Wayfaring Stranger, James Lee Burke
Wayfaring Stranger, James Lee Burke
11 Rating(s)
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Wayfaring Stranger

Author: James Lee Burke

Narrator: Will Patton

Abridged: 7 hr 39 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/15/2014


Synopsis

2015 Audie Award Finalist for Thriller/Suspense

In his most ambitious work yet, New York Times bestseller James Lee Burke tells a classic American story through one man’s unforgettable life.

In 1934, sixteen-year-old Weldon Avery Holland happens upon infamous criminals Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow after one of their notorious armed robberies. A confrontation with the outlaws ends with Weldon firing a gun, unsure whether it hit its mark.

Ten years later, Second Lieutenant Weldon Holland barely survives the Battle of the Bulge, in the process saving the lives of his sergeant, Hershel Pine, and a young Spanish prisoner of war, Rosita Lowenstein—a woman who holds the same romantic power over him as the strawberry blonde Bonnie Parker, and is equally mysterious. The three return to Texas where Weldon and Hershel get in on the ground floor of the nascent oil business.

In just a few years’ time Weldon will spar with the jackals of the industry, rub shoulders with dangerous men, and win and lose fortunes twice over. But it is the prospect of losing his one true love that will spur his most reckless act yet—one inspired by that encounter long ago with the outlaws of his youth.

A tender love story and pulse-pounding thriller, Wayfaring Stranger “is a sprawling historical epic full of courage and loyalty and optimism and good-heartedness that reads like an ode to the American Dream” (Benjamin Percy, Poets & Writers).

About James Lee Burke

American mystery author, James Lee Burke, was born in Houston, Texas, explaining why most of the lead characters in his novels are Texan. He has won two Edgar awards, which is a very rare experience, and is a bestselling author of two short story collections and over thirty novels. Burke is best known for his Dave Robicheaux series. His Edgar Awards were for Black Cherry and Cimarron Rose. Two of his series were made into screen plays with each movie having a-list actors playing the Robicheaux character (Alec Baldwin - Heaven's Prisoners, and Tommy Lee Jones- In the Electric Mist).

A writer must usually hold down other employment while they attempt to gain a degree of following readers. Burke's various jobs included.......truck driver, newspaper reporter, social worker, land surveyor, unemployment system employee, Job Corps worker, teacher, and finally, novelist.

Burke lives in Montana with his wife, Pearl, two daughters, and four grandchildren. His favorite advice was given by Irving Stone, when Burke was nineteen.......... "Never write a story to pay your gas bill......if you do, be assured your utilities will be turned off".


Reviews

Goodreads review by Andrew on January 06, 2025

A paragraph of JLB’s writing is more recognisable than any author I’ve come across. He’s my favourite writer, and to sit down with his latest book is one of my greatest joys. It’s been said by some that he regurgitates the same story every time. This isn’t true, but the pace and mood, the characteris......more

Goodreads review by Barbara on March 04, 2023

This Holland Family Saga is a fine addition to James Lee Burke's impressive oeuvre. At the age of 16 Weldon Holland meets the infamous bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow when their gang hides out on the outskirts of his grandfather's Texas ranch. Weldon and his grandfather - former Texas Ran......more

Goodreads review by Penelope on May 24, 2014

This is probably the most important book Burke has written to date. It is literature at its best. As much as I appreciate all his highly underrated work, this one far surpasses even Tin Roof Blow Down, which, was in my personal opinion, his best. Before that, Confederate Mist. This is not to say his......more

Goodreads review by Lee on August 25, 2014

Fuck me. Burke is such a goddamn badass.......more