January 2021 Group Read (spoiler thread): The Jealous Kind, by James Lee Burke

[Nancy, Co-Moderator]

spoiler thread for The Jealous Kind.

[Tom]

I'm not sure that it is necessary, but I thought I would start with Wayfaring Stranger , the first book in the Holland Family Saga, before tackling The Jealous Kind, which appears to be about a different member of the Holland family. Anyway, I'm about halfway through that and will join in on this read as soon as I have finished.

FYI: There was no need to read Wayfaring Stranger first. Nothing from the first book has any impact of the events in The Jealous Kind and this book is much better.

[Renee]

Looking forward to discussing. What do you think of Burke's writing. I love the way he describes things.

[Renee]

Here is a little bit about James Lee Burke from Wikepedia.




James Lee Burke (born December 5, 1936) is an American author, best known for his Dave Robicheaux series. He has won Edgar Awards for Black Cherry Blues (1990) and Cimarron Rose (1998), and has also been presented with the Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America. The Robicheaux character has been portrayed twice on screen, first by Alec Baldwin (Heaven's Prisoners) and then Tommy Lee Jones (In the Electric Mist).

Wirt Williams, reviewing Burke's first novel, Half of Paradise (1965), in the New York Times, compared his writing to Jean-Paul Sartre and Ernest Hemingway, but concluded "Mr. Burkes literary forebear is Thomas Hardy."[1]

He has also been a professor at multiple colleges.

He is the father of Alafair Burke a mystery writer.