It was apparent, even then, that Burke had given us an extraordinary character, one whose depth, complexity and evocative narrative voice was worth returning to again and again. That has turned out to be the case. To say he is a mystery writer is like saying the Atlantic Ocean is a pond. Once again, Burke takes us to the best and worst of worlds. You won't find better writing in, or arguably out of, the genre. While uncommon in almost every way, his characters are knowable and very real. Despite such moments of despair, Dave Robicheaux is an enduring hero, and Burke takes Light of the World pedal-to-the-metal to a hair-raising standoff and a satisfying end.
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If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support? In contrast to the tranquil beauty of Flathead Lake and the colorful summertime larch and fir unspooling across unblemished ranchland, a venomous presence lurks in the caves and hills, intent on destroying innocent lives. First, Alafair Robicheaux is nearly killed by an arrow while hiking alone on a trail.
Next, Alafair thinks she sees a familiar face following her around town—but how could convicted sadist and serial killer Asa Surette be loose on the streets of Montana? Surrette committed a string of heinous murders while capital punishment was outlawed in his home state of Kansas. Years ago, Alafair, a lawyer and novelist, interviewed Surette in prison, aiming to prove him guilty of other crimes and eligible for the death penalty.
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Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. James Lee Burke is a national treasure. His writing is a fearsome amalgam of simple story telling that features deeply human characters of an awesome array, from the good-but-flawed to the darkly perverse and evil. The setting is the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana.
It is a tale familiar to Burke's fans, with roots in the past entangling the characters in a modern saga of revenge and heroism. JLB is not for the weak of stomach or heart. Violence is a near constant companion throughout the story, leaving the reader as exhausted as the protagonists when reaching the epilogue. I read JOB's novels a bit more out of love of his creative power and his skills with words and imagery, than for love of his stories. Few writing today can draw you viscerally and sensually into a story as Mr. No matter how dark his stories become, somehow he always manages to let the Light of the World radiate through.
All of the Robicheaux books are amongst the best in the genre and this is no exception. This one takes place in Montana where Dave and Clete are taking things easy until, of course, the real world intrudes in the form of an old nemesis out to seek revenge on Dave's daughter Alifair, now an adult writer who did a hit piece on the miscreant.
In something of a departure in this long-running series, Clete, Alifair and Clete's recently discovered daughter Gretchen play significant roles in the story but not to worry; nothing is lost. Burke is one of those rare writers whose characters are intelligent, thinking, caring people who frequently digress into ruminations about life, love and especially the impact of the rich and privileged to the detriment of regular working folks.
They also aren't fond of cops who go through the motions. To anyone new to the series I'd highly recommend reading them in order, knowing that it will take awhile to get to this one. The good news is that you will have many a night when you won't need to worry about what to do after dinner. I was so looking forward to reading this book! I had always loved Burke's writing and story lines.
However, I was dreading turning the pages because of the depravity of some of the characters. Maybe that makes it a great book. The bad guy is really bad, intolerable, and the good guys are so flawed it is painful. Chances are, you will be on your own. Perhaps you will find out that the suspected perpetrator has been released on bail without your being notified.
The detective assigned to your case might do his best, but you will sense he is drowning in his workload and not always happy to see you. Your phone calls will go unanswered. When you think it's all over, you may receive a taunting call from the person who raped or murdered your loved one. Sound like an exaggeration? Dial up someone who has been there and see what he has to say. I remember sitting naked and ninety-proof in an Orleans Parish holding cell, flexing my hand, my body running with sweat, as I watched the veins swell in my forearm while I fantasized about a man I was going to kill as soon as I was released.
I changed my mind when one of his gumballs shot my half brother, Jimmie, in the head and blinded him in one eye. That was when I decided to get back on that old-time lock-and-load rock and roll and turn a certain Mafia boss into wallpaper. At the time I thought and did these things, I was a police officer sworn to protect and serve. The motivations of a psychopath are almost irrelevant in an investigation. You could smell the salt in the wind and an odor that was like watermelon that had burst open on a hot sidewalk. For me, the rain was always a friend. They seem to understand its baptismal nature, the fashion in which it absolves and cleanses and restores the earth.
