Rating: 
Summary: Gritty and real..........
Review: James Lee Burke drops the reader back into New Iberia parish when Dave Robicheaux investigates the death of a pretty, blonde teenage girl. The suspected murderer is a young black musician, Tee Bobby Hulin, from a troubled background and an even more troubled future. Robicheaux investigates another murder of a mobster's daughter and while evidence points to the same person, Robicheaux believes there is a lot more going on than there appears to be. Robicheaux tangles with a man named Legion. There is no doubt in Robicheaux's mind that Legion is the source of evil enveloping these murders and much more.
The characters are full and gritty, the dialogue is real. Questions swirl like the dark waters of the bayou hiding their secrets until they are dragged to the surface by Dave Robicheaux. Dave Robicheaux's dark past hovers like a shadow, but will he able to save himself or this time will the dark shadows of his past pull him down? Michael Connelly is an amazing author!!
Rating:
Summary: Jolie Blon's Bounce
Review: The rape and murder of a high school girl opens still another doorway back into the doomy past of Dave Robicheaux's New Iberia Parish. Prints on the scene lead Dave to Tee Bobby Hulin, gifted musician and hardcase. But Dave is convinced almost despite Tee Bobby's denials that he didn't shoot Amanda Boudreau, even when the murder of a prostitute points to him as well. Since the second victim is the daughter of mobbed-up Joe Zeroski, fireworks are guaranteed. And since Tee Bobby's attorney, true-crime writer Perry LaSalle, is the grandson of plantation owner Julian LaSalle-who very likely had time to get Tee Bobby's grandmother pregnant before he killed himself soon after his house burned down with his ailing wife inside-ghosts from Louisiana's past are bound to be haunting every sordid new revelation. Those revelations will implicate Tee Bobby's manager, mulatto ex-boxer Jimmy Lee Styles; smiling Bible salesman Marvin Oates; and New York freelance writer William O'Reilly, shot to death 35 years ago. But none of these soiled creatures is as dangerous as Legion Guidry, the one-time LaSalle plantation overseer who's Burke's latest version of evil incarnate-unless it's Dave himself, who finds that his life-or-death struggle with the devilish Legion has unleashed demons in himself that are antagonizing his wife Bootsie, his daughter Alafair, and his old friend Clete Purcell. Given enough felonies at hand to pin on every lowlife in the parish, the main question here is whether Dave can curb his thirst for summary justice long enough to wait for the other kind to kick in. The volcanic types Dave's saga (Purple Cane Road, 2000, etc.) has made familiar are muffled this time out, and the plotting is even more darkly tangled than usual. Yet Burke succeeds over and over again in writing harshly lacerating scenes nobody's ever written before-not even him.
Rating: 
Summary: Largely more of the same... and that's not bad
Review: James Lee Burke's novels are darkly poetic, introspective, and ultra violent, often within the same paragraph.Having read most of his books now... all of the ones in both of his series, and a few of the standalone ones, I look forward to a new one, but I also find, by and large, I'm seeing a mix of the same stuff. That's not bad; about once a year, I get in the mood for a James Lee Burke writing fix, and he obliges by publishing a new novel about once a year. Still, his books are strong on characterization and description but often seem improbable in the way people act and events transpire; the way 3 different plotlines neatly dovetail at the end seems like some weird Southern Gothic version of a later season SEINFELD episode sometimes. Having read many of his books, he's got some elements one could pastiche; the way an early morning grey dawn reflects the morass of Dave's soul, and the voices in his head are echoed by a nutria screaming in the swamp. You know somebody's about to get their eggs scrambled. That's what I tell you, me. But he sweeps you along, and I find I'm forgiving of elements reused from previous books. This one does have a truly unique villain, unlike any of the heavies from previous books. One thing that struck me is, just how old is Dave? He seems to have been born around 1938. He's 4 or so in 1942. The later events seem to be modern day, so Dave seems to be around 64 years old. And, presumably, Cletus Purcell as well. And yet, they "feel" more like they're in their 50's somewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Another Robicheaux Again
Review: I used to look forward to the next Dave Robicheaux book like I looked forward to Christmas when I was a child. I used to feel the same anticipation, the same thrill I would feel upon waking too early to go into the living room to see what Santa had brought. I would buy the new James Lee Burke novel and rush to get it home, sneaking looks at the dust jacket, reading the first few pages while waiting in line to get on the bus and finally arriving home to immerse myself. They were wonderful, yes, well-written and poetic, with a dark, malevolent beauty hiding beneath the rot and detritus of the swamps and rural backwaters, but they were more than that. They were like mini-trips to Louisiana for me, a place I love and visit whenever I can. And they were a new treat from a favorite author, something that was new to me, as many of the writers I discovered in my youth were long dead and would be producing no more books. These days, a new Dave Robicheaux novel is like a phone call from a distant aunt. It's nice to hear from her, but she keeps telling the same old stories over and over again and you wind up preferring that maybe the calls were less frequent, or of shorter duration. "Jolie Blon's Bounce" is like that. It's still Burke and it's still welcome, but you've heard all the stories, read all the lovely descriptions, wondered about the vaguely supernatural elements, thrilled at Dave's headstrong determination to do exactly the most self-destructive thing at any given moment, despite what his family, friends and colleagues tell him. There's nothing new. The story is about a poor black person accused of a crime and the rich white people who have a dark secret and may actually be the criminals. No, wait. That's ALL of them. Let's try it again... "Jolie Blon's Bounce" finds Dave investigating the murders of a young, white, teenaged girl and of a prostitute, the daughter of a New Orleans gangster. Everyone figures local hophead and musician Tee Bobby Hulin as the murderer; everyone except Dave, who wants so much to believe in the boy's innocence that he follows a few unorthodox leads. Along the way he encounters Legion Guidry, a former plantation manager who may or may not be the demon Legion from the Bible, a man who violates and twists his way through New Iberia like a thread of mold. He threatens, bullies, beats and kills any number of people before turning his charms on Dave himself, who nearly does not come away from the encounter intact. Throw in Clete Purcell, Dave's old partner, the Private Investigator daughter of another mobster, a malevolent Bible salesman, the prostitute's grieving father, the local police, and Dave's curiously bitchy family and you have a nice, murky roux, full of red herrings, macguffins and dead ends. As usual, Dave sews it all up in his unique, ethically challenged way. But what has begun to strike me about these books is how surly and dislikeable is the lead character. Dave barely communicates his thoughts to anyone, is rude and disrespectful to people he doesn't like and is merely grumpy and hostile to people he loves. He pontificates to those close to him, all the while dipping his toe in the same toxic water from which he warns them. With each new book I wonder why his wife Bootsie hasn't filed for divorce - they only seem to have sex when she's mad at Dave and they don't talk or show affection any other time. Dave's daughter, Alafair, once a cool character, has grown into a charmless teenager who finds every reason to pick a fight and no reason to show us, the reader, what a great guy Dave is under the surface. If you liked the other books in the series, you are bound to like this one, but be warned: the books are getting darker and I'm not sure even Dave can see the light anymore.
