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Dave Robicheaux #10
Sunset Limited
L'inspecteur de police Dave Robicheaux de New Iberia en Louisiane s'inquiète du retour au pays de Megan Flynn et de son frère Cisco. Leur enfance fut assombrie par l'horrible sort réservé à leur père Jack Flynn, un farouche syndicaliste retrouvé crucifié à la porte d'une grange. Ce crime est resté impuni, affichant la marque du silence de ceux qui ont laissé faire ou simplement tourné la tête, par indifférence ou par peur. Cisco est devenu un metteur en scène reconnu et influent et sa sœur une célèbre photographe. Dans le sillage de ce retour, les charognards ont flairé l'odeur du sang, de la haine et de la mort. Pourquoi Cisco protège-t-il Swede Boxleiter, un psychopathe engagé sur le plateau de son nouveau film financé par la mafia et le propriétaire terrien Archer Terrabonne dont la fille, Lila, noie ses secrets dans l'alcool ? Autour de ce brasier, les vieilles histoires du passé remontent à la surface entraînant règlements de compte, meurtres, vengeance, racisme. Le tout est orchestré par un ex-flic, essence même du mal, bien connu du FBI, peu empressé à collaborer avec la police de New Iberia.
Cette dixième aventure de Dave Robicheaux dans la luxuriante et flamboyante Louisiane du Sud met en exergue la faute de toute une population qui s'est tue par lâcheté, faiblesse et compromissions, portant ainsi le sceau du crime collectif. Ce récit violent mais empreint d'humanisme porte quant à lui le sceau d'un écrivain brillant et fécond. --Claude Mesplède
432 pages, Pocket Book
First published January 1, 1998
1065 people are currently reading
2080 people want to read
About the author
James Lee Burke
119 books4,154 followersJames Lee Burke is an American author best known for his mysteries, particularly the Dave Robicheaux series. He has twice received the Edgar Award for Best Novel, for
Black Cherry Blues
in 1990 and
Cimarron Rose
in 1998.
Burke was born in Houston, Texas, but grew up on the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast. He attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the University of Missouri, receiving a BA and MA from the latter. He has worked at a wide variety of jobs over the years, including working in the oil industry, as a reporter, and as a social worker. He was Writer in Residence at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, succeeding his good friend and posthumous Pulitzer Prize winner John Kennedy Toole, and preceding Ernest Gaines in the position. Shortly before his move to Montana, he taught for several years in the Creative Writing program at Wichita State University in the 1980s.
Burke and his wife, Pearl, split their time between Lolo, Montana, and New Iberia, Louisiana. Their daughter, Alafair Burke, is also a mystery novelist.
The book that has influenced his life the most is the 1929 family tragedy "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner.
Burke was born in Houston, Texas, but grew up on the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast. He attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the University of Missouri, receiving a BA and MA from the latter. He has worked at a wide variety of jobs over the years, including working in the oil industry, as a reporter, and as a social worker. He was Writer in Residence at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, succeeding his good friend and posthumous Pulitzer Prize winner John Kennedy Toole, and preceding Ernest Gaines in the position. Shortly before his move to Montana, he taught for several years in the Creative Writing program at Wichita State University in the 1980s.
Burke and his wife, Pearl, split their time between Lolo, Montana, and New Iberia, Louisiana. Their daughter, Alafair Burke, is also a mystery novelist.
The book that has influenced his life the most is the 1929 family tragedy "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 289 reviews
January 31, 2013
four and one-half stars out of five
A Few Thoughts on Morals and Dave Robicheaux
In all likelihood I will never read a James Lee Burke book and give it less than three stars and it’s more likely to give it four or five stars.
With that said, the vast number of characters in Burke’s books seems to get longer and longer with creative names which I simply cannot remember. Remember them for longer than one page anyhow.
Usually the last quarter of the book, people are in a frenzy getting rid of the guy sitting next to them who has intimate knowledge of all the skeletons in the closet; he’s the one who is bumped off. So for a few pages every 50 or so read, there’s person flying out the window landing on a fire hydrant (head first, of course); a fellow shot running out the back door of a whorehouse and a pimp walking down the street who is neatly sliced with a shiv.
By the end, when it may be mentioned that Matisis Yelloman was dead, I’m trying to recall when and how he died. Who was he, I’m asking myself; how, when did HE die?
I found that this particular book was a few shades different than previous books in that not all was resolved at the end which is fine with me since I don’t need a bow neatly tied at the end of story or book.
However, moral questions were raised; what is our obligation to our fellow man? Is vengeance/retribution moral and just (and legal?) These questions have been raised and discussed for thousands of years and once again in this book. (Let it be known that moral questions are usually raised in Burke’s books, so this is not unusual.)
Burke’s writing is as colorful as always with descriptions of southern Louisiana, as usual, so much so that Burke takes you there mentally.
Well on my way in continuing the Dave Robicheaux series with this being #10. Coming up next is Purple Cane Road. Can't wait but think I might take notes on the names.
An Aside - Fictional TV Series Debuts
I saw an interview last night with Kevin Spacey who stars in the new series, “House of Cards.” It’s a series where Spacey (who’s the best, in my opinion) “stars in the drama as Representative Frank Underwood, a silkily ambitious and amoral politician who, after being passed over for Secretary of State, sets in motion a plan to take down the new president he helped get elected.” This is certainly payback in the political arena. (Since the series premiers in the next few days, the script and the series was recorded long before any recent political event.)
An Aside About US90
I was thinking when reading one of the many descriptions that devoted readers of Robicheaux probably who happen to be in the area, would take a nearby US90 exit and simply drive a narrow paved (maybe) road just looking around the area. Perhaps looking lost, a local might ask “can I help you find something?” and the driver (and captive family who may know little of Dave Robicheaux) would reply, “no, just looking around” and the local responding,” looking for Dave Robicheaux’s fish camp?” The reply could be “yes, as a matter of fact.”
The reason I mention this is because it occurred to me to do just that knowing full well there is no fish camp...not one that belongs to Dave.
Thinking of US 90, it’s an interesting road, 1633 miles from Jacksonville, FL to Van Horn, TX passing through small towns, ramshackle old motels and gas stations since it was once well traveled going east to west.
My favorite part of US 90 is in the Florida panhandle where it skirts the Gulf. It’s a beautiful, remote area. There should be signs reading “Drive carefully – ‘coon and ‘dilla crossing.” My kind of area.
A Few Thoughts on Morals and Dave Robicheaux
In all likelihood I will never read a James Lee Burke book and give it less than three stars and it’s more likely to give it four or five stars.
With that said, the vast number of characters in Burke’s books seems to get longer and longer with creative names which I simply cannot remember. Remember them for longer than one page anyhow.
Usually the last quarter of the book, people are in a frenzy getting rid of the guy sitting next to them who has intimate knowledge of all the skeletons in the closet; he’s the one who is bumped off. So for a few pages every 50 or so read, there’s person flying out the window landing on a fire hydrant (head first, of course); a fellow shot running out the back door of a whorehouse and a pimp walking down the street who is neatly sliced with a shiv.