Don't ever let anyone tell you this is all there is. The dead are out there. Mar 27, Craig Monson rated it it was amazing. Several tough, dark, hard-as-diamonds, more-or-less-mad characters show up: There is no shortage of the worst sorts of violence and brutality, though Burke seems almost classical in the discretion with which he presents it.
I looked forward to picking the book up every time, after deliberately putting it down, just to show that I could. Jun 21, Paul Pessolano rated it really liked it. The author of thirty-two novels that will keep the reader on the edge of his seat wondering what is going to happen next. The level of suspense and action is seldom seen in other books of this nature, maybe once in a while but not over thirty-two novels. He is at his best when he is writing about Dave Robicheaux. Dave, his wife Molly, his daughter Alafair, Clete and his daughter Gretchen are vacationing in Montana when they all become involved in murder.
Asa Surrrette, whose crimes are innumerable and diabolical, has just escaped from prison and has a score to settle with Alafair. Asa finds great pleasure in tormenting Dave and Clete by kidnapping and torturing people and at the same time letting them know that the same is in store for their daughters. As always, the book is filled with characters both good, bad, and quirky.
The action starts early and lasts throughout the book. The reader will enjoy the continuing fight between the law and Dave and Clete as they hand out their own form of justice. They may not always be on the right side of the law, but they are always right. I had to go to bed after finishing this book last night as it took everything out of me - like no other book I've read. This is only the second book I have read in the Dave Robicheaux series, so I do not know how often these gentlemen stray from Louisiana's bayou region, but this epic transpires in Montana, a place of musings, murder, mayhem, mysticism and everything in the cupboard.
In theory this was to be a renewing vacation with family and friends, though the good friend who invited them live I had to go to bed after finishing this book last night as it took everything out of me - like no other book I've read. In theory this was to be a renewing vacation with family and friends, though the good friend who invited them lives on expansive ranch land adjacent to a billionaire stooge.
Every character in this adventure is carefully, colorfully alive until they aren't. A serial killer with his own unique odor acquainted with Robicheaux's adopted daughter Alafair escapes a deadly, but planned highway prison van crash to impinge on the tranquility and peaceful beauty of the region. He makes his presence known initially with an arrow, nicking Alafair's ear. To sum it up, Man and Woman against Evil. Enough material in this one book for at least a mini series. And then there are the beautifully described scenes of nature to feed the soul. Oct 25, DP Lyle rated it it was amazing.
Each book is a lesson in literary crime writing but LOTW is one of the best. The theme of this story is evil. Does it exist as a tangible object? A living, breathing entity? Is it buried deeply in each of us? Does it dwell in the hearts of some more than others? Light Of The World is a story of revenge, violence, corruption, and ultimately how one copes with the presence of raw evil in human form.
Light of the World (Dave Robicheaux, book 20) by James Lee Burke
Or as Dave says: I was never good at solving mysteries. Thus begins Light Of The World. All is well until an arrow flies from nowhere and nearly kills Alafair while she is on a mountain jog. One, the sexual sadist and convicted serial killer Asa Surrette, who apparently died in an explosive prison transport van crash. Could he have survived? Somehow escaped from the mangled, charred vehicle? Alafair has no doubts. She has seen his face, in town, following her.
Could Surrette not only be alive but be hell-bent on exacting revenge against Alafair, for whom he holds a deep-seated hatred after she wrote a series of articles blaming him for other crimes? Can Dave protect her from such a relentless force? A former contract killer for mob types, she is now reinventing herself as a documentary film maker.
- Light of the World: A Dave Robicheaux Novel, Book 20 (Unabridged);
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A fascinating and deep character with a history, she enters the fray in a no-brakes, in-your-face fashion. Smart, tough, and relentless, she employs her own brand of violence to protect herself, and Alafair. Richly poetic writing mixed with down and dirty storytelling. The setting comes alive, the story drags you along at a breathless pace, and the characters rise to haunt you long after you read the final page.
Jul 27, Candace rated it it was amazing. Might that explain why they are faced continually by, and must do battle with, real evil? Dave and Clete go on vacation, possibly just to give the people of south Louisiana a break from the badness those two seem to attract. These two are so damaged, from alcohol, Vietnam, brutal jobs, loss and more, that they attract a malevolence rarely seen in fiction.
