Book summary

Hill-country lawyer Billy Bob Holland returns to keep Houston oil tycoon Earl Deitrich from reeking more havoc on his life and the lives of his loved ones in this sequel to the Edgar Award-winning CIMARRON ROSE. Having already married Billy Bob's high school sweetheart Peggy Jean Murphy, Earl is now threatening Billy Bob's oil-rich landowner friends, arranging the false arrest of a troubled business victim, and committing arson and murder through a San Antonio youth gang. When Billy Bob's illegitimate son is suddenly swept into the chaos, the wise country attorney steps in to face his nemesis.

Media reviews

"No one writes more beautifully about the dry sage Texas landscape of Texas....The book feels more like an old-fashioned Western than a contemporary mystery at times, but that's part of the attraction. Like the wood of its title ('some trees add a layer of new wood under their bark each year. The core of the tree grows stronger and stronger, until it's almost like iron.'), Burke's stories last."