burke evokes the atmosphere of his settings in every story, the feeling is most evident here.
If supernatural elements figure in the best story in the book, they also dominate the worst, “A Distant War.” Vietnam war veteran Francis Holland, another member of the family, and his young son are trapped in a small New Mexico town when his car breaks down. The local mechanic keeps finding more things wrong with the car, so he has to wait. And as he does, he realizes that this town is home to many people who have been dead for decades or more. While “Strange Cargo” made sense, “A Distant War” gets more bizarre and confusing as it progresses, eventually becoming a total mess.
Fortunately, the other stories in the collection are better. One that doesn’t feature the Holland clan is “Going Across Jordan.” Set in the 1950s, it features two drifters who travel the West, taking odd jobs and occasionally serving as union organizers. They eventually acquire a female companion and the hostility of a well-known Western actor. Like most stories in “Harbor Lights,” the pace in “Going Across Jordan” is leisurely, but the characters are well-developed enough to make readers care.
“Deportees” is a historical tale that seems very relevant to modern-day issues. Set in the days after Pearl Harbor, it describes the efforts of federal authorities to find and deport illegal Mexican immigrants in the United States. The authorities fear, with no justification, that the migrants are enemy agents of some sort. A young Aaron Broussard lives with his grandfather, a renowned retired lawman hiding some migrants on his property. The story becomes a battle of will between a retired lawman and the current law, although I’m sure the author had modern-day immigration issues in mind when he wrote this wonderfully prescient story.
Looking at “Harbor Nights” as a whole, the book contains one very good story, three good ones, three fair stories, and one mess. That would average out to a three-star rating. But even the fair stories are pleasant enough to read, even though they eventually don’t go anywhere. So, I’m raising the rating to 3.5 stars, rounded to four based on the last story. But readers who want the best James Lee Burke experience are better advised to read some of his novels rather than this uneven collection.
NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.
The stories in “Harbor Lights” have settings ranging from the Louisiana Bayou country to the Rocky Mountains. Most take place in the past, either the Depression/World War II era or the more recent 1960s. Several feature members of the Holland/Broussard family who are the protagonists of various Burke novels. However, they are self-contained and require no knowledge of other Burke's works.
The best story in the collection is the last and longest, “Strange Cargo.” Aaron Broussard, an aging writer who may be dying of cancer, returns to his ancestral home in the Louisiana Bayou. There, he runs afoul of the local redneck sheriff, who is determined to thwart Aaron’s plans of turning his property into an animal sanctuary. But Aaron is also visited by ghosts, including his dead daughter, who serves as his conscience, and slaves who lived in the area before the Civil War. (A younger version of Broussard is also the main character in the collection’s title story, set during World War II.) The mix of reality and the supernatural works, thanks to a setting where the paranormal occurrences seem plausible. Although Burke evokes the atmosphere of his settings in every story, the feeling is most evident here.
If supernatural elements figure in the best story in the book, they also dominate the worst, “A Distant War.” Vietnam war veteran Francis Holland, another member of the family, and his young son are trapped in a small New Mexico town when his car breaks down. The local mechanic keeps finding more things wrong with the car, so he has to wait. And as he does, he realizes that this town is home to many people who have been dead for decades or more. While “Strange Cargo” made sense, “A Distant War” gets more bizarre and confusing as it progresses, eventually becoming a total mess.
Fortunately, the other stories in the collection are better. One that doesn’t feature the Holland clan is “Going Across Jordan.” Set in the 1950s, it features two drifters who travel the West, taking odd jobs and occasionally serving as union organizers. They eventually acquire a female companion and the hostility of a well-known Western actor. Like most stories in “Harbor Lights,” the pace in “Going Across Jordan” is leisurely, but the characters are well-developed enough to make readers care.
“Deportees” is a historical tale that seems very relevant to modern-day issues. Set in the days after Pearl Harbor, it describes the efforts of federal authorities to find and deport illegal Mexican immigrants in the United States. The authorities fear, with no justification, that the migrants are enemy agents of some sort. A young Aaron Broussard lives with his grandfather, a renowned retired lawman hiding some migrants on his property. The story becomes a battle of will between a retired lawman and the current law, although I’m sure the author had modern-day immigration issues in mind when he wrote this wonderfully prescient story.
Looking at “Harbor Nights” as a whole, the book contains one very good story, three good ones, three fair stories, and one mess. That would average out to a three-star rating. But even the fair stories are pleasant enough to read, even though they eventually don’t go anywhere. So, I’m raising the rating to 3.5 stars, rounded to four based on the last story. But readers who want the best James Lee Burke experience are better advised to read some of his novels rather than this uneven collection.
NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.
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