His prose is even richer than before, and there is more of a trajectory to the action with fewer digressions for this or that. You may also wonder why Dave and Clete never seem to get tired, even when one of them is old, and the other one is obese and probably drunk. Another reason to consider the other-worldly possibility. After how many books? James Lee Burke just gets better. May 07, Robert Intriago rated it really liked it Shelves: This is probably the most complex, darkest and longest book of the Robicheaux series. It is beautifully written, lots of great metaphors, strong and well developed characters and the line between good and bad is only defined by the amount of moral compass that they possess.
Light of the World
The book is not for the squeamish and it may lead readers to give up on the book because of all the senseless crimes that take place in the first half of the book. If you persevere you will find that the author brings the plo This is probably the most complex, darkest and longest book of the Robicheaux series. If you persevere you will find that the author brings the plot together to a satisfying conclusion. I will admit that unless you are a devotee of the series, you may find the book gruesome. For those that love the series it was rewarding reading.
Mr Burke goes a little overboard with the darkness. It seems a little bit gratuitous and it reminds me of the excessive use of nudity in the movies, it only appeals to the prurient side and does not add to the plot. Jul 29, Washington Post rated it liked it Shelves: That has turned out to be the case. It is unbelievable that after all the novels Burke has written, he just keeps getting better and better. This one features a road trip, with Clete, Dave and Alafair staying with a friend and then hearing that Gretchen will soon be joining them as well.
A fact that Dave is more than a little worried about. With all four of them together, you just know strange things are going to happen. True evil, when someone thought to be dead more than likely is not. A fast moving, and compelling read. A must It is unbelievable that after all the novels Burke has written, he just keeps getting better and better.
A must read for Burke fans. Aug 02, Robert Bacal rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: I've read all of Burke's books, and prefer the books set in New Orleans. This one features his usual characters, including Dave and Alafair, but it's set in Montana. Burke is one of the few writers that hasn't lost his edge as he ages Burke's strength is his ability to evoke pictures in readers minds, it's very sense oriented. Again, the dark, flawed characters and their struggles are front and center. IMO, Burke's not a master of the plot. As with most of his other books, there's a rambling kind of chaos to the plot lines, which is really not a major drawback because each sentence is like a little bit of poetry.
For those who have followed the series, be prepared for a very grown up Alafair, as an active "combattant". I always fear Burke will retire, but no signs here. If you are a fiction writer, btw, a great book to study to see how he writes both the dialogue and the evocative descriptions. Twentieth in the Dave Robicheaux mystery series which is usually based in Louisiana. This particular story takes place near Missoula, Montana. My Take Not as satisfying as it usually is and with a lot more introspection on Dave's part with most of the action between Dave and Clete with Alafair and Gretchen coming up fast.
A lot of daddy-worry. There was almost no Molly until the end, even though they're on vacation together. Burke doesn't give a good reason why Dave treats Alafair as he does. He k Twentieth in the Dave Robicheaux mystery series which is usually based in Louisiana. He knows that Alafair isn't the type to cry wolf. Nor did I buy all the interference on Dave and Clete's part with the local sheriff.
Sure, Bisbee comes to Dave at the start due to his own lack of experience, but I can't imagine any sheriff accepting as much mucking about as these two did, well three, with Gretchen. And the sheriff doesn't do much about it. Didn't seem as if he did much of anything about anything other than blow hot and cold on the Bobbsey Twins.
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Burke goes on about Surrette, but leaves it all vague, for the blanks to be filled in later. I can understand using the tease, but this felt more like Burke just forgot to fill bits in along the way. This isn't the only vague bit either. There's Bill Pepper and his actions. Why does Bisbee even employ people like him? His successor appears to be canned before we know it. Felicity's supposed resemblance to the saint she's named for. Burke tosses this in and then props it up here and there.
The whole story is like a jumble of ideas that Burke doesn't bother going anywhere with. There's Felicity's hot-cold as she teases and entices Clete, who blunders right on in. At least this is per usual What was the point of mentioning the wolves? Why keep the identity of the family who is letting the room secret? I spent more time trying to figure out the loose ends than I did reading the story. Younger is the one who pushed Gretchen to talk, then he blames her for it? Of all people, Gretchen is the one I would never have thought would be so naive.
