Harbor Lights

By: James Lee Burke

Narrated by: Gary Furlong, Matt Pittenger, Michael David Axtell, Ali Andre Ali, Alan Carlson, Kaleo Griffith, Leon Nixon, Zac Aleman

Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

A dynamic, gripping collection of short stories from “America’s best novelist” (The Denver Post), the New York Times bestselling James Lee Burke.

Harbor Lights is a story collection from one of the most popular and widely acclaimed icons of American fiction, featuring a never-before-published novella. These eight stories move from the marshlands on the Gulf of Mexico to the sweeping plains of Colorado to prisons, saloons, and trailer parks across the South, weaving together love, friendship, violence, survival, and revenge

A boy and his father watch a German submarine sink an oil tanker as evil forces in the disguise of federal agents try to ruin their family. A girl is beaten up outside a bar as her university-professor father navigates new love and threats from a group of neo-Nazis. A pair of undercover union organizers are hired to break colts for a Hollywood actor, whose “Western hero” façade hides darkness. An oil rig worker witnesses a horrific attack on a local village while on a job in South America and seeks justice through one final act of bravery.

With his nuanced characters, lyrical prose, and ability to write shocking violence in the most evocative settings, James Lee Burke’s singular skills are on display in this superb anthology. Harbor Lights unfolds in stories that crackle and reverberate as unexpected heroes emerge.

©2024 James Lee Burke (P)2024 Simon & Schuster Audio

Great stories

I love the feeling of being there I get through all of his stories. He describes the places and the people and I see it.

The characters were melancholy

I felt frustration and sadness from the characters.
The settings were described so well-I could picture myself self in the story.

Boring!

I like every book of his, but this one doesn’t make the cut. I hope this isn’t a trend.

Disappointed

I love so many of Lee Burke’s books but this one isn’t on that list.

Poor content, poor reading.

My wife and I have read all of Burke's books. This one just sucks. He appears to be angry in his writing and the readers are not good. Certainly not like Will Patton.

Virtue Signaling

I've read everything James Lee Burke has written but this collection of short stories I just could not get through. I'm 62 years old and raised in Louisiana and in all my years I've never seen anyone with an SS tattoo or a Swastika tattooed or displayed anywhere on a person's clothing yet if you are to believe this book every 3rd person is an unabashed racist hell bent on victimizing anyone unlike themselves. To be fair these stories take place in the past when the KKK was prominent and illustrates an era of horrible bigotry, but making every story about it? I had to tap out. Also of note, Alan Carlson vastly mispronounced every Louisiana name he was tasked with

Bought it Today. Like It? Nope.

I like James Lee Burke. I like Louisiana. I enjoy reading/listening to stories with characters you either like, love or really, really dislike. I can't say I was smitten by even one of them in any of the stories that I listened to in this particular book. After listening to the first two, I then tried the last one. At that point I stopped listening and looked for a movie. This is one of the most depressing collections I have ever read. I'm not a professional critic, but having taught English, Journalism and Writing, I do know what I like and can appreciate. I'm sure many of you will take umbrage with what I've written. Don't attack me for having opinion. There are already enough people doing that to each other on media. Remember: this is my opinion only. You may find Harbor Lights fascinating. I hope you do and enjoy every word. I didn't.