By the end, when it may be mentioned that Matisis Yelloman was dead, I’m trying to recall when and how he died. Who was he, I’m asking myself; how, when did HE die?
I found that this particular book was a few shades different than previous books in that not all was resolved at the end which is fine with me since I don’t need a bow neatly tied at the end of story or book.
However, moral questions were raised; what is our obligation to our fellow man? Is vengeance/retribution moral and just (and legal?) These questions have been raised and discussed for thousands of years and once again in this book. (Let it be known that moral questions are usually raised in Burke’s books, so this is not unusual.)
Burke’s writing is as colorful as always with descriptions of southern Louisiana, as usual, so much so that Burke takes you there mentally.
Well on my way in continuing the Dave Robicheaux series with this being #10. Coming up next is Purple Cane Road. Can't wait but think I might take notes on the names.
An Aside - Fictional TV Series Debuts
I saw an interview last night with Kevin Spacey who stars in the new series, “House of Cards.” It’s a series where Spacey (who’s the best, in my opinion) “stars in the drama as Representative Frank Underwood, a silkily ambitious and amoral politician who, after being passed over for Secretary of State, sets in motion a plan to take down the new president he helped get elected.” This is certainly payback in the political arena. (Since the series premiers in the next few days, the script and the series was recorded long before any recent political event.)
An Aside About US90
I was thinking when reading one of the many descriptions that devoted readers of Robicheaux probably who happen to be in the area, would take a nearby US90 exit and simply drive a narrow paved (maybe) road just looking around the area. Perhaps looking lost, a local might ask “can I help you find something?” and the driver (and captive family who may know little of Dave Robicheaux) would reply, “no, just looking around” and the local responding,” looking for Dave Robicheaux’s fish camp?” The reply could be “yes, as a matter of fact.”
The reason I mention this is because it occurred to me to do just that knowing full well there is no fish camp...not one that belongs to Dave.
Thinking of US 90, it’s an interesting road, 1633 miles from Jacksonville, FL to Van Horn, TX passing through small towns, ramshackle old motels and gas stations since it was once well traveled going east to west.
My favorite part of US 90 is in the Florida panhandle where it skirts the Gulf. It’s a beautiful, remote area. There should be signs reading “Drive carefully – ‘coon and ‘dilla crossing.” My kind of area.
February 9, 2017
This is the tenth novel in the Dave Robicheaux series. The title is taken from the Amtrak train that runs between New Orleans and Los Angeles. I have only read two other novels in this series. Cadillac Jukebox and The Neon Rain. My only regret with this novel is that I have not read the series in order. Dave Robicheaux is a complex character and to fully appreciate and understand him I think it would be beneficial to read the novels in order. It is not necessary. James Lee Burke is fast becoming a favorite author of mine. His writing style is terrific. It is so descriptive you feel yourself drawn into the world of Dave Robicheaux and the bayous of Louisiana. And the characters of the deep South. There a few authors that I am acquainted with who create such fascinating and colorful characters.
Forty years ago Dave Robicheaux and his father discovered the body of Jack Flynn, a union organizer, nailed to the side of a barn wall. The murder was never solved and it left it's scars on Robicheaux as well as Jack Flynn's children, Megan; now a photojournalist; and Cisco; now a movie director. Both children had left Louisiana after their father's murder. But now they are back. Cisco to make a movie. Megan to look for Dave.
There many plots and characters in this story. Keeping track of all the different characters and different stories can be difficult. Fortunately the author makes it an enjoyable ride and not too bumpy. Some of the different plots include the crooked money behind Cisco's movie, the hold that an ex-con named Swede Boxleiter has on Cisco and Megan, Willie "Cool Breez" Broussard's arrest for selling stolen VCRs from the Giacono crime family and his charge that he was mistreated by the guards at the prison, his wife Ida's apparent suicide 20 years ago, the shooting of two white brothers who raped a black woman, alcoholic Lisa Terrebonne's haunted childhood and her wealthy arrogant father, Archer .
Somehow the author manages to tie all these together in another very enjoyable story. Major themes appear to be that the past is key to the present and that money buys power.
Forty years ago Dave Robicheaux and his father discovered the body of Jack Flynn, a union organizer, nailed to the side of a barn wall. The murder was never solved and it left it's scars on Robicheaux as well as Jack Flynn's children, Megan; now a photojournalist; and Cisco; now a movie director. Both children had left Louisiana after their father's murder. But now they are back. Cisco to make a movie. Megan to look for Dave.
There many plots and characters in this story. Keeping track of all the different characters and different stories can be difficult. Fortunately the author makes it an enjoyable ride and not too bumpy. Some of the different plots include the crooked money behind Cisco's movie, the hold that an ex-con named Swede Boxleiter has on Cisco and Megan, Willie "Cool Breez" Broussard's arrest for selling stolen VCRs from the Giacono crime family and his charge that he was mistreated by the guards at the prison, his wife Ida's apparent suicide 20 years ago, the shooting of two white brothers who raped a black woman, alcoholic Lisa Terrebonne's haunted childhood and her wealthy arrogant father, Archer .
Somehow the author manages to tie all these together in another very enjoyable story. Major themes appear to be that the past is key to the present and that money buys power.
January 12, 2012
If you want to know the plot of this book, better read the blurb provided right under the title because heaven knows I can't tell it any better. With the sheer number of characters Burke puts into his novels, I long ago gave up trying to keep them straight. Instead, I revel in his descriptive and conversation genius. On our way through Louisiana once, I nearly leaped out of the truck when I saw a sign saying 'Bayou Tech', the location of Burke's Robicheaux series. When Burke takes his characters on the Achafalaya River, or deep in a bayou, or to New Iberia or even New Orleans, it feels like the reader is there with him. Even more intriguing is the conversation he gives his characters... street lingo, area idioms, unbelievably colorful. Yes, there is violence, but it seems in step with the criminals, mobsters and low-lifes that Robicheaux encounters. By the way, though this is a series, there is enough background in each novel that it isn't necessary to read them in order.
April 10, 2024
James Lee Burke is a truly gifted literary writer who just happens to be writing in a genre that doesn't often get recognized for great writing. I have read nearly all of the Dave Robicheaux novels, and they are all excellent. This one, "Sunset Limited", was the first one I ever read by him, but it is much later in the series, recommended to me by Jonis Agee (an excellent published author, too). New Orleans and Louisiana have never been this hot...
December 8, 2018
Burke is a great thriller writer. the atmosphere he is creating, the dealing with the american civil war and a very interesting old time policeman. but this thriller is not polished, not finalized in many places. like he did not have the energy to pull it. so even there are beautiful parts as always it is tiring and not the best. it is the weakest from all his thrillers i read till now. but still i will read them.
March 25, 2024
Excellent. The writing in these books is excellent. I find I read them more slowly then I do other books because I don’t want to miss a single description or a twist in the plot.
Meaty. Gorgeous.
Meaty. Gorgeous.
