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Bitterroot
James Lee Burke Book Review

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Plot Summary of Bitterroot
"

Simon & Schuster, Jul 2001, 25.00, 334 pp.
ISBN: 0743204832

    Billy Bob Holland lives with the ghost of his best friend, L.Q. Navarro, the man he accidentally killed when they chased after drug smugglers in Mexico. Billy Bob actually sees and talks with Navarro, but cannot form any relationships with living people because of his all-consuming guilt.

    When his friend Doc Voss invites Billy Bob to visit him in Bitterroot Valley, Montana he closes his law practice and goes. Upon arriving, he finds Doc at war with a local militia, bikers, and a mining company destroying the ecology. When Doc's daughter is raped, her assailants turn up dead shortly afterward. The police arrest Doc, who is defended by Billy Bob. However, the lawyer has his own problems caused by a sociopath blaming Billy Bob for the death of his sister.

    BITTERROOT is one novel in which the thrills never stop coming and every scene is loaded with action. The talented James Lee Burke gets readers interested even in his most vile character as well as the anti-hero Billy Bob, a believer of justice and not necessarily the law. Billy Bob is the focus of the tale, a flawed individual taking responsibility for something he will regret until he dies.

Harriet Klausner


"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Bitterroot
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Crime Thriller Yes
General Crime (including known murderer) Yes
Who's the criminal enemy here? - finding a known killer

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - a lawyer creature
Age: - 40's-50's
How much violence does he/she use? - a significant amount
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - killer
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - an above average amount
Motive of antagonist - insanity
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Sense of humor - Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Pacific NW

Style
Person - rotating 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books to Bitterroot
Cross by James Patterson
Midnight in Death by J.D. Robb
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Cremator's Revenge by Margaret LeNois
The Witness by R.L. Stine


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James Lee Burke Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
F. Scott Sinclair  

SCHOLARS:
Ed Sloan  


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