Although, I gotta say, like father, like daughter. Neither of them will let the attack on Gretchen go. Why is Dave so down on Wyatt? I'd'a thought he'd be one of the first to at least seriously think about spiritual stuff, what with the ghosties he's seen in the past. Burke does do a nice job of changing my mind about Wyatt. A nice slow twist. Pretty much a repeat of Clete and Dave's histories, but we do get a good hunk of Gretchen's back history. Another reason why parents should be licensed! What is with these people? Family members keep getting kidnapped and their only reaction is not my problem?
This one is unsatisfying, half-hearted. Too vague, too same-same, although I do like the direction Burke is going with Alafair and Gretchen. I also liked Dave's come-to-Jesus evolution about Gretchen. The Story It starts depressingly with a recap by Dave of his chequered career and Alafair's almost dying where the Robicheauxs and Clete are on vacation in Montana. Dave's had a hard life complicated by alcoholism that he used to cope with his return from serving in Vietnam.
Alafair Robicheaux is their adopted El Salvadoran daughter with a degree in psychology, and she was a Stanford law student with her first novel published, a second one coming out this summer, and working on the third. The two of 'em are notorious! Clete does everything wrong in his life, but he does mean well. He recently discovered Creole Belle , 19 that he has a daughter, Gretchen Horowitz , who has just graduated from film school. An upgrade from her former career as a Mob hit woman where she was known as Caruso. She had good reason.
Percy Wolcott is the good-hearted pilot who helps Gretchen. Wyatt Dixon , a rodeo man, is from Fort Davis, Texas, but he has a ranch here in Montana where he camps, yep, in the house. A stint in prison with a course of weird medications has left him a bit slow, and he has his own sense of honor.
He's a religious fanatic and speaks in tongues. Wyatt is quite clever in his drawing out of Love. Bertha Phelps is a journalist. Albert Hollister is a novelist and a retired English professor with a large house in Montana who has invited the group to spend some time. Dave may not consider him a rabble rouser, but he sure acts like one! Opal is his dead wife.
Elvis Bisbee is the sheriff in Missoula, and while he seems ineffectual, he does have a sense of honor. Bill Pepper is a detective and has some nasty issues, as does his successor Detective Jack Boyd. Bisbee needs to do some kind of character testing Special Agent James Martini has heard of Dave. Love Younger is an oil man and one of the ten wealthiest men in the United States. His foster granddaughter, Angel Deer Heart , has gone missing.
Caspian is his entitled son while Felicity Louviere she's from New Orleans; her dad was Rene Louviere , a former cop , well, who knows about her. She's a contradiction in so many ways. Tony Zappa and Kyle Schumacher are some of the men who work for Younger. Rosa Segovia is Kyle's soon-to-be-former girlfriend. Asa Surrette is a convicted serial killer from Kansas whom Alafair interviewed some time back.
Reverend Geta Noonen is one of those universal kind of preachers. Seymour Little has a focus part. Ralph is the father and a reverend. Philo "Whiplash" Wineberger is a bottom-of-the-barrel lawyer in New Orleans. Terry McCarthy popped up out of nowhere. The Cover The cover has a red canvas background with four different, horizontal arrowheads drawn in pastels, each arrow separating the author's name and the words in the title.
I have no clue as to why the arrowheads as the Native American aspect to this is slight. I'm clueless as to the inspiration of the title as well. The Light of the World could well refer to how Clete and Dave view their "little" girls. Aug 07, Paul rated it it was ok. After reading the book I read the next two books in the series, and from then on I read everything that James Lee Burke wrote. I would buy his books the day they came out even though they were hardback and expensive and knowing if i waited a week or two they would go on sale. I didn't care, I couldn't wait to read them.
Like all book series, some were better than others but even the not so great ones were better than many other books out there. The series should have ended with "The Glass Rainbow", even though I would be sad that the series was over, the main characters Dave and Clete were becoming, cliched, predictable and tiring. Let's face it these two should be dead, after all of their crazy antics or at the least in jail or retired and playing shuffleboard in Florida. The series was in trouble as all series are when he started adding additional characters to the story.
His wife Molly who was some liberal do-gooder Nun in El Salvador, so she gets a pass for anything she helps Dave with, and then there was the the making of Dave's daughter Alafair more prominent in the stories. A daughter with the same name that the author has in real life. To really "Jump The Shark" the author added a daughter for Clete named Gretchen whose background was supposed to, I guess elicit sympathy but was just cliched and laughable. The other problem with this series and other series from Mr Burke, were that his politics and beliefs went from being a small part of the story, to instead being front and center.