January 26, 2019
A pair of orphans, the Flynns, who were prickly thorns in the collective conscience of the town returns to it after becoming national success stories. A small time criminal turned federal witness is being chewed up by the system. All of them have connections to the mob and the rich Terrebonne family. The inscrutable Archer Terrebonne whom everyone knows to hide a skeleton or two in the closet but no one is foolish enough to go searching for them. His addict daughter Lila who is running from memories that refuse to leave her.
If that cast of characters weren't intriguing enough, all the parties bring either their pet psychopaths or hired killers into the mix. Megan Flynn and Cool Breeze Broussard are the best of the bunch, both simmering with justified impotent rage that leads them to take decisions, the morality of which is up to readers to judge.
Of the recurring characters Clete remains the best, firmly securing the title of best sidekick in crime fiction. The scenes where he tangles with a mobster first at a restaurant and then at a bar are the best in the book. Robicheaux himself had matured a lot through the series, his insight into the human nature and his anecdotes have become better and more profound. But I miss the early days where he struggled with his temper and alcoholism, it made him a more interesting character. At this point he is more of a traditional hero rather than the broken man he was at the start of a series.
Burke has never been big on exposition and Sunset Limited is surprisingly short on it. The answers are all there with the information being doled out in small pieces but the reader has to go the extra mile to connect the dots. It will be confusing to some (specially if this is your first Burke book). The ending provides answers but no closure, it might be contentious to some but it worked for me.
A minor problem for me was that the last few books Burke suddenly shifts to the third person perspective for a para or two, it is more noticeable here. It is not yet distracting but it does come across as abrupt.
Sunset Limited has all the Burke trademarks - a narrative propelled by violence yet a narrator that never condones it. Characters stuck in ethical dilemmas in a corrupt city with rotting morals. Vivid passages that gives a picturesque description of rural Louisiana. And the Burke feature I like the most - For such a bleak, description heavy narrative, the books are always entertaining with nary a lull in the pacing.
Rating - 5/5.
If that cast of characters weren't intriguing enough, all the parties bring either their pet psychopaths or hired killers into the mix. Megan Flynn and Cool Breeze Broussard are the best of the bunch, both simmering with justified impotent rage that leads them to take decisions, the morality of which is up to readers to judge.
Of the recurring characters Clete remains the best, firmly securing the title of best sidekick in crime fiction. The scenes where he tangles with a mobster first at a restaurant and then at a bar are the best in the book. Robicheaux himself had matured a lot through the series, his insight into the human nature and his anecdotes have become better and more profound. But I miss the early days where he struggled with his temper and alcoholism, it made him a more interesting character. At this point he is more of a traditional hero rather than the broken man he was at the start of a series.
Burke has never been big on exposition and Sunset Limited is surprisingly short on it. The answers are all there with the information being doled out in small pieces but the reader has to go the extra mile to connect the dots. It will be confusing to some (specially if this is your first Burke book). The ending provides answers but no closure, it might be contentious to some but it worked for me.
A minor problem for me was that the last few books Burke suddenly shifts to the third person perspective for a para or two, it is more noticeable here. It is not yet distracting but it does come across as abrupt.
Sunset Limited has all the Burke trademarks - a narrative propelled by violence yet a narrator that never condones it. Characters stuck in ethical dilemmas in a corrupt city with rotting morals. Vivid passages that gives a picturesque description of rural Louisiana. And the Burke feature I like the most - For such a bleak, description heavy narrative, the books are always entertaining with nary a lull in the pacing.
Rating - 5/5.
March 9, 2013
Among the best police procedurals I have ever read. The style is literary, with great dialogue and incredibly precise and evocative descriptions. The sense of place is palpable and the emotional intensity is immense. Robicheaux is a wonderful character, but everyone who matters to this story is fully developed, with staggering attention to detail. Very few writers define characters with such small details - gestures, accents, things left unsaid.
A book about good and evil, about how history defines us, about flawed humanity and morality. It is about love and justice, racism and bureaucracy, institutions and individuals, cons and lawmen (and cons who used to be lawmen), the Hollywood dream and Southern realities, public reputations and private sins.
Unlike most thrillers, this is not an easy read. You need to savor this book, do close reading to pick up on everything, so for me it was a slow read. Very worthwhile, it will stay with me for a long time. JLB writes literarure, and chose the thriller form to explore major themes. This book is exemplary of the way he does just that.
A book about good and evil, about how history defines us, about flawed humanity and morality. It is about love and justice, racism and bureaucracy, institutions and individuals, cons and lawmen (and cons who used to be lawmen), the Hollywood dream and Southern realities, public reputations and private sins.
Unlike most thrillers, this is not an easy read. You need to savor this book, do close reading to pick up on everything, so for me it was a slow read. Very worthwhile, it will stay with me for a long time. JLB writes literarure, and chose the thriller form to explore major themes. This book is exemplary of the way he does just that.
November 4, 2017
Sunset Limited by James Lee Burke.
10th in the Dave Robicheaux series. Dave is working as a detective in New Iberia, Southern Louisiana and running his boat hire and bait shop from his family home with his long-time helper Baptiste. Megan Flynn and her brother Cisco reappear in town and Dave knows that trouble is not far behind. This stirs up conflict in Dave’s mind as he tries to equate the current happenings with the past. Violence and death are not far away.
Dave Robichaux is a small town detective and the character is overblown and makes he feel more like a superhero as he seemingly wants to right all the ills of racial inequality on his own. His friend and sometimes partner, Cletus Purcell, as usual, comes along with his first flying upsetting all the local criminal bosses with little regard for the law.
I found this book difficult to get into as there is a good deal of slang within the dialog which at times is bordering on the incomprehensible. It does seem this reduces or I just become more “dialled in” as the story unfolds. The twists and turns are quite complex and I find myself reading further into the night than planned so as not to lose the thread of the plot.
There is a good deal of violent action and deaths are frequent but are well handled and not too excessive however there is a lot of gun play and beating of those being arrest and sometimes just being taken in for questioning which does not portray the law enforcement agencies in a good light. Are the southern states as lawless as made out in novels I often ponder.
I do like the atmospheric descriptions of the violent electrical storms, the smells of the water’ the wildlife and the people. This alone will very likely keep me reading this series.
4stars.
10th in the Dave Robicheaux series. Dave is working as a detective in New Iberia, Southern Louisiana and running his boat hire and bait shop from his family home with his long-time helper Baptiste. Megan Flynn and her brother Cisco reappear in town and Dave knows that trouble is not far behind. This stirs up conflict in Dave’s mind as he tries to equate the current happenings with the past. Violence and death are not far away.
Dave Robichaux is a small town detective and the character is overblown and makes he feel more like a superhero as he seemingly wants to right all the ills of racial inequality on his own. His friend and sometimes partner, Cletus Purcell, as usual, comes along with his first flying upsetting all the local criminal bosses with little regard for the law.
