Purple Cane Road

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Summary: Burke re-defines "Ragin' Cajun"!
Review: One of the best American writers of police crime fiction today seems to be James Lee Burke. In "Purple Cane Road," Burke provides us with the latest Dave Robicheaux "Cajun fiction" mystery. He's back in Cajun country with this episode, after having "detoured" to Texas for the previous two. No matter, that. But it's good to have him "home," once again, as his ability to evoke the landscape and atmosphere of modern Cajun/Louisiana country is his strong suit. With Robicheaux, for those

readers who have followed this erstwhile crime solver, we can expect more than just gumbo and etoufee as his bill of fare. A complex character himself, Robicheaux's background is more completely exposed in "Purple Cane Road." (New readers may find some of the references cloudy, or even impossible, so they may wish to do "earlier Burke" first.) In this work, Dave pursues a more personal trail. He's looking for his mother Mae, who disappeared after the death of his father in an oil rig explosion. A lead from a pimp in New Orleans sets him off when he reveals that Mae died at the hands of corrupt New Orleans cops, who also happen to be working for the mob. As typical of Burke, Dave runs a path of conspiracy and corruption that seems to permeate the entire state (could there be a more complex--read that corrupt--city in the South than New Orleans?), and in so doing, a number of sub-themes crop up. Burke appears to be at his best--or at least among his best!--in this one and previous fans or not, this is an excellent read.

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Summary: Better than going to the movies!
Review: Purple Cane Road was the first of any Burke's book's I've read. This book was a real page turner. Not only is there suspense, but Burke's language is well written and his words flow like poetry. There is more than one plot line going on at the same time in this book. However, they are all related somehow. That's where Burke's talent comes in. While trying to get to the bottom of a case of a girl on death row, Burke is trying to solve the mystery of his mother's death. He learns more about himself and his mother than when she was alive. The setting was in New Orleans and Burke really takes you there.

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Summary: A great Storyteller/Novelist
Review: Purple Cane Road is easily the best of the Dave Robicheaux novels of James Lee Burke. Dave is haunted by his mother's death at the hands of two cops in the late sixties and by what he is finding out about her. At the same time, he is discovering some disturbing facts about his wife Bootsie and his daughter Alafair (who until now has just been cute and vulnerable). Their past and present experiences with men who figure into Dave's investigations into both his mother's death and a hit man's killing spree present a chilling atmosphere to the narrative and an opportunity for Burke to explore more meaningful aspects of this family's inter-relationships than in his past novels.

Burke is able to invoke a thirties, Dashiell Hammett kind of feel or atmosphere to his books even though they are set in the present. He is so good at this that I kept having to remind myself to update my visualizations: that wasn't a '36 Lincoln a body was found in; the cruisers had light bars and not domed cherries; and the people were wearing modern clothes, not pillbox hats with rhinestone trim or straw boaters.

While I did wonder about how the Labiche sisters would ultimately be woven into the storyline, I came to realize that their story was a sort of justification for the book's overall theme, one that runs through most of Burke's books in this series, that justice isn't dispensed by the legal system. That corruption of the term justice has become a system that kills the powerless and mentally retarded to win elections, bankrupts those who come under its review, even if they are exonerated, plea bargains to the extent that a person stealing flowers in a park in one part of the country is doing more time than a murderer in another, and fails in its two basic missions: to keep order and to protect the public. Instead, justice is meted out, in a poor, but still in its most perfect, form, by parents and friends...and sisters.

The book is only about 341 pages but it reads much longer, as you savor the imagery that Burke paints for you, and the characterizations and simple thoughts that he invokes.

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Summary: Almost, not quite, maybe soon...literature
Review: Burke is a master of the cavalier attitude of southern men, the hands off my business, I'll respect yours way of behaving. Of course this is made a little difficult by the fact that the main character is a police officer who is required to probe, inquire, rudely interrogate. The scenery descriptions are arresting and the characters are intriguing. The dialog, while it may reflect actual cultural and social types, is insufficient. The struggles that the character goes through as a dry alchoholic are authentic and touching yet the interaction between him and his wife is mystifying. I love to read Burke but I always wait for paperback. He is getting closer to something that feels bigger, riskier.

Rating:
Summary: Burke continues to be dead on the money.
Review: James Lee Burke is on the edge of something big here. If you have read his previous work then you will sigh with pleasure at the opening lines of this book in recognition of an old friend. But after reading only a a few pages your breath will catch when you realize that his writing has moved to a new level.

