Rating: 
Summary: Great Book!
Review: This was my first encounter with Dave Robicheaux and I loved it. I am now working my way through the previous books and (so far) I have enjoyed them all. The only bad thing about reading them out of order is that you know some of the major events before the author reveals them.There were several un-explained references in this book that are now clear after reading some of the earlier works, but it really didn't detract from the reading. Burke does a great job or evoking the speech, attitudes, and atmosphere of Iberia and the Big Easy. Or so it seems to someline like me who has never been there.... Highly recommended - but start with the earlier books to get the story in order.
Rating:
Summary: Pure Robicheaux!!! Stunningly crafted!!
Review: James Lee Burke has written his best novel to date. In this story, Robicheaux is dealing with new information on his mother's death that has the power to change things in his head. His daughter, Alafair may be in danger from a truly sociopathic young man, and two sisters (and one of them is facing death row) are hiding information on the murder of a pedophile . The other question is, why does Connie Deshotel the attorney general of Louisiana keep showing up at the most opportune times? The characters all come together in a strange James Lee Burke manner, surrounded by the mystery and beauty of Southern Louisiana as only Burke has the power to eloquently detail. His settings are so pure, you can smell the bayous, and the sun coming down through the branches of the moss covered trees. His descriptions defy you not to experience his Louisiana. The people are so well defined, and their actions and intent are clear. As always a James Lee Burke novel is a 5 star experience.
Rating:
Summary: Somethings Actually Get Better With Age!
Review: I guess it has been about 6 years since I read James Lee Burke for the first time. Dixie City Jam was one of the best books I had ever read. That summer I went back and read all the other books of the series. They were all unbelievable, with In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead and Stained White Radiance as being the two I felt stood out the most. In fact, I think in the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead is one of the most complex, creative, and exciting books ever. How can a series get better after works like Dixie City Jam and the Electric Mist. Burning Angel was a disappointment to me. It was actually the only book in the series I was not crazy about. Fortunately I felt Caddy Jukebox made up for lost ground. Sunset Limited was good, but was an inside job. Sunset Limited I felt was the only one in the series that only people who had read past books would get. So which direction would the series go? Well Purple Cane Road answered that question and some. It was beyond awesome. I am not going to sit here and repeat plot details, only know this...James Lee Burke outdid himself and had produced a masterpiece. The book is a great mystery as usual, has great writing as usual, great charaters, great dialogue, but added to all that is an emotional intensity that we have not seen in the series before. Also, its great to see how everyone's character is aging. All I can say is if you are a fan of the series do not wait on this one. And if you have not read any of the books before...hold off on this one and either read them in order or start with Dixie City Jam. What a great book and a great series!
Rating:
Summary: Burke's Tormented Hero is Back
Review: "It was dishonest, certainly, but I don't think it was dishonorable." This sentence from the epilogue, in some ways explains the tormented mind of the hero Dave Robicheaux. In this book Dave is confronted with information that his mother was murdered. He tears away thirty years of secrets to reach those who did it, with little concern for those who get in his way. It is a wild ride. Beyond the twists and turns of Dave's mind, and the plot, is the genuine richness of Burke's writing, from the names which role off your tongue, to the rich descritiveness of every thing from charecters' clothing to the beauty of a sunset over the Bayou Teche. Treat your self to an exciting read.
Rating:
Summary: Possibly his best yet.
Review: Once again Burke balances a huge, twisted set of character against a complicated backdrop and juggles it all into place by the end. I love the sense of place and character he gives to New Orleans and his players and love to read his prose. Unlike most others in his genre (Ian Rankin being another exception) I am lapping up each sentence, not in a hurry to the stories conclusion. A head and a half above all others.
Rating:
Summary: Crime In Cajun Country
Review: I always envy the person who finds an author of the caliber of James Lee Burke for the first time. He's one of those authors who you begin to wonder "where can I get the rest of his books?" before you finish the first one. You need not have to have previous experience with the Big Easy, as they refer to it down in New Orleans and the surrounding parish towns, to come to know deeply and intimately what the locals know and do. The main character, Robicheaux, is a guy you defintely would like to have as a friend and, just as certainly, not an enemy. And then there's his sometimes-sidekick, but I'll leave all that for the first time reader to discover.
Rating:
Summary: A Road Less Traveled
Review: Most detective stories tell similar stories, deal with similar themes. You can travel in a Yugo or Cadillac and travel the same road, pass the same scenery, but in the Caddy you get a classier ride. From the opening description of the state executioner: "... his slight overbite paused above his coffee cup, as though he were waiting to speak, although he rarely engaged others in conversation.", we are in the hands of a master. If you have not yet had the pleasure of getting into the heated lives of Burke's characters, climb in, for a ride with characters with history and depth.
Rating:
Summary: Another great Dave Robicheaux
Review: I have read every single Dave Robicheaux that James Lee Burke has written. I absolutely love the characters and have come to feel like "home" when I read about them. This novel is no exception. Dave, fighting many emotional demons and childhood pain, searches against all odds for the truth about his morhter and the circumstances surrounding her death. From there, he stumbles on the usual Burke Louisiana corrupt politics, unsavory characters and the like. A good one from the getgo that ends with answers that give Dave peace.
Rating:
Summary: A Pleasure of the Senses
Review: Several years ago I listened to a book tape version of the "In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead" on a long trip. It absolutely thrilled me and made my trip a pleasure. Since that time I have devoured everything James Lee Burke has written and the Purple Cane Road is one of his very best. Reading one of Burke's books is probably one of my most treasured and looked for events as it is pure and total pleasure. I do not find myself picking up on all the typical errors that authors of ongoing serial characters make and that is a true rarity. The use of colors in Burke's books to impart emotional meaning and bathe the reader in the moment is always good in a Burke's novel but "Purple Cane Road" is nothing short of brilliant in this effect. Cannot recommend it too highly....enjoy!!
Rating:
Summary: Comfort food in book form
Review: Reading any book by James Lee Burke is the equivalent of going out to dinner and eating your dessert first. The author's writing just gets better and better. While a few of the earlier books tended to be rather overdescribed, Burke's got it down now to an art form-and he's at his peak in this book. The two main plotlines weave in and out like the threads in fine fabric: the decades old murder of Dave's mother, and the pending execution of one of the Labiche twins for the murder of the man who long ago sexually abused the girls. But, as always, it is the characters who carry the narrative, and there isn't a single character in this book who isn't fully realized and doesn't march off the page and right into the reader's consciousness-particularly Clete, former cop, sometime PI; big and mean and huge-hearted. There's every known (and some unknown) species of bad, semi-bad, kind-of-bad and good, kind-of-good, and both good and bad people populating these pages. There's Little Face (I marvel at this man's talent for names; it's right up there with Charles Dickens) a retired hooker, and Cora, a former film star; there are ex-cons, madames, politicians and an unlikely governor of surprising humanity. Start a trip along the violent Purple Cane Road and just see if you can put this book down!
| 