I found this book difficult to get into as there is a good deal of slang within the dialog which at times is bordering on the incomprehensible. It does seem this reduces or I just become more “dialled in” as the story unfolds. The twists and turns are quite complex and I find myself reading further into the night than planned so as not to lose the thread of the plot.
There is a good deal of violent action and deaths are frequent but are well handled and not too excessive however there is a lot of gun play and beating of those being arrest and sometimes just being taken in for questioning which does not portray the law enforcement agencies in a good light. Are the southern states as lawless as made out in novels I often ponder.
I do like the atmospheric descriptions of the violent electrical storms, the smells of the water’ the wildlife and the people. This alone will very likely keep me reading this series.
4stars.
January 22, 2018
Whoa. The 10th of the Dave Robicheaux series serves three purposes rolled into one. It’s a hell of story, all by itself, of course, as just about everything James Lee Burke puts his hand to appears to be. It is also a damning indictment of bourgeois journalism,and especially photo-journalism shopping itself as “progressive”, and as usual, all things Hollywood. As a third, bonus feature, it also, at least for this reader, serves as an excellent answer to the various needling questions I had developed about the protagonist and some of the regular characters surrounding him, as well as questions about the setting that might be obvious to local folk, but are great mysteries to people like me, from the Pacific Northwestern part of the USA.
The title, Sunset Limited, is the name of the train that took Dave’s mother away from him, on the arm of a smooth-talking rotten bastard who promised to put her in the movies, but only succeeded in leaving her ruined, her home broken, and without any recourse at the time other than to wire back to Dave’s father to please send money so she could come home. It also serves as a metaphor for all the deceptive garbage that photojournalists dig up in the name of progress. If like me you have ever looked at a newspaper photo of someone dying in a burning car or bleeding out on a pile of grass and wondered why on earth the person taking the picture didn’t drop the camera and reach for a tourniquet, this will prove satisfying. Megan Flynn, a local woman who makes it big and comes back with her producer-brother to shoot locally and explore old ties, aggravates Robicheaux more than even the baddest of the baddies, because of “her betrayal of everything I thought she represented: Joe Hill, the Wobblies, the strikers murdered at Ludlow, Colorado, Woody Guthrie, Dorothy Day, all those faceless working people whom historians and academics and liberals alike treat with indifference.”
Burke has become well known for developing colorful, quirky characters. His partner, Helen, is back again, helmet hair intact. We also have Mout’ Broussard and his son, Cool Breeze. We get a new bad guy, Harpo Delahoussey. We have “Ricky the Mouse” Scarlotti, another bad guy. And my, oh my, we have Clete:
“No one seemed to take notice of a chartreuse Cadillac convertible that turned off St. Charles and parked in front of the flower shop, nor of the man in the powder-blue porkpie hat and seersucker pants and Hawaiian shirt…”
Clete is always getting into trouble, but he’s also there when Dave needs him, as we know by now (assuming, of course, that you’ve read previous Dave Robicheaux novels). Robicheaux knows that even though it is inevitable that Clete will create scenes and get into trouble (and he does it so well here!), “…you don’t leave a friend like Clete swing in the gibbet.”
Clete recognizes that Dave doesn’t approve of everything he does: “You hide your feelings like a cat in a spin-dryer.”
Oh, it’s just too funny, and it’s brilliant at the same damn time.
I got a couple of questions answered. For example, what’s a “redbone”? I had been assuming, from previous context, that it’s a Black person with a red tinge in his complexion. I was close: it's a person who is a mixture of Black, Indian, and French.
I had also long wondered how Dave, who has little income to begin with (especially given his previous proclivity toward getting suspended without pay or fired; his bait and boat business isn’t something anybody could live off of, let alone pay an employee) could pay Batist. What’s up with Batist? The man has worked for Dave's family since he was a child, we know that. But is this just more Southern white paternalism? Is Batist the modern version of a sharecropper, working for nothing but the right to live in a really cheap, small, below-code house but unable to move anywhere else? We know he is illiterate, but that lends more credence to the notion that maybe Dave is exploiting him in the same way so many Southern white folks do, without realizing there is racism inherent in their intention, and even thinking they are doing their employee a favor.
It's fiction, of course. But Burke creates such real characters that I feel I know them, and once that is true and a character continues to pop up--especially a likable one such as Batist, who delivers the kind of home truths a father might--I need to know.
Apparently Burke either realized he needed to address this, or had it pointed out to him, because here he makes it clear: Batist owns his own home and his own little truck farm; it was left to him by a previous employer who has died. The boat and bait shop is supplemental income; he is a working farmer, and goodness knows the USA has a whole lot of small farmers that can’t make ends meet without an outside job. My own grandfather was one of them.
Glad to have all this cleared up!
The joy of the story is really the story, and of course, I’ve left the best bits for you to find for yourself. But I find I can’t enjoy a story unless I can make myself buy the premise, and in my world, the way Burke tells it is stark, painful, yet full of joy as well. That’s what keeps me coming back.
If you like a good mystery, crime thriller, or just plain good fiction, you'll do the same.
The title, Sunset Limited, is the name of the train that took Dave’s mother away from him, on the arm of a smooth-talking rotten bastard who promised to put her in the movies, but only succeeded in leaving her ruined, her home broken, and without any recourse at the time other than to wire back to Dave’s father to please send money so she could come home. It also serves as a metaphor for all the deceptive garbage that photojournalists dig up in the name of progress. If like me you have ever looked at a newspaper photo of someone dying in a burning car or bleeding out on a pile of grass and wondered why on earth the person taking the picture didn’t drop the camera and reach for a tourniquet, this will prove satisfying. Megan Flynn, a local woman who makes it big and comes back with her producer-brother to shoot locally and explore old ties, aggravates Robicheaux more than even the baddest of the baddies, because of “her betrayal of everything I thought she represented: Joe Hill, the Wobblies, the strikers murdered at Ludlow, Colorado, Woody Guthrie, Dorothy Day, all those faceless working people whom historians and academics and liberals alike treat with indifference.”
Burke has become well known for developing colorful, quirky characters. His partner, Helen, is back again, helmet hair intact. We also have Mout’ Broussard and his son, Cool Breeze. We get a new bad guy, Harpo Delahoussey. We have “Ricky the Mouse” Scarlotti, another bad guy. And my, oh my, we have Clete:
“No one seemed to take notice of a chartreuse Cadillac convertible that turned off St. Charles and parked in front of the flower shop, nor of the man in the powder-blue porkpie hat and seersucker pants and Hawaiian shirt…”
Clete is always getting into trouble, but he’s also there when Dave needs him, as we know by now (assuming, of course, that you’ve read previous Dave Robicheaux novels). Robicheaux knows that even though it is inevitable that Clete will create scenes and get into trouble (and he does it so well here!), “…you don’t leave a friend like Clete swing in the gibbet.”
Clete recognizes that Dave doesn’t approve of everything he does: “You hide your feelings like a cat in a spin-dryer.”
Oh, it’s just too funny, and it’s brilliant at the same damn time.
