House of the Rising Sun: A Novel

New York Times bestseller James Lee Burke returns with his latest masterpiece the story of a father and son separated by war and circumstanceand whose encounter with the legendary Holy Grail will change their lives foreverFrom its opening scene in revolutionary Mexico to the Battle of the Marne in and on to the bordellos and saloons of San Antonio during the reign of the Hole in the Wall Gang House of the Rising Sun is an epic tale of love loss betrayal vengeance and retribution that follows Texas Ranger Hackberry Holland on his journey to reunite with his estranged son Ishmael a captain in the United States Army After a violent encounter that leaves four Mexican soldiers dead Hackberry escapes the country in possession of a stolen artifact earning the ire of a bloodthirsty Austrian arms dealer who then places Hacks son Ishmael squarely in the cross hairs of a plot to recapture his prize believed to be the mythic cup of Christ Along the way we meet three extraordinary women Ruby Dansen the Danish immigrant who is Ishmaels mother and Hackberrys one true love Beatrice DeMolay a brothel madam descended from the crusader knight who brought the shroud of Turin back from the Holy Land and Maggie Bassett one-time lover of the Sundance Kid whose wiles rival those of Lady Macbeth In her own way each woman will aid Hackberry in his quest to reconcile with Ishmael to vanquish their enemies and to return the Grail to its rightful place House of the Rising Sun is James Lee Burkes finest novel to date and a thrilling entry into the Holland family saga that continued most recently with Wayfaring Stranger which The New York Times Book Review described as saturated with the romance of the past while mournfully attuned to the unholy menace of the present.