Rating: 
Summary: The best yet
Review: Let me begin with an apology: If I could write reviews, I'd write books, instead. Take the rest of what I have to say as a testament to the author James Lee Burke. I've read EVERYTHING the man's written and if it's possible to get that much better after 11 Robicheaux novels, he's done it. Burke owns the atmospheric metaphor and has extended into the cauldron of the basic human condition with Jolie Blon's Bounce. If you've ever suffered the scourge of addiction and came out the other side for a temporary reprieve, you'll feel right at home in the passages of this book.
Rating:
Summary: Anything by James Lee Burke
Review: Absolutely wonderful. Burke's use of phrases is sheer poetry and he sure knows how to hold my interest. His books have never disappointed me. Suspense that builds to the end with sometimes very surprising outcomes. But he writes like it is a given that his readers are intelligent and I really like that. Plus he paints such incredible pictures with his words. I become totally immersed in his characters lives and the places that they see that its really hard for me when the book is over. Thanks
Rating:
Summary: Don't Swap Spit With Dave
Review: Once again James Lee Burke presents a story written with characters and dialogue that keeps the reader enthralled and engrossed in a suspenseful plot. While Dave is investigating the murders of two women, he runs across one of the vilest, most detestible men I can recall in literature; a real bad boy by the name of Legion. He degrades Robicheaux with such indecency that Dave is able to identify with the humiliation all Black women feel after the've had their own encounters with this sexual predator. He impacts Dave so deeply that he has flashbacks of Viet Nam. It's those flashbacks that trigger Dave's addictive behavior and unleashes his violent tormented soul on a collision course with Legion. There is more to the story of course. Dave also must solve the murders. He believes that the wrong man has been arrested and his hunt for the real killer uncovers secrets and past relationships that "stir up the rattlesnakes". The result is vintage Burke and another highly recommended masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Inner Demons and Haagen-Daz
Review: To categorize this book as a mystery is like clumping Haagen-Daz in the same category as cheap sherbet. Sorry. Not the same thing. These characters are alive and fresh and memorable. The settings resonate with sights and sounds and smells. The beauty of Louisiana juxtapositioned with the evil of the criminal world is a heady mix. As always, I'm impressed by Burke's ability. I feel like I'm repeating myself: James Lee Burke is a master of imagery, be it violent and dark, or moving and poetic. I can't help myself. To read his work is to fall in love with the language. With this in mind, it's true that I tend to overlook his meandering plots and psychological side-trips. For me, they make his books much more real and down to earth than the general formulaic mysteries. In this particular story, we see Dave Robicheaux dealing with his inner demons, as always--this time in the form of pills. But it's the same white worm eating at him and driving anger to the surface. As usual, his emotions boil over into his job and cause trouble. The difference this time is that Robicheaux is dealing with other demons than his own. He's dealing with Legion, an old man, hard as nails and full of darkness. The supernatural aspects that come into play, particularly at the conclusion were, for me, very satisfying and remarkably well handled. Other reviewers have derided these elements; I found them to be the original touch this series needed. Others complained of sexual situations that were unnecessary; I was moved to tears by Bootsie's tenderness to her man in need of assurance. Robicheaux, behind his tough exterior, is a man of flesh and blood and emotion. Thankfully, James Lee Burke is too. It's the reason I keep reading his stuff. After "Purple Cane Road," I'd rate this near the top of the series.
Rating:
Summary: James Lee Burke never disappoints
Review: The 1st book by Burke I bought was "Black Cheery Blues"... because it carried a blurb from Walker Percy. I have read pretty much everything that Burke has written. He has a superb way of placing the reader into the locales about which he writes. He describes the local food so well, that I always get hungry while reading his books. But where can I get a po' boy sandwich in Connecticut? His characters struggle between what they know to be moral, and what they fervently wish to do. I eagerly anticipate each new title from Burke.
Rating:
Summary: One His Best and Darkest
Review: James Lee has written another thoughtful and compelling novel surrounding the personal and professional challenges of detective Dave Robicheux. This novel not unlike past novels presents a group of complex characters trapped by their pasts, their psychotic tendencies, and their desire for redemption. However, unlike previous novels, Jolie Blon explores the question of whether the "new South" is really masking the "old South". The bigotry, the misogyny, the class fears, and the unfinished Cival War are themes that roll through the story with intensity. By the end Burke sees a South that has put on clean clothes over a very sad and still very dirty body. If not his best work certainly his most haunting. I hope I never meet Legion!
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