I got a couple of questions answered. For example, what’s a “redbone”? I had been assuming, from previous context, that it’s a Black person with a red tinge in his complexion. I was close: it's a person who is a mixture of Black, Indian, and French.
I had also long wondered how Dave, who has little income to begin with (especially given his previous proclivity toward getting suspended without pay or fired; his bait and boat business isn’t something anybody could live off of, let alone pay an employee) could pay Batist. What’s up with Batist? The man has worked for Dave's family since he was a child, we know that. But is this just more Southern white paternalism? Is Batist the modern version of a sharecropper, working for nothing but the right to live in a really cheap, small, below-code house but unable to move anywhere else? We know he is illiterate, but that lends more credence to the notion that maybe Dave is exploiting him in the same way so many Southern white folks do, without realizing there is racism inherent in their intention, and even thinking they are doing their employee a favor.
It's fiction, of course. But Burke creates such real characters that I feel I know them, and once that is true and a character continues to pop up--especially a likable one such as Batist, who delivers the kind of home truths a father might--I need to know.
Apparently Burke either realized he needed to address this, or had it pointed out to him, because here he makes it clear: Batist owns his own home and his own little truck farm; it was left to him by a previous employer who has died. The boat and bait shop is supplemental income; he is a working farmer, and goodness knows the USA has a whole lot of small farmers that can’t make ends meet without an outside job. My own grandfather was one of them.
Glad to have all this cleared up!
The joy of the story is really the story, and of course, I’ve left the best bits for you to find for yourself. But I find I can’t enjoy a story unless I can make myself buy the premise, and in my world, the way Burke tells it is stark, painful, yet full of joy as well. That’s what keeps me coming back.
If you like a good mystery, crime thriller, or just plain good fiction, you'll do the same.
July 10, 2024
3 and a half stars. I am getting used to JLB's style though.
December 26, 2023
One of Burke's efforts with (thankfully) fewer characters to keep straight and fairly tight plotting.
New Iberia's shoeshine man, Mout Broussard, is a beloved local who will proudly tell you he once shined Huey Long's shoes. Ask him about his son, though, and his face turns sad. Willie "Cool Breeze" Broussard was sent up to Angola for murdering his wife, though he's always claimed he is innocent. Mout asks Dave Robicheaux to help his son by finding his daughter-in-law's real killer. Meanwhile, a Hollywood film crew is in town once again. Movie director Cisco Flynn is familiar with the area, having grown up there in the 1960s with his sister Megan until their father, a civil rights leader named Jack Flynn, was found crucified on the side of an abandoned barn. Those responsible were never caught, although the rumor has always been that the KKK was behind it.
As ever, Dave is pulled into both cases and makes them personal. Clete Purcell has long been a regular in these books and I couldn't be happier. He is a burden to be borne for Dave, but I always laugh at something crazy he says. Dave's wife of the stupid name "Bootsie" (do people really name their children Bootsie? Seems more like a name for a tiny dog) continues to annoy me with all her possessive insecurities. You're in your fifties, lady, and you've done some living and seen some stuff. It's time to grow the fuck up.
Next up: Purple Cane Road.
I had seen a dawn like this one only twice in my life: once in Vietnam, when a Bouncing Betty had risen from the earth on a night trail and twisted its tentacles of light around my thighs, and years earlier outside of Franklin, Louisiana, when my father and I discovered the body of a labor organizer who had been crucified with sixteen-penny nails, ankle and wrist, against a barn wall.
New Iberia's shoeshine man, Mout Broussard, is a beloved local who will proudly tell you he once shined Huey Long's shoes. Ask him about his son, though, and his face turns sad. Willie "Cool Breeze" Broussard was sent up to Angola for murdering his wife, though he's always claimed he is innocent. Mout asks Dave Robicheaux to help his son by finding his daughter-in-law's real killer. Meanwhile, a Hollywood film crew is in town once again. Movie director Cisco Flynn is familiar with the area, having grown up there in the 1960s with his sister Megan until their father, a civil rights leader named Jack Flynn, was found crucified on the side of an abandoned barn. Those responsible were never caught, although the rumor has always been that the KKK was behind it.
As ever, Dave is pulled into both cases and makes them personal. Clete Purcell has long been a regular in these books and I couldn't be happier. He is a burden to be borne for Dave, but I always laugh at something crazy he says. Dave's wife of the stupid name "Bootsie" (do people really name their children Bootsie? Seems more like a name for a tiny dog) continues to annoy me with all her possessive insecurities. You're in your fifties, lady, and you've done some living and seen some stuff. It's time to grow the fuck up.
Next up: Purple Cane Road.
November 12, 2020
One of the grisliest places I ever visited was the Mexican State of Tabasco, where storms upriver caused floods in Villahermosa. From the banks of the Grijalva, my brother and I saw the carcasses of cows and other livestock come floating past in the fast-flowing muddy waters. The humidity easily stood at 100%, if not more.
We have our swampy regions in the States as well. Take Louisiana, for instance, where the Atchafalaya Basin could become the new course of the Mississippi, if it jumps the Army Corps of Engineers dams to the north.
I have just finished reading James Lee Burke’s Sunset Limited, in which David Robicheaux of the New Iberia Police confronts evils that are scarcely to be imagined, let alone experienced.
Years ago, a labor leader named Frank Flynn was murdered by being crucified upside-down with a nail gun on the side of an old barn. His children Cisco and Megan are back in the Bayou Teche area, along with some of the nastiest contract killers ever portrayed in literature. But then, as Dave reminds us, “Evil doesn’t have a zip code.”
The gnarliest of them, one Harpo Scruggs, also has a wicked sense of humor:
To date, I have read over ten of Burke’s Robicheaux novels with their brooding atmosphere of Cajun eeriness—and I intend to keep going.
We have our swampy regions in the States as well. Take Louisiana, for instance, where the Atchafalaya Basin could become the new course of the Mississippi, if it jumps the Army Corps of Engineers dams to the north.
I have just finished reading James Lee Burke’s Sunset Limited, in which David Robicheaux of the New Iberia Police confronts evils that are scarcely to be imagined, let alone experienced.
Years ago, a labor leader named Frank Flynn was murdered by being crucified upside-down with a nail gun on the side of an old barn. His children Cisco and Megan are back in the Bayou Teche area, along with some of the nastiest contract killers ever portrayed in literature. But then, as Dave reminds us, “Evil doesn’t have a zip code.”
The gnarliest of them, one Harpo Scruggs, also has a wicked sense of humor:
“You got a lot of brass,” I said to him.One thing that characterizes a Dave Robicheaux novel is the tendency of its hero, along with his friend Clete Purcel, a former New Orleans police officer, to confront evil head on, with intensity and frequency.
“Not really. Since I don’t think your bunch [the police] could drink piss out of a boot with the instructions printed on the heel,” [Harpo] replied. He unscrewed the cork in the mescal bottle with a squeak and tipped another shot into his glass.
To date, I have read over ten of Burke’s Robicheaux novels with their brooding atmosphere of Cajun eeriness—and I intend to keep going.
