Book Review: EVERY CLOAK ROLLED IN BLOOD by James Lee Burke

EVERY CLOAK ROLLED IN BLOOD by James Lee Burke (Simon & Schuster, May 2022) Hardcover, 288 pages. Holland Family Saga #4. ISBN # 1982196599 / 978198196592 

 Summary on the Goodreads webpage . . . . .

In his most autobiographical novel to date, James Lee Burke continues the epic Holland family saga with a writer grieving the death of his daughter while battling earthly and supernatural outlaws.

Novelist Aaron Holland Broussard is shattered when his daughter Fannie Mae dies suddenly. As he tries to honor her memory by saving two young men from a life of crime amid their opioid-ravaged community, he is drawn into a network of villainy that includes a violent former Klansman, a far-from-holy minister, a biker club posing as evangelicals, and a murderer who has been hiding in plain sight.

Aaron’s only ally is state police officer Ruby Spotted Horse, a no-nonsense woman who harbors some powerful secrets in her cellar. Despite the air of mystery surrounding her, Ruby is the only one Aaron can trust. That is, until the ghost of Fannie Mae shows up, guiding her father through a tangled web of the present and past and helping him vanquish his foes from both this world and the next.

Drawn from James Lee Burke’s own life experiences, Every Cloak Rolled in Blood is a devastating exploration of the nature of good and evil and a deeply moving story about the power of love and family.  

My Five-Star Review On The Goodreads website . . . . .

     Everyone needs to read something from James Lee Burke. It's all good, never disappointing. You could start anywhere, it doesn't have to be here. Even though this is labeled as #4 in the Holland Family Saga - - those novels are all linked, but each can be read as a separate novel without prior knowledge of the others and thoroughly enjoyed. 

     I'm not sure if this is Burke's best book, but it's definitely the best one that I have read (and I have many more to go). While the setting is fictional, this sure feels personal - - which may be attributed to how skillful a writer Burke is as well as the semi-autobiographical nature mentioned in the inset cover copy.

     EVERY CLOAK ROLLED IN BLOOD defies categorization as it overlaps several genres. Supernatural themes play a big part in the story, and the way this ended could not have realistically occurred without them. The main protagonist and narrator is an eighty-year old author, and no matter how much physicality he can endure some of these scenes would require a super-elongated stretch of the imagination. 

     As with everything I've read by Burke the pages drip with emotion. Some of the sentences and passages read like poetry. The opening chapters each contained several descriptive comparisons that I had to stop and marvel at them before reading further.