Rating: 
Summary: James Lee Burke in Top Form
Review: No doubt, James Lee Burke entertains his readers. This is especially true in Last Car to Elysian Fields. I highly recommend this one
Rating: 
Summary: Last Car
Review: Once again, Burke serves up an excellent tale of the deep south, using his special brand of descriptive prose, peppered with the usual assortment of evil that seems to span generations without any regard for the passing of time. The characters are all wonderfully flawed, everyone from the slightly off-beat hitman who once worked for the IRA, to the priest who once did jail time; from the violent but wacky mob family out for revenge, to the small town wealthy who steamroll everyone in their way, Burke hits the nail squarely once again. The story is multi-layered, with two seemingly unrelated events running parallel to their connecting point at the end of the book. As always, Clete Purcell makes several appearances as Robicheaux's sidekick and alterego, performing tasks that Robicheaux legally cannot. The book is well-written and entertaining, and without blowing one of the surprises, I'll just say that the last car to Elysian Fields is a pretty well-known streetcar <wink>.
Rating:
Summary: Living in the past.
Review: Perhaps I should have read other books by James Lee Burke before reading this one as he obviously has had a lot going on in the colourful life of his hero, Dave Robicheaux, which is touched on only briefly but which gives the picture of a deeply unhappy man. Dave's friend Catholic priest Father Jimmy Dolan has been savagely beaten by an IRA hitman, leaving Dave to try to work out the connection.When three teenaged girls are killed in a car crash after illegally buying drinks from a roadside liquor stand, the threads connecting the hit man, a town notable and the husband of Dave's former lover who is polluting the swamplands with chemicals, become even more intertwined, pulling Dave further into a morass of corruption, murder and secrets which threaten to destabilize this already deeply troubled man. It's a dark story but a very powerful one, and I look forward to reading more of his books.
Rating: 
Summary: Not among Burke's best...
Review: Regular readers of James Lee Burke are already deep in his created world of New Iberia with it's soaring descriptions of nature juxtaposed against the darkest shadings of human behavior. But this novel lacks the punch of "Cadillac Jukebox" or my favorite Robichaux adventure "Burning Angel." It's as if twenty years have passed and many readers feel abandoned by the passing of his wife Bootsie, a character so vividly drawn that we expect she has echoes of Burke's real life spouse in her. Only the loss of Dave's uber id, Clete Purcell, could have been more depressing. There are great moments here but it's far from his finest work.I particularly appreciate Burke's descriptions of a man trying to live with a twelve-step program. I've never found any other fiction writer that describes AA meetings that I recognize as real. And everytime I read these books, I feel myself walking through the flickering lights of fortune tellers in St.Stephen's Square on my way to the Cafe du Monde for late night beignets.
Rating:
Summary: James Lee Burke is Wonderful!!!
Review: The back flap of the book says James Lee Burke is a master of the genre but he's more than that. He is a poet! He strings words together like no other writer. His books are so delicious that I could cover them in melted butter and eat them!
Rating:
Summary: This Latest Dave Robicheaux Tale is One to Savor
Review: The creation of a successful character is a blessing and a curse for a writer. If the character is successful and the accolades are long and loud, there is a temptation to bring him back again, and again, and again. If you change him too much, the audience may go elsewhere; but if you don't change him at all, then the character tends to become boring. James Lee Burke has tinkered almost continuously with David Robicheaux since his inception, while keeping his core character true. Robicheaux is a flawed man, and dangerously so. A recovering alcoholic with a position in law enforcement and an almost pathological hatred for the rich, he is a roiling combination of dangerous emotions that play off of each other, and he struggles --- not always successfully --- to keep himself in check. Burke, from almost the beginning of LAST CAR TO ELYSIAN FIELDS to its end, makes some major changes in Robicheaux's life that will almost certainly influence the events of at least the next few novels in the series. As the title would indicate, LAST CAR TO ELYSIAN FIELDS returns Robicheaux to New Orleans. Elysian Fields is not a place, but a street --- one that has its origins by the Mississippi River and its end close to Lake Ponchetrain. It bisects New Orleans; one can travel the entire street in under a half-hour and see some of the best and worst of the city in the same amount of time. The title comes from a chance remark made by a minor character in the novel, but is nonetheless a metaphor for what is to come. LAST CAR TO ELYSIAN FIELDS opens with Robicheaux seeking to settle a score --- and violently so --- on behalf of his friend, Father Jimmie Dolan. Robicheaux and his friend Clete Purcel confront Dolan's tormentor in an Uptown bar. The evening ends with Purcel in jail and Robicheaux warned to stay out of New Orleans. Meanwhile, there is trouble waiting for Robicheaux in his home of New Iberia. Three teenage girls are killed in an accident in which alcohol was a factor --- alcohol purchased by the girls at a drive-through daiquiri shop. When the owner of the shop is brutally murdered, Robicheaux suspects that the father of one of the girls, himself a prominent physician, is the murderer. Yet the trail seems to lead away from him. And when Dolan asks Robicheaux to investigate the presence of a toxic landfill near New Orleans, the answers seem to lie in both the past and present. The past concerns a legendary bluesman who disappeared decades before, while the present involves a coldly maniacal assassin named Max Coll, summoned to New Orleans to murder Dolan. Robicheaux finds that his investigation and duty lead back to New Orleans, where he must confront not only the troubles of his friends but the darkness of his own unruly past. Although Burke's prose often deals graphically with violence and its sordid byproducts, his descriptive powers remain poetic, particularly when he deals with the beauty of nature and the darkness within men's souls. Burke, well into his second decade of chronicling Dave Robicheaux, continues to dazzle and amaze, while hinting that he has much more to reveal. LAST CAR TO ELYSIAN FIELDS is a tale to savor. --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