July 6, 2017
Here’s what to expect from a novel in the Dave Robicheaux series by James Lee Burke: Dave will get himself into trouble by ignoring orders from the Sheriff, his boss, and by disregarding threats from supremely dangerous people. Dave’s former partner in the New Orleans Police Department, Clete Purcell, will make even more trouble for himself. Dave’s partner in his bait shop, Batist, his adopted teenage daughter, Alafair, and his wife, Bootsie, will all make cameo appearances. The New Orleans mob or the Dixie Mafia, and possibly both, will prove to be involved in some nefarious and deadly goings-on in New Iberia Parish, where Dave lives and works. At least one hitman will make multiple attempts to kill Dave or someone close to him. A diverse array of characters will wander in and out of the tale, including ex-convicts, both Black and white, New Orleans mobsters with colorful names, a wealthy and powerful white family, a lesbian deputy sheriff, and perhaps an FBI or DEA agent. And a tragic event many years in the past will be revealed to lie at the heart of a tangle of mysteries now bedeviling Dave.
Now, you might think a formulaic approach like this would quickly grow stale. But the Dave Robicheaux series is anything but stale and predictable. In fact, there’s little that’s predictable in these eminently readable thrillers. The mystery at the core of the plot is so complex that no reader is likely to untangle it before the story’s end. The books’ setting in rural southern Louisiana is lush and steamy, painted in Burke’s evocative, poetic language, and he portrays every character in three dimensions. The dialogue is lively and inventive. In short, James Lee Burke is one of the most accomplished English stylists I’ve encountered anywhere.
In Sunset Limited, the tenth novel in the Dave Robicheaux series, the long-ago event that centers the story is the crucifixion of Jack Flynn, a radical labor organizer, forty years in the past. Flynn’s son and daughter, Cisco and Megan, have just returned to New Iberia in the midst of successful careers elsewhere—Cisco as a film producer, Megan as an award-winning photographer sought all over the world. Cisco has come to produce a film on site in New Iberia with a famous director and a high-priced cast. Unfortunately, the director is nasty and thoroughly unscrupulous, and the Hong Kong Triads are financing the film. Meanwhile, an African-American ex-con named Cool Breeze Broussard has managed to bring in the FBI to investigate his charge of brutality in the local lockup and succeeds in gaining release into the agency’s custody. And there is a connection between Broussard and the film that will not be revealed until much later.
For Dave, the mystery that is causing him to lose sleep involves that forty-year-old crucifixion. Three men were responsible, and he wants to know who they are. As he pursues his investigation, he finds himself deeply ensnared in Cool Breeze’s life and fate, in the questionable activities of the Flynn siblings, and in confrontations with the New Orleans mob, the film director, a wealthy local landowner, and a pair of hitmen who show up in the parish. If you like untangling puzzles, you’ll love Sunset Limited.
James Lee Burke is one of my favorite writers—in any genre. I've reviewed many of his books, most recently The master of Louisiana noir and Neo-Nazis, the Jewish Defense League, and a sunken Nazi submarine.
Now, you might think a formulaic approach like this would quickly grow stale. But the Dave Robicheaux series is anything but stale and predictable. In fact, there’s little that’s predictable in these eminently readable thrillers. The mystery at the core of the plot is so complex that no reader is likely to untangle it before the story’s end. The books’ setting in rural southern Louisiana is lush and steamy, painted in Burke’s evocative, poetic language, and he portrays every character in three dimensions. The dialogue is lively and inventive. In short, James Lee Burke is one of the most accomplished English stylists I’ve encountered anywhere.
In Sunset Limited, the tenth novel in the Dave Robicheaux series, the long-ago event that centers the story is the crucifixion of Jack Flynn, a radical labor organizer, forty years in the past. Flynn’s son and daughter, Cisco and Megan, have just returned to New Iberia in the midst of successful careers elsewhere—Cisco as a film producer, Megan as an award-winning photographer sought all over the world. Cisco has come to produce a film on site in New Iberia with a famous director and a high-priced cast. Unfortunately, the director is nasty and thoroughly unscrupulous, and the Hong Kong Triads are financing the film. Meanwhile, an African-American ex-con named Cool Breeze Broussard has managed to bring in the FBI to investigate his charge of brutality in the local lockup and succeeds in gaining release into the agency’s custody. And there is a connection between Broussard and the film that will not be revealed until much later.
For Dave, the mystery that is causing him to lose sleep involves that forty-year-old crucifixion. Three men were responsible, and he wants to know who they are. As he pursues his investigation, he finds himself deeply ensnared in Cool Breeze’s life and fate, in the questionable activities of the Flynn siblings, and in confrontations with the New Orleans mob, the film director, a wealthy local landowner, and a pair of hitmen who show up in the parish. If you like untangling puzzles, you’ll love Sunset Limited.
James Lee Burke is one of my favorite writers—in any genre. I've reviewed many of his books, most recently The master of Louisiana noir and Neo-Nazis, the Jewish Defense League, and a sunken Nazi submarine.
May 29, 2019
Burkes's writing is as luminescent as always but reading a Robicheaux adventure from twenty years ago leaves me not so enamored of the younger Dave. One character calls him "you self-righteous sonofabitch," with which I concur. Another says,"But the rest of your routine is comedy. A guy with your brains ought to be above it." He gets bent out of shape about others' profanities but not his own and gives his partner and his friend Purcell carte blanche to beat people up. Ironically, he's a helicopter busybody in Purcell's personal life. In this book, Robicheaux is like a Calvinist preacher except his Bible is all in his head. And nothing really good comes from all this.
Read
December 15, 2023DNF
December 24, 2017
I'm about half way through the Robicheaux novels, and beginning to experience burnout. It's frustrating, because this series is very literate crime fiction with a great sense of place, and priceless dialogue between well defined characters. The problem is the plots are often so similar that I'm struggling to differentiate the books. The pervasive themes of troubled Southern history, class and race clashes and battling personal demons are ever-present. And there always seems to be someone from Dave's past that returns to New Iberia to stir up the pot and tie two basic plot lines together. All this would be fine if the central characters evolved along the way, but lately I feel like I'm reading the same book over again, but the bad guys just have new names. Clearly Burke has found a winning formula, but it's starting to feel like he's in a rut.
September 1, 2011
James Lee Burke is my all time favorite author. So, being incredibly biased, it's hard to give an objective review. Every one of his books seem to weave an amazing dance between lyrical prose, complex characters that are so real in my mind I can SMELL them, would recognize them if I saw them on the street - and plots that keep me caring till the very last page. The man has a gift, there is no question about it. It's obvious he has honed his craft well by putting in the WORK of writing, not just to sell books but to give us a gift of insight into human pride, frailty and pathos all wrapped up in some of the most amazing language I've ever encountered. Love his work~!
May 16, 2018
Typical entry in the Robicheaux series with the usual atmospheric writing and sins from the past plot. Listened to the audio version which was narrated by Mark Hammer.