The author is free to have whatever political views he wants but to ruin a fictional book series to make his point is disastrous. We all know he is Liberal, hates Republicans and especially Bush who we blames for everything including New Orleans lack of planning for Hurricane Katrina. The BP disaster was another example of big business screwing over the little guy, in fact he really hates oil companies, and Logging companies too.
He doesn't however see a problem with Dave and Clete repeatedly taken the law into their own hands and administering justice the way they see fit. Like many other Liberals he also doesn't seem to mind making money for himself, as he is doing something good and noble because he writes books as opposed to raping the land and fouling the water. It must be nice to hang out at one of your two homes Mr Burke and and make pronouncements about the rest of the world.
I must confess I did not read the last book in this series Creole Belle, because based on actual reader reviews it did not sound like I would like it, and I thought I would seek it out in paperback sometime down the road. That has yet to happen. So it was with major wariness I decided to buy Light of the World, as I had some time to kill at the airport recently.
The writing is like James Lee Burke, there are parts that lyrical almost poetic, but it has all been done before and better by this author. There were times I wondered if Mr Burke even actually wrote this book of if someone who was very familiar with his style his daughter maybe actually contributed or fully wrote it. I mean who talks like Dave in the 21st century? In this book the storyline is all over the place, there are descriptions that seem to be used to fill up pages rather than adding anything to the story.
His political views started showing up as early as on page 24 of the paperback version and the story continued downhill from there. If you have read this book and it was your first or second in this series, and you liked it, go back to the books in the beginning before the Author was a cranky preachy old Liberal. The series used to be the benchmark of writing and storytelling, the descriptions made you feel as if you were there experiencing what Dave was, as it was happening.
The action portions make sense and the story lines made sense. I saw where Mr Burkes latest Book is not really part of any of his current series though the are a character or two from one of his series, in it. I doubt I will read it. This author unfortunately for me just is not worth the time anymore.
Only my second foray into James Lee Burke's artfully crafted, immensely compelling, and brutally violent, but poignantly lyrical examinations of good and evil. While I initially thought Burke's stuff was cut from the same cloth as No Country for Old Men, I'm increasingly thinking that a domestic cross between Nesbo's Harry Hole and Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad with as I initially thought some Lonesome Dove sprinkled in better captures some of the essence, or at least some of the taste and feel.
But, of course, Burke's originality deserves more credit than that. Unfortunately, just what I didn't need in my life was addiction to another author's serialization of a character whose story arc attracts my fancy. Accordingly, I plan to resist, or sip slowly from the chalice To make things worse, both times I've dipped my toe in Burke's muddied and roiling waters, I've been introduced to well-established stories breaking my normal rule of starting a series at the beginning.
- Erfolgsfaktoren des Product-Placements in Kinospielfilmen (German Edition).
- Light of the World: A Dave Robicheaux Novel, Book 20.
- The Land That Knows No Parting.
- Light of the World: A Dave Robicheaux Novel, Book 20 (Unabridged) by James Lee Burke on iTunes?
- Coolman und ich. Voll auf die zwölf: Band 6 (German Edition);
- Nina Balatka [with Biographical Introduction].
Does this mean I need to go back and read the nineteen novels that precede this one? And what about the other two series? Additional caveats and dissemblings include the harsh reality that this was a lengthy book -- lots of pages dense with text - and, accordingly, this represents more than a minor investment of time and energy. To compound the problem, once the hook gets set in your gills, good luck putting this one down!
Further, neither the topics are there any limits to human evil and depravity? Moreover, it seems schizophrenic to toggle between brutal violence and eloquent, often poetically pastoral observations of the type you might find during one of Wallace Stegner's detours or even in Norman MacLean's A River Runs Through It , although that probably overstates the case. What I do know is that this won't be my last Burke novel.
Sep 02, Lorna rated it did not like it. Why do I keep buying James Lee Burke novels? I should know better. The plots are now so repetitive! There is one or more bad guys. Someone is murdered, horribly. Dave drives over to where One or More Bad Guy's staying and confronts him. He says the modern equivalent of "You are a churl, sir!