Rating:
Summary: I regret I bought this book. Burke is a wonderful writer but
Review: the story is secondary. There is no "murder mystery" or plot involved. Dave just gets tips from various people and goes on hunches. No evidence to speak of. The story just jumps around. Dave is violent. Others are violent. Dave is a reformed drunk. So are others. And the reader is just sucked and addicted to Burke's spare conversations and word pictures. The book is like the state of Louisania: An undeciferable and terrible beauty. And it really annoys me how Burke drags in his left wing politics on the side. He complains about how his home state is polluted by oil interests and at the same time everyone is out fishing or watching the birds. So what is it? Is LA polluted or not? And race and class just override everything. The drinking laws of LA are unbelievable but who is to blame other than the people of LA? Why are there so many criminals and greaseballs in LA? To some extent the people allow it. Why doesn't Burke devote some of his wealth and influence and do something about drunk driving and the drive-up "go cup" business? The WSJ says one 80 year old lobbyist is behind the whole thing. Yeah, I know it is fiction but it is based in fact. LA could do better but I guess it wouldn't be as interesting reading.
Rating:
Summary: Complex
Review: There is hardly a writer active today who weaves a more
complex story, with such a vast array of characters, than
Burke.
This particular story starts when some teen-age girls are killed
in an auto accident while undaer the influence, and the detective Robicheaux begins to investigate; before he gets very
far, the man running the drive-thru that sold the liquor to the
girls is murdered. So, once again, Robicheaux begins an investigation that becomes so complex, involving to many leads, false leads, and historical background, that the reader almost
has to take notes to keep everything straight.
The detective gets side-tracked worrying about the disappearance
in the early '50s of a blues singer who had been committed to the infamous Angola state prison. As his current investigation
leads him to a renegade Catholic priest, an Irish hit man, the
descendents of old plantation owners who used slave labor rented from the state prison system, cops on the pad, as well as
some confrontations with his boss and former partner, he keeps uncovering information about that old '50s blues singer. And he
can't let go of any of the information as his investigation begins to broaden and expand beyond any formal jurisdiction.
As usual in the Robicheaux stories, the character is frequently
burdened by visions of the past, both his own and those of his
state.
This detective is not your usual cop, in any sense, and he constantly pursues leads that have no visible connection to his
investigation, taking time and resources away from his official
business, and his own thoughts stray so often into the past, it's no wonder he gets bogged down and is subject to frequent
criticism by his sheriff-boss.
But the best reason for reading the Robicheaux stories is not
for the mystery, although there certainly is one, but for the
background information and the historical perspective he brings
to his stories. Author Burke is a master of the use of language
and imagery, and most readers will enjoy the side-excursions as
Burke explores the underside of the historical Louisiana.
Once you join in with Robicheaux and his headstrong pal Clete,
you won't want to quit the chase any more than the detectives
do.
The only hesitation in the complex story is where author Burke
inserts his own modern political views into the mouth of his
detective, when they are contrary to the basic character of
Robicheaux.
But aside from those interruptions, this is a complex and moving
story that is difficult to put down.
Rating: 
Summary: Much ado about nothing
Review: This book was convoluted rather than complex and felt tediously disjointed and forced. Dave R.'s life and character has taken on too great of a change to be believable, especially considering that the significant shaping events happened off stage after the last book with no segue. I finished it in the hopes that it would improve but alas, that never did happen.
Rating:
Summary: One of Burke's Best
Review: This is one of James Lee Burke's finest novels. Beautifully written as usual, with rich characterizations and descriptions of time and place. His depictions of tortured souls and the ambiguous conflict between good and evil leave the reader spiritually enriched and more thoughtful regarding the ills of society and the individual. There is no black and white. Nothing is clearcut and easily solved. And in the creation of Dave Robicheaux, the troubled and conflicted "hero" of these novels, Burke has given literature, not just the mystery genre, one of its most interesting and tragic figures. If you have never read James Lee Burke, begin with the first novel in this series and discover one our great American authors. I envy those who have the pleasure of doing so for the first time.
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