May 16, 2021
Very much in line with the series, I enjoyed this one quite a bit (even if I was philosophically? emotionally? disappointed with the conclusion, although I can't say I was expecting something more gratifying or heart-warming).
Not much to add on this one, other than, true to form, the prose is languid and evocative (and, no doubt, potentially over-the-top for folks who like their violence, rage, mayhem, and murder more sparsely disbursed), the familiar characters stay, well, in character, and the cast of new victims and perps (and, yes, collateral damage) embarking from the gently spinning carousel is as perplex as it is destabilizing and disorienting.
Eleven books in (not counting the four JLB Hackberry Holland's I've read and enjoyed ... and, alas, I first met Robicheaux out of order in Volume 20), and I'm still not halfway ... and my sense is that the newer ones tend to get longer ... so I've got my work cut out for me.
Not much to add on this one, other than, true to form, the prose is languid and evocative (and, no doubt, potentially over-the-top for folks who like their violence, rage, mayhem, and murder more sparsely disbursed), the familiar characters stay, well, in character, and the cast of new victims and perps (and, yes, collateral damage) embarking from the gently spinning carousel is as perplex as it is destabilizing and disorienting.
Eleven books in (not counting the four JLB Hackberry Holland's I've read and enjoyed ... and, alas, I first met Robicheaux out of order in Volume 20), and I'm still not halfway ... and my sense is that the newer ones tend to get longer ... so I've got my work cut out for me.
October 23, 2022
I'm slowly but surely making my way through James Lee Burke's great series based on Louisiana lawman Dave Robicheaux. Sunset Limited, as with most of Burke's novels, is not only an excellent mystery/thriller but also reveals a little more about the complexity of the Robicheaux character.
In this, the 10th in the long series, Dave is a deputy sheriff in New Iberia. Years ago, he'd discovered a murdered man who'd been "crucified". The case had never been solved and it continued to haunt him. Out of the blue the murdered man's daughter, a successful journalist, shows up and the investigation gets sort of re-opened.
What I love most about the Robicheaux series is Burke's ability to describe his characters' surroundings in such a way that you feel you're there. That's juxtaposed with the extremely direct, noir-like conversations and interactions among the characters. I've read about a dozen books in this series and just realized that's one of its draws. Burke will paint a vivid picture of the beauty of his surroundings, followed by a description of action and conversation that is all action and terse dialogue.
Sunset Limited is an excellent addition to the Robicheaux series and provides yet another view into why Dave Robicheaux is who he is.
In this, the 10th in the long series, Dave is a deputy sheriff in New Iberia. Years ago, he'd discovered a murdered man who'd been "crucified". The case had never been solved and it continued to haunt him. Out of the blue the murdered man's daughter, a successful journalist, shows up and the investigation gets sort of re-opened.
What I love most about the Robicheaux series is Burke's ability to describe his characters' surroundings in such a way that you feel you're there. That's juxtaposed with the extremely direct, noir-like conversations and interactions among the characters. I've read about a dozen books in this series and just realized that's one of its draws. Burke will paint a vivid picture of the beauty of his surroundings, followed by a description of action and conversation that is all action and terse dialogue.
Sunset Limited is an excellent addition to the Robicheaux series and provides yet another view into why Dave Robicheaux is who he is.
November 28, 2015
There is nothing better than a really good mystery. The one where you smirk at the good one liners, are glued to the small details, trying to piece the events together. For me a really good mystery is not really about the crime, but about the events, the place and the characters trying to determine right from wrong in a place where the rules and shades of gray keep shifting.
'Sunset Limited' has all this. And this is just my first James Lee Burke novel, and certainly not the last.
Ok there were a couple of places where things didn't quiet gel, or where Burke was trying to fit a piece of puzzle in a place it did not quite fit. But everything else was great. Burke is a stunning writer, something you do not find every day in the Mystery Genre. 'Sunset Limited' has so many shades of gray it looks like a colour chart. Set in Louisiana gave this novel some real texture. The novel is incredibly fast paste but with a gentle slowness only the south can provide. More often than not the action will unfold in front of you like a carpet falling down stairs in slow motion.
What is this particular novel about? Other than gilded movie sets and big plantation houses, it is more about broken promises, false dreams, and old hurts that can never be really resolved because they are too ingrained within human nature. Quite a deep mystery thriller actually.
'Sunset Limited' has all this. And this is just my first James Lee Burke novel, and certainly not the last.
Ok there were a couple of places where things didn't quiet gel, or where Burke was trying to fit a piece of puzzle in a place it did not quite fit. But everything else was great. Burke is a stunning writer, something you do not find every day in the Mystery Genre. 'Sunset Limited' has so many shades of gray it looks like a colour chart. Set in Louisiana gave this novel some real texture. The novel is incredibly fast paste but with a gentle slowness only the south can provide. More often than not the action will unfold in front of you like a carpet falling down stairs in slow motion.
What is this particular novel about? Other than gilded movie sets and big plantation houses, it is more about broken promises, false dreams, and old hurts that can never be really resolved because they are too ingrained within human nature. Quite a deep mystery thriller actually.
January 11, 2012
The ending of this tale is rather ambiguous for Burke, and lacked the kind of super-dramatic climax that features some kind of brutal heroism by Clete Purcel that one sees in some of his other novels. Don't get me wrong, Clete's here all right, and there is plenty of brutality and gore, including two crucifixions and some other stuff I won't ruin for you fans out there. I thought the character of Cool Breeze Broussard just gets lost along the way in the story line which increasingly focuses on the characters of Archer Terrebonne and Megan Flynn, and the antagonism between wealth and tradition, on the one hand, and idealistic populism, on the other. The glue that holds this all together is a film in the process of being shot, and the shadowy presence of a mentioned but never explicitly seen Hong Kong Mafia presence. In the end it seemed like Burke started off intending to tell one story, but veered off about a third of the way through to focus on something different. Still, hugely entertaining stuff, like all of his books I've read, and I keep hoping and waiting for someone to make a film or series out of his work: I'd love to see who gets cast as Dave and Clete.
August 2, 2017
Sunset Limited
I just finished rereading this book. I read this maybe 15 years ago and I knew I liked it but I thoroughly enjoyed rereading it. I think this book is my favorite in this series so far. I can't wait to continue reading all of them!
I just finished rereading this book. I read this maybe 15 years ago and I knew I liked it but I thoroughly enjoyed rereading it. I think this book is my favorite in this series so far. I can't wait to continue reading all of them!
November 25, 2008
Typical Burke, but this one irritated me a bit.
May 26, 2025
A few different characters arrive in or return to New Iberia and Detective Dave Robicheaux has to navigate dealing with their various criminal activities or potential for crime while keeping his own soul intact; it isn't always clear what the right thing is for an investigator without proof of wrongdoing. But this story is more about wrongs committed long ago and the present lack of shame for those who perpetrated them, and also Burke's biting condemnation of elites who excused them in the past and are now pretending to address them through virtue-signaling and shedding light that puts the burden of reconciliation on the "lesser" classes.