His descriptions of Louisiana remind me of descriptions written by a Ms. Lee - if any of you can remember who that is. His books are always personal, and this one is no exception. I learned more about Dave than I ever thought I would and we learn a little more about Dave's elusive wife.

Mr. Burke's books are more than mysteries or suspense. The words are tangible. You can feel the humidity and smell the river. He approaches literature in this book.

Those of you have never read Mr. Burke's books but who love a good mystery or suspenseful story read this. Those of you who love to read books that have a rhythm read this and prepare to be moved. And to those of you who have read Mr. Burke, enjoy. Congratulations to Mr. Burke

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Summary: This is not the Yellowbrick Road
Review: This was my first experience in reading a James Lee Burke novel, but it will not be my last. The author was recommended to me by an Episcopal priest and his wife, which if nothing else, should give the lie to the popular perception of Episcopalians. You won't find Dave Robichaud or his rough and ready side-kick, Clete Purcel, thumbing through The Book of Common Prayer, but in their own way, they surely are doing the Lord's work.

The many who have reviewed this book before me have outlined the plot very well, and an interesting and compelling story it is. However, the things which make me enjoy a book as much as I did this one, were the beautifully drawn characters, the mastery of the dialogue (you can truly hear each person speaking in their own voice) and the respect that the writer has for his readership. That Mr. Burke owns two Edgars is understandable. That he will own more in the future is certain.

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Summary: Down in the cane fields
Review: When I pick up a James Lee Burke novel, I don't have to pack to take a trip. All that is required is a quiet corner of a room with a good reading light. As soon as I open the book and read the first page, I am back in New Iberia Parrish again and feel as if I have just driven to the house of Dave Robichoux. Immediately I renew my friendship with his wife Bootsie, his exotic young daughter Alifar and Baptiste, his loyal friend who runs the bait shop down behind the house. I smell the swamp and feel the humidity of south Louisiana. The dust of the dirt roads gets into my nostrils and mouth and I feel like I must wash the dirty residue that remains. A host of characters, many of whom I seem to know from outside the book, as a Southerner, weave in and out of the visit with Dave. With anxiety, we fear for him through his knowledge of the Mafia. We ache with him as he remembers the difficult, volatile marriage his parents suffered through, with both love and hate. As we all do, he searches for who he is by finding out where he came from. Having just finished Purple Cane Road, I am looking forward to seeing where Dave and I will go next time.

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Summary: A very satistying read
Review: I am a great fan of James Lee Burke, especially his Dave Robicheaux series. The reviews for Purple Cane Road were so good that my expectations were pretty high and I feared I would be disappointed. To my delight, the book exceeded these expectations. I read it in one sitting, stopping only for the necessities of life.

So often in a series such as this the characters get stale or become caricatures. I find myself really caring about Dave, Bootsie, and Alafair as people - almost as if they are real. I like that Dave has become a caring father and husband. He still has flaws and problems, just like a real person, but his basic goodness comes through.

The flow of this novel was just right. There were lots of peripheral characters and subplots, but everything worked.

It was interesting to see the development of the character of Mae Guillory Robicheaux. Such a tragic life. She also seemed real by the end of the novel.

I do think that Clete has become a bit too much over the top, but that's a minor criticism. Also more dead bodies that I like, but not so graphic.

It will be interesting to see where Burke takes Robicheaux next time - some tantilizing hints near the end.

All in all, a very satisfying read!

Rating:
Summary: Purple Cane Road -- not a stand alone
Review: Dave, Boots, Alf, and Clete are well-known in James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux series. While I am not a fanatic on reading series in order, I think this one should be. Why? Because Burke did not write it in order -- he starts in the middle, goes back to the beginning, and now goes back to another beginning place. If you don't understand where Boots and Alf and Clete came from, I don't think you can understand where Dave and them are going. And where Dave and Clete are going in this book is somewhere we have not been before. There is much to be learned about Clete in another book, from what we know about the end of this one. I'd like more about Johnny, wouldn't you?

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Summary: Another Masterpiece
Review: The printed page is his canvas and no one paints a better portrait of human frailties than James Lee Burke. Purple Cane Road is another masterpiece by this artist who stimulates all the senses with his ability to capture the essence of the personalities who inhabit the setting he creates. He is able to take advantage of the situations and human nature so that it all makes so much at the end that I just smile and think to myself "this guy is a genius".

This book, as all the others that Burke has written, is highly recommended.