Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lay Down My Sword and Shield | 1971 | James Lee Burke | Buy |
| 2 | Rain Gods | 2009 | James Lee Burke | Buy |
| 3 | Feast Day of Fools | 2011 | James Lee Burke | Buy |
| 4 | House of the Rising Sun | 2015 | James Lee Burke | Buy |
| 5 | Another Kind of Eden | 2021 | James Lee Burke | Buy |
| 6 | Every Cloak Rolled in Blood | 2022 | James Lee Burke | Buy |
| 7 | Don’t Forget Me, Little Bessie | 2025 | James Lee Burke | Buy |
Hackberry Holland first appeared in Lay Down My Sword and Shield in 1971 and returned decades later in Rain Gods (2009), following a Texas lawman whose career spans from the Korean War through the twenty-first century. The seven books trace Hackberry through different periods of his life, each exploring the tension between his desire for peace and his capacity for violence.
Later entries — Feast Day of Fools, House of the Rising Sun, Another Kind of Eden, and Every Cloak Rolled in Blood — deepened the character and connected him to the broader Holland family saga. Don’t Forget Me, Little Bessie (2025) is the most recent installment.