There is much driving over to someone's house and saying dire things. Then they just bust up the guy, novel over. We see Molly about twice in the whole novel. We hear way too much about people being abused as children. There are sightings of a Bad Guy supposedly dead and we never hear how he escaped certain death , and no one thinks until the very end of checking the surrounding farmhouses to see if maybe he's staying in the area. Bad Guy kills several people before the cops seem to take any notice. Then the cops, who hate Dave all authority figures hate Dave, because he's so rogue invite him along on every call-out to a murder scene, and Dave always brings Clete.
Other characters are introduced so that they, too, can drive over to various houses and say dire things. Hints of Bad Guy being way too evil for anyone born human are given out, but this territory has been too well covered by John Connelly's Charlie Parker series. Burke is so good at using the landscape; he's a genius at description and evocation of place. He is almost as identified with Louisiana as Carl Hiaasen is with Florida.
And he almost makes this book worth it, with his depictions of the Montana mountains and meadows. But it feels half-hearted, with a wolf thrown in here, and a bear cub there, just to give artistic verisimiltude to an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative. Jul 31, C. Michael rated it it was amazing. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. It was agreed, that my endeavours should be directed to persons and characters supernatural, or at least romantic, yet so as to transfer from our inward nature a human interest and a semblance of truth sufficient to procure for these shadows of imagination that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith How old is Dave Robicheaux?
Robicheaux alludes to his age several times indirectly in the series, often citing his unforgettable summer of , when he was That would establish his birth year as , making him 2 years younger than author. As of this 20th book, Robicheaux has reached the unlikely age of Purcell may be expected to be this same age, give or take, and has lived a harder life. Not much time for rehab. But that is just the beginning of my unravelling suspension of disbelief; the straw that broke my imagination's back. There is the plot of Light of the World to contend with, and it is a mess, horizontally and vertically.
Burke attempts to add a layer of complexity to the plot at the expense of character development, which is one of his writing strengths. All the elements of the proper Burkean story are present: There is also the Burkean villain, only this one is touted to be the greatest Robicheaux has encountered. Asa Surrette is an escaped serial killer who fakes his death in a car accident and takes up residence in Lolo, passing himself off as a traveling preacher while committing unspeakable crimes.
Okay, the plot in a single sentence: New Iberia gang on vaca in Montana; serial Killer Asa Surrette escapes prison under pretense of death in auto accident; Surrette fixates on Alafair Robicheaux after she previously had interviewed him; and takes a similar shine to Gretchen Horowitz; rodeo convict Wyatt Dixon plops down in the bloody middle with almost no connection to the story, save he is the bastard son of oil industrialist Love Younger who is ruining the Canadian outback with his natural gas fracking: Oh, and Gretchen Horowitz lays a big wet one on Alafair, ringing her bell.
The missed opportunities are many. Instead, we are treated to a mish-mash of biblical quotes, innuendo and casual discussion of a villain that never is fully presented or realized. Rodeo clown Wyatt Dixon is not fully developed either, though he is more clear than Surrette. Mentally ill and violent, Dixon is the poster-child for family-of-origin issues grown into a physically and mentally powerful adulthood.
But outside of a brief revelation of his paternity, Dixon is left twisting in the wind until such time he magically appears to assassinate his half brother, the feckless Caspian Younger, who, himself could have done with a bit more character development. The continuing relationship between Alafair and Gretchen is given a sweet injection of fire when Gretchen kisses Alafair on the mouth, leaving Alafair curiously conflicted and interested.
But, any further development of that dropped like a stone, unlikely to be pursued as the original protagonists of the series are long in the tooth and not likely to survive another vacation like this one. Author Burke is not getting any younger either. He has a golden opportunity to complete his excellent series properly.
My suggestion would be to have Purcell finally die and allow Robicheaux to have a colorful rumination of love and friendship. That said, Light of the World was never meant to be high art. It is a Summer reading selection populated with characters so well known they could be our friends.
It is a story to pass an afternoon while on vacation and with that in mind, it really is not so bad. Article first published at Blogcritics Sep 05, Roger rated it really liked it. I was so disappointed with this book. Disappointed because it came to an end. Having read a number of less than great books recently, it was wonderful to get back to James Lee Burke and read something of true quality.
