It’s the 1960s and Aaron Holland Broussard, army vet and aspiring writer has been riding the rails in the western USA, a part of the country that would rival Eden in it’s beauty. He suffers from blackouts and nightmares, the result of his war experience and he is looking for respite from them. He hopes to find it in Trinidad, Colorado where he gets a job on a ranch. But he soon learns that this beautiful country is not the paradise of calm and beauty it appears on the surface. Instead, it is riddled with corruption, violence, and cruelty.

Somehow he gets on the wrong side of the son of a powerful man whom he believes is possessed by evil. He also meets and falls in love with a young woman who is allowing an opportunistic professor and his acolytes, a group of young drug addicts and hippies to live on her land. And the local police officer is trying to convince Broussard to help him in his search for the killer of several young women in the area. Soon Broussard find himself caught up in a tangled web of deceit and danger with seeming no way out for either him or the woman he loves.

James Lee Burke, to me, is one of the greatest living American authors. His books.although in simple terms are thrillers, but there has always been a spiritual side to them. Another Kind of Eden is also infused with magical realism, a tale of good versus evil in which Burke turns over the idyllic myths of the ‘60s exposing the ugly underbelly and he does it with his usual beautiful, almost lyrical prose.

I’d like to thank Edelweiss+ and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

James Lee Burke has been one of my favorite writers for over thirty years. He remains unsurpassed as a prose stylist. But his last couple of books have taken a turn into the supernatural that I neither understand nor care for. Bottom line, if I want Stephen King, I'll read Stephen King.

I love enveloping myself in these mystical stories of his. Another great book by a master. ( )

This review was originally written for NetGalley at this link https://www.netgalley.com/book/229738/review/670189

James Lee Burke has been, for over half a century, a brilliant star on the American literary scene and Another Kind of Eden is his forty-first novel. Set in the American west of the early 1960s, it straddles multiple genres and features Aaron Holland Broussard, a war veteran and aspiring writer, as its lead.

Aaron is exploring the country by riding freight trains and stops at Trinidad, Colorado, where he finds a job as a farmhand. Suffering from non-chemically induced blackouts and frequent nightmares from the war, he tries to lose himself in his new life on the farm. Suddenly, due to some freak events, his idyllic existence is threatened as he finds himself on the wrong side of a local man of terrifying repute and his seemingly psychopathic son. Meanwhile, he falls in love with a beautiful, fiery girl who, somehow, is mixed up with a shady art professor and a busload of banged up hippies. Amidst all this, a local policeman pesters Aaron to help him catch the killer of a number of girls and women in the area. Things start to deteriorate quickly and Aaron finds that nothing is as it seems anymore. In order to save himself and his love, Aaron has to confront several demons—both inside his head and outside of it.

This was my first experience of Burke’s work and I was expecting it to be a mystery / suspense thriller out and out. Though it feels like one initially, it ends up being something entirely different thanks to the heavy dose of magical realism that permeates it in the latter half. Burke’s characters are etched with a lot of detail and all of them are messed up one way or another. There are multiple layers to these characters, which get peeled off as the narrative progresses, showcasing the author’s supreme skill. Aaron, as the narrator, is quite engaging, but is exasperating at times due to his unreliability. Burke’s description of the people and the scenery is starkly lifelike and his dialogues are snappy.

As much as enjoyed Burke’s engrossing storytelling, I could not help feeling cheated by the utterly inconclusive epilogue—following the nerve-racking climax—that leaves many questions unanswered. Maybe I was expecting something different from what Burke normally delivers, but I was still disappointed by the ending and would rate it 3.5 out of 5.

Another Kind of Eden is sure to be loved by Burke’s fans but, in my opinion, it may not be the ideal place to start reading him.

My sincere thanks to James Lee Burke and Orion Publishing Group for the e-ARC through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review. ( )

WAR HAS RAVAGED AARON'S MIND. HE HAS MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES BUT IS A GOOD PERSON OVERALL. THINGS HE THINKS AS GOOD WILL FOOL HIM INCLUDING HIS LOVE LIFE. BURKE AND HIS QUIRKY WRITING WILL MAKE U WONDER HOW IT ALL ENDS ( )