Review of "Another Kind of Eden: An Aaron Holland Broussard Novel" by James Lee Burke

Twenty-six-year old Aaron Holland Broussard grew up in Texas, fought in the Korean war, studied journalism at the University of Missouri, and wrote a novel that he's submitted to publishers. Aaron is now riding the rails out West, absorbing experiences for his next book.

The story opens in 1962, when Aaron hops off a train in Colorado and gets a job on Mr. Jude Lowry's farm near the town of Trinidad.



There's a bunkhouse full of employees, and a general sense of camaraderie and friendship.



However, Aaron's closest co-workers are Spud Caudhill - a homely man who has a passion for dago red wine and prostitutes;



and Cotton Williams - who has long gray hair, an unseeing white eye, and a liking for comic books.



Aaron is intelligent, well-spoken, and compassionate, but he has disquiet in his soul.



Aaron feels guilty about the death of his best friend Saber Bledsoe in Korea; he's lost a girl he thought was the love of his life; and he suffers from non-alcoholic blackouts, during which he becomes belligerent and violent. Thus Aaron tries to keep a tight rein on his anger, to avoid killing someone.

Trouble starts when Mr. Lowry sends Aaron, Spud, and Cotton to Trinidad with a load of tomatoes. A United Farm Workers bumper sticker on the truck gets Aaron and his friends beat up by four goons.....



.....and instead of going after the ruffians, Sheriff Wade Benbow jails Aaron, Spud, and Cotton overnight.



It turns out Benbow wants Aaron to help him catch a serial rapist who's killed several girls, including Benbow's granddaughter. Benbow thinks the killer works on Mr. Lowry's farm, and he wants Aaron to spy on his fellow workers.

In the meantime, a pretty waitress named Jo Anne McDuffy gets in touch with Aaron. She tells him the men who beat him up were led by a creep called Darrel Vickers, son of wealthy bigwig Rueben Vickers. Jo Anne says both Vickers' are buckets of shit and Aaron should stay away from them.

Aaron is immediately attracted to Jo Anne.....



.....and learns she's a painter studying under art professor Henri Devos.



Aaron meets Devos and hates him on sight, thinking he's a smarmy predator that wants to take advantage of Jo Anne. Aaron and Devos compete for Jo Anne's attention, and the girl seems torn between them.

Burke's books always pit good against evil, and - from this point on - Aaron is plagued by sinister forces.

Rueben Vickers shows up at the Lowry farm, enraged about his son Darrel being accused of assault.



One thing leads to another and Rueben repeatedly lashes Aaron's face with a quirt, after which Aaron tells Rueben 'you have a black soul, you're a bully, and you carry an incubus that will cost you your soul.' This deeply affects the old bully, and - as it turns out - preys on his mind. Further encounters between Aaron and the Vickers' escalate the situation.

Aaron falls hard for Jo Anne.....



.....and is upset that she lets Henri Devos hang around her house. Moreover, the professor brings a busload of penniless hippies and thugs, who park on Jo Anne's property, plug into her electric line, eat her food, etc.



Aaron has a run-in with the miscreants, and - later on - a violent confrontation with Devos.

As in some of Burke's other books, the story has elements of magical realism. Aaron talks to ghosts.....



....and has an encounter with supernatural entities that are malevolent and dangerous.



All this leads to a momentous climax that unveils shocking secrets.

Burke's talent for depicting landscape and atmosphere is unsurpassed, and his evil characters belong in a place worse than hell. I enjoyed the book, my one quibble being that Burke's books all seem to follow the same paradigm.....evil forces threatening good people.

I'd recommend the book to fans of  James Lee Burke and readers who enjoy mystery and/or horror stories.

Thanks to Netgalley, James Lee Burke, and Simon and Schuster for a copy of the book.

Rating: 3.5 stars