Taut, poetic, beautifully descriptive — writing of a standard that few, if any, can match let alone surpass. James Lee Burke has done it again! Here we have Dave Robicheaux, Clete and families mainly their daughters Alafair and Gretchen moving away from Louisiana for a break in Mon I was so disappointed with this book.
I have always liked the books featuring the latter, perhaps even more than the Robicheaux books. Maybe because they are a bit more relaxed and also because the descriptive writing seems to be of an even higher level. Perhaps the great beauty of Montana lends itself to finer descriptions. The Montana style seems to have slightly softened Mr Burke as, while the characters still spend most of their time arguing with each other and the levels of aggression and violence are as high as ever, there are, unlike in his more recent books, some quiet and almost tender moments.
There was even a suggestion of love possibly blooming between Alafair and Gretchen — a bit of a surprise there. I have read some of the less than enthusiastic reviews on here and can see where the reviewers are coming from. It is true that the story contains most of the stock characters that any James Lee Burke reader will recognise from his usual repertory company; the extremely violent and sadistic villain touched heavily by the hand of evil; the hugely wealthy oil business associated corporate crook without a conscience; the weak and very nasty son; the very mixed up woman destined to capture the heart of Clete and so on.
But the characters are so well drawn and rounded and the language is so rich that this matters little if at all. After all, who complains that Sean Connery usually played himself or that most of Al Pacino's characters are very similar? And who else writes stuff of this quality? What is different in this book is that Dave and Clete take a bit of a back seat and their daughters lead much of the action.
This may be well be in recognition of the fact that the two old lawmen are now in their 70s Dave is 74 and would not have quite the stamina they had in the past. And yes, Alafair is a bit of a pain in the bum who jumps to conclusions and can never see where she might just be wrong. And Gretchen does seem to have a remarkably warped view of the world and a tendency to shoot from the hip literally. But at least there are reasons why they behave as they do and they are proper characters and not just ciphers used to move the plot along. What is not different is Mr Burke's wonderful use of language, history, literature, philosophy, Catholicism and folk belief.
This creates a magnificent mix of metaphor, mayhem and mind bogglingly sharp dialogue. There are very few writers capable of bringing all of these strands together and adding it to maximum violence to create paragraphs that can leave one literally breathless. The book is not perfect but it is a great deal better than anything from anybody else that I have read lately. And approaching the age of 77 even older than Dave Robicheaux Mr Burke reassuringly shows no sign of any lessening in his powers.
Keep it up James! Sep 04, Dermott Hayes rated it really liked it. Ok, there are patterns that repeat themselves in the books of James Lee Burke who carries a stock company of character actors, like film director, John Ford, who occupy, colour and drive his stories. First, there's Dave Robicheaux, the main protagonist in the twenty strong Robicheaux series. He's a flawed but principled character whose life has taken its tumbles, some self imposed, some cruelly circumstantial.
Then there's Clete Purcel, his one time partner in NOPD Homicide and his lifelong frie Ok, there are patterns that repeat themselves in the books of James Lee Burke who carries a stock company of character actors, like film director, John Ford, who occupy, colour and drive his stories. Then there's Clete Purcel, his one time partner in NOPD Homicide and his lifelong friend; another flawed character with a heart of gold who is, in many ways, Robicheaux's untamed alter ego.
Other characters populate their lives and their adventures; Dave's wives, who are invariably strong willed women; Alafair, his adopted daughter whom he rescued from a crashed aeroplane, Batist, his uneducated black, Cajun bait shop helper and, of course, Tripod, the three legged coon. More recently, as the main characters have aged, new characters have emerged, most particularly, Clete's long lost daughter, Gretchen Horowitz, a complex figure with a shady past as a mob assassin who aspires for redemption as a film maker but who can never escape her past.
Clete also has a penchant for chasing lost causes in the romantic stakes. Then there's the cast of villains, many of whom, like, for example, Wyatt Dixon, the born again Rodeo clown with a murky past who intentions, though distorted by a warped aspect of reality, are essentially good.
But then there are the ultra villains and these are usually psychopaths whose actions and motives defy logic and appear to embody and exude the essence of evil. Alongside them, are the ultra rich, immoral profiteers, who will stop at nothing to destroy the earth and its resources, for the simple cause of power, glory and wealth and damn the begrudgers. Oh, and there's also a learned, well intentioned, intellectual, battering against the odds, to save the world around him.