Rating: 
Summary: He's all over the place
Review: This is my first James Lee Burke book, and I am also from New Orleans. This book takes place mostly in Lafayette/New Iberia in Louisiana, about 2 hours away from N.O. where the beautiful cajun/acadian culture is in full force. There is no doubt he has mastered the cajun-acadiana gendre and his descriptions of the area are excellent - you can almost feel the humidity falling on you as the pages turn.
Trouble is, even I had to stop and ask my husband (who lived in Lafayette in college) what some of the words/phrases meant.
There's a whole mess of characters that I truly found hard to keep straight - especially in the first half of the book. About 4 - 5 of the characters were no problem. Once I made an extra effort to commit to memory all of the other characters' names and personalities, I was able to follow better.
Dave Robicheaux, the main character, is someone you can't help but like. Some of the other characters you can't help but hate, and others you can't help but feel sorry for them. Burke takes on some heavy subject matter: racism, Louisiana politics, etc., and I commend him for that. But his story-telling could stand to be cleaner - I felt like a kite in the wind at times during this story.
The beautiful and accurate descriptions of the people/scenery as well as the charming & complicated Dave Robicheaux will probably make me try one more of Burke's books. I think he is very talented, but truly this felt like a first time author for the first half of the read.
Rating:
Summary: Great atmosphere fails to carry the day...
Review: This is part of a series of books written about an ex-New Orleans cop named Dave Robicheaux nd his trials and tribulations. This book continues some of the same themes that characterize the series as a whole, such as racism, race relations, the difficulties of being a cop while also being father and husband.
I love the setting and the details Burke puts in his books about New Orleans and the whole Bayou scene. He shows us the seemy side of New Orleans (which is not too hard to do - if you've ever been there you know what I mean. Not that every other city is problem-free, its just that New Orleans seemy side is very public - hey, its one of the attractions). Burke has a great ear for accents, and this makes parts of his books fun to read. However, his books can be depressing. No one rides off happily in the sunset..
This particular book concerns a white man jailed in the 1990s for the murder of an NAACP leader in the 1960s. He claims he did not do it, but the man running for governor made his reputation proving he did. Dave R. happens to know both men and gets dragged into the controversy against his better judgement...
Grade: C - great atmosphere, unnecessary plot twists.
Rating:
Summary: Lovely imagery, but over-populated, muddled plot !
Review: We can see why the readers from the Deep South, especially Louisiana, love James Lee Burke. His prose borders on poetry as he creates mind images for the readers that are close to cinematic in their descriptive power. Thus he recreates the geography, the sights and smells, of the bayous for his fan club. Alas, his writing prowess does not necessarily translate to compelling story telling. While we found ourselves liking his leading man of some dozen of his 22 books, Louisiana cop Dave Robicheaux, a huge supporting cast of small time hoods, politicians, barflies, and so on, were difficult to follow without a scorecard. While Robicheaux and his wife Bootsie were well defined, most of the other players were not. Thus the plot became just as muddy as the bayous where much of the story is set. We found ourselves thinking Burke might be better at writing fiction that does not pose the pressures of a mystery, where clues and plot evolution have to lead to some relatively logical conclusion. These findings seem to coincide with a majority of his reviews -- either one is overcome by his mastery of the language into more or less ignoring the story per se; or one is left admiring his imagery while finding that the story line disappoints as it unfolds. We would like to try a non-series Burke, perhaps his Pulitzer nominated "Lost Get-Back Boogie", to see if he can get it all together. Stay tuned.
Rating: 
Summary: Swamp Cajun action!
Review: Well, this was my first Burke book, and to say the least, it probably won't be my last. I was introduced to Detective Dave Robicheaux for the first time, and I enjoyed it. In this mystery you find that the question is about Aaron Crown, and why so many people want him dead. Join Dave as well as Clete Purcel as he squares off with Budford and Karen LaRose, tries to find out information about Mookie Zerrang! So sit back, relax and enjoy some crawfish and something cold to drink along with this book as you read some swampy Cajun action all around the bayou! Makes an interesting read, and leaves you wanting to read more by James Lee Burke! Well done, noble mon.
Rating: 
Summary: Burke at his best and ...
Review: When it comes to evoking the "feel" of my home city of New Orleans and the bayous of South Louisiana, James Lee Burke
is the best. As usual, his prose is terrific, and, as usual,
Dave's got problems with bad guys, old friends, and, as a result, his wife. The only bad thing about the book is the
usual: numerous characters and fast paced action that often
confuse. But, in the end, they do come together, leaving you
wanting more of what had been so confusing.
Rating:
Summary: Weakest of the series
Review: Where was Clete Purcel when we needed him? The only reason this one was a little disappointing-the others were so very good!
Rating:
Summary: Burke is all over the place; not up to his usual standards
Review: Yes, James Lee Burke is a terrific wordsmith who can bring the Cajun backwoods and bayous alive for readers, but this particular work is quite simply, a sprawling, literary hodge-podge. The story is loosely woven to the point of being chaotic--Dave Robicheaux skitters here, there, and everywhere, including TWO almost gratuitous mini-jaunts to Mexico. The characters are "colorful," but in some cases, such as that of Aaron Crown, the eccentricity deteriorates into cartoon-like caricature. There are various smalltime gangsters who are hard to keep straight, there is a politician's wife who turns up periodically to strip off her clothes, taunt Robicheaux sexually, and then disappear in a cloud of vituperative hissing. And there are more than a few digressions and sidebars to the story that don't ever seem quite justified--it's all a bit much, methinks, and overall it makes for a story that never really hangs together adequately. Still, Burke is a good enough writer that it's a hard book to put down once started. I think he has done better in others of his mysteries, however.
Rating:
Summary: Burke is all over the place; not up to his usual standards
Review: Yes, James Lee Burke is a terrific wordsmith who can bring the Cajun backwoods and bayous alive for readers, but this particular work is quite simply, a sprawling, literary hodge-podge. The story is loosely woven to the point of being chaotic--Dave Robicheaux skitters here, there, and everywhere, including TWO almost gratuitous mini-jaunts to Mexico. The characters are "colorful," but in some cases, such as that of Aaron Crown, the eccentricity deteriorates into cartoon-like caricature. There are various smalltime gangsters who are hard to keep straight, there is a politician's wife who turns up periodically to strip off her clothes, taunt Robicheaux sexually, and then disappear in a cloud of vituperative hissing. And there are more than a few digressions and sidebars to the story that don't ever seem quite justified--it's all a bit much, methinks, and overall it makes for a story that never really hangs together adequately. Still, Burke is a good enough writer that it's a hard book to put down once started. I think he has done better in others of his mysteries, however.
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