In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead

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Summary: A dense, enjoyable foray into nouveaux murder mysteries...
Review: James Lee Burke writes in a quirky, but likeable prose. Often, it isn't quite clear just what he is getting at because of his continual use of metaphor. After the reader gets used to it, however, the writing takes on a charming -feeling-, and the style is familiar and expected.

He paints vivid, full-sensual portraits of scenery and characters, going as far as to describe scents and lighting highlights, the fog and atmosphere, the sweat in peoples' hair, et cetera.

The mystery isn't over-complex, but isn't quite simple, either. This book (like Burke's others) are not just about the murder mystery, theyre a story told about characters. And you want to keep reading, even after the book is over, to "keep in touch" with the cahracters he has created and richly portrayed.

Burke is one of the better mystery authors writing today. This is a great book, but certainly none of his should be missed.

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Summary: Robicheaux's melancholic moods, in full swing.
Review: James Lee Burke's creation, Dave Robicheaux, is a perfect Everyman. He struggles with demons - his own, and those of others. He is an excellently flawed man, a man of great strengths, towering weaknesses, and deep melancholy: his humanity bleeds from evgery page.

In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead gives us a better, and deeper, insight into Burke's Everyman. The story purports to be a mystery / thriller, and is designated as such by Amazon. It is, of course, much more, and much less, than that. The mystery is satisfying, of course. Mr. Burke doesn't know how to write a bad mystery. But it's a side-bar to what the book really is: a series of character studies. There's Robicheaux, of course. The story is told in the first person, so the reader is swept into his psyche from the first page. There's Bootsie and Alafair, the people closest to Robicheaux - and the people he often feels are the furthest from him. There's Clete Purcell, his psychotic, sweaty, shambling drunken hulk of a partner. There are the figures from his past, who return to haunt him. And there is, of course, the ghost of the Confederate General with whome Robicheaux confers, and exposes not only himself, but the entire landscape of characters.

Speaking of which - the Louisiana landscape is as much a character as any of the others. The dust, the heat, the colours, the odours, the taste of the land play as large a part as any human in the book.

Mr Burke has been writing the best prose in popular American fiction for the past ten years, if not longer. He has always been a superb writer, making every word perform well above its potential. And in this book, In the Electric Mist With Confederate Dead, he has written one of his finest works.

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Summary: Very good
Review: Lots of detail, good charecters. This is the first time I have read a book by this author, I will definatly look into more

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Summary: Outstanding Novel, Burke Delivers
Review: Mr. Burke's novels are always a pure pleasure to read, and this one is no exception. While some readers do not really enjoy some of the more mystic episodes in some of Burke's works, I find them to be some of the best parts. The detective's conversations with the civil war general were especially good.

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Summary: thin on plot but superbly written
Review: Plot-wise this is perhaps not his best novel (Black Cherry Blues remains No.1). But I would recommend it to any literature student who wishes to know more about how charcaters and scenes ought to be depicted. Richly evocative.

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Summary: James Lee Burke's hauntingly beautiful writing gives us Dave
Review: Robicheaux at his best. In this episode Dave is haunted by his past, which is not unusual, but this time he is also haunted by long dead Confederate soldiers. Although some criticize the supernatural conversations with the General as being a bit far out, it is that very element of the novel which allows us to best understand Dave Robicheaux and which allows us to fully grasp his struggles with his own past, his conscience and the fact that many things have not changed in the south since the days of the Civil War. Mr. Burke is that rare writer who has an exceptional comand of language and talent enough to write a deep-themed novel and disguise it as modern detective fiction. He is a literary star whose works will leave a mark on our reading population for generations to come. I've read all of his published works and can't wait for the next one. This one is definitely one of the most satisfying reads!

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Summary: Great read!
Review: The first Robicheaux novel I've read, I plan to take on the others now. For anyone interested in this type of book, try McCrae's Bark of the Dogwood--equally disturbing, funny, and unusual. In the Electric Mist was fast moving and well-paced. Highly recommended.

Also recommended: The Color Purple and Bark of the Dogwood

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Summary: Dave Robicheaux goes Hollywood - almost
Review: The interplay between Dave's past acquaintence with Julie and the present really makes Dave a real person. The feeling of being torn between pity for Julie (the way he was treated as a kid) and hatred for the murdering crime boss Julie has become. I agree with the other reviewer that some of the discussions with the Confederate dead went on a bit. It did add the supernatural to what was going on. And as anyone who has ever lived in South Louisiana knows the supernatural is everywhere. I definitely enjoyed this book.

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Summary: A little too much of a good thing
Review: There are two strong aspects of James Lee Burke's series about Louisiana detective Dave Robicheaux that make them unique and memorable: the lush description that absolutely puts the reader in the locale and the recurrance of 'mystic' elements - images in dreams etc - that give the plots a mythic, larger than life, stature. In this book, I think, both elements are overplayed just a bit too much. One longs for more story and less atmosphere, and the materialization of Confederate 'ghosts' that impinge on the outcome of the plot strains credulity severly.

I enjoy this series, even when it is over the top as is sometimes the case. There is nothing else quite like it in contemporary crime fiction. But every now and then I wish that Burke would reign himself in. He seems to get seduced by his own words and carried away to a place that the reader cannot always follow. Of course, when he is on the mark, no one can touch him for description and atmosphere. In the case of this book, I just wanted more story - and more flesh and blood.

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Summary: Wow!
Review: This book was great. I love the series and this book was one of the best. It is such a great story plus with the alcoholic or ghostly appearance of the civil war soldiers adds to the story. This is a must read if you are a fan of the series.