The Bad: A lot of uncomfortable special victims style trauma that isn't fun to read. "Sunset Limited" also suffers from some character disconnects - Burke's mysteries always include a wide number of layered characters with webs of relationships, histories, and interactions, some hidden under the surface and some Dave needs to deduce, but this story lacks personal connections to most of the characters. I mixed up the mob guys and button men as the story went along.
The Good: Dave's friend Clete Purcell is still one of the best detective novel side characters. His path in "Sunset Limited" is at-times humorous, tragic, endearing, heroic, flawed, relatable, and a nice foil to Robicheaux's solid style. And the dialogue in "Sunset Limited" is noteworthy as well; top form Burke.
Verdict: A lot of uncomfortable trauma that isn't fun to read, but "Sunset Limited" does lead to some worthwhile moral questions, deeper thoughts, an intense investigation, and lessons in our capacity for control, righting wrongs, and human connections.
Jeff's Rating: 4 / 5 (Very Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: R
The Bad: A lot of uncomfortable special victims style trauma that isn't fun to read. "Sunset Limited" also suffers from some character disconnects - Burke's mysteries always include a wide number of layered characters with webs of relationships, histories, and interactions, some hidden under the surface and some Dave needs to deduce, but this story lacks personal connections to most of the characters. I mixed up the mob guys and button men as the story went along.
The Good: Dave's friend Clete Purcell is still one of the best detective novel side characters. His path in "Sunset Limited" is at-times humorous, tragic, endearing, heroic, flawed, relatable, and a nice foil to Robicheaux's solid style. And the dialogue in "Sunset Limited" is noteworthy as well; top form Burke.
Verdict: A lot of uncomfortable trauma that isn't fun to read, but "Sunset Limited" does lead to some worthwhile moral questions, deeper thoughts, an intense investigation, and lessons in our capacity for control, righting wrongs, and human connections.
Jeff's Rating: 4 / 5 (Very Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: R
May 20, 2017
James Lee Burke is a master. Dave Robicheauux is my favorite if Burke's protagonists. Yet only 4 stars? Reading this book reminded me that Burke's formula, which I enjoy greatly, is still formulaic.
Poor folks mistreated. Rich folks taking advantage of their good fortune. Dave acting impulsively trying to tip the scales of justice. Clete shacking up with the female lead only to have her drift away.
Lousiana's beauty and horror eloquently portrayed. Hits the spot, yet sometimes I want this masterful writer to dazzle me with a new story.
Poor folks mistreated. Rich folks taking advantage of their good fortune. Dave acting impulsively trying to tip the scales of justice. Clete shacking up with the female lead only to have her drift away.
Lousiana's beauty and horror eloquently portrayed. Hits the spot, yet sometimes I want this masterful writer to dazzle me with a new story.
September 22, 2022
I would have given this 4 stars if I could’ve figured out what the heck was going on! From the get go, not having read any other books with the apparently reoccurring main character, I had no idea who he was, what he did, or what his actual name was since he went by like 4. It was a confusing storyline, I was invested only on finishing. My advice, start at the beginning of the series or don’t bother.
December 19, 2017
I'm tired but wanted to comment before a nice nap. Simply another solid Robicheaux mystery. Burke's books are always much more than just mysteries. Great characterization and descriptive scenes that put the read right in the middle of the setting Burke chooses to create. Another winner from James Lee Burke
September 5, 2021
Police Officer, Dave Robicheaux embarks his latest multi-layered investigation through out his city of New Iberia. This case dates back a few decades and involves what appears to be a racially motivated murder, a crucifixion, and some family members with a long term memory.
The book is really well written, often using the literary device of eye dialect to a create stronger sense of character through both accent and perspective. This same device of 'spelling dialogue as it is said' proves extra useful when the antagonists in the book sling racial slurs. It allows the character to be disliked, and frees Bourke from having to put such distasteful language in recognized text (Note: This does mean the book is not a good choice for reading out-loud to the kids before bed time... but then again, neither is the descriptive text around cadavers and crimes).
He language is wonderful, and it really did help establish the feel for southern Louisiana's landscape and cultural norms. Although he could have relaxed a little on introducing every character with a first and a surname. Much like Ian Rankin, this full-naming everyone, like they're naughty children, can often add confusion.
Apart from everyone's full name encompassing much of the alphabet, each character is unique and identifiable. This enables the books subtext of racism, and classism to be presented in a way that is not on the nose or spelled out too directly. I enjoyed what each character bought to the table whether it be an introspective look at my own fortune, a glance into the system impacts of slavery in the south, or an overt warning regarding the dangers of drink driving in a convertible.
My only real gripe with the story was the protagonist's ability to bed his wife without any real preparation (also, there's certain liberties taken with each of his performances.. .a man of his age, not a single 'I just need a minute'..).
If we look at this a little more literally, this is a man who spends his day around dead bodies and fishing boats and at no point did the story reference his hygiene routine. His pheromones must be incredibly potent if they can distract Bootsie from the combination of scent's and trauma that is littered through out his day.
Also, and I'm aware each character needs to be flawed, but Robicheaux kind of leaves her in the house with their child a lot. It's a very dated role she plays. It doesn't take away from the books quality, but on a personal note, I think it would be nice Dave made a bit more effort to include his family in some of the evenings out. Buy a couple of kevlar vests and treat them to some snowcones and a shandy.
Maybe that level of connection isn't important to all women. I guess, there is a certain amount of attraction that women feel to a man who knows his way around a revolver and an outboard motor anyway, but I just think his wife and child could use a bit of socializing. The line between protecting her, and restraining her started to become somewhat blurred. Her only real pleasure seemed to be when he'd treat her to a wonderful bit of physical affection, but then he'd go about his day of solving murders on the bayou.
On a serious note, it's a great story with plenty of action and twists and turns.
Much like the protagonist at the scene of a 20 year old crime, I must admit that I'm late to the party. This is my first book in the series (so I've started at book 10), although I am confident books 1 - 9 are equally as well written I didn't need them in order to jump in at this point and have a good time.
The book is really well written, often using the literary device of eye dialect to a create stronger sense of character through both accent and perspective. This same device of 'spelling dialogue as it is said' proves extra useful when the antagonists in the book sling racial slurs. It allows the character to be disliked, and frees Bourke from having to put such distasteful language in recognized text (Note: This does mean the book is not a good choice for reading out-loud to the kids before bed time... but then again, neither is the descriptive text around cadavers and crimes).
He language is wonderful, and it really did help establish the feel for southern Louisiana's landscape and cultural norms. Although he could have relaxed a little on introducing every character with a first and a surname. Much like Ian Rankin, this full-naming everyone, like they're naughty children, can often add confusion.
Apart from everyone's full name encompassing much of the alphabet, each character is unique and identifiable. This enables the books subtext of racism, and classism to be presented in a way that is not on the nose or spelled out too directly. I enjoyed what each character bought to the table whether it be an introspective look at my own fortune, a glance into the system impacts of slavery in the south, or an overt warning regarding the dangers of drink driving in a convertible.
My only real gripe with the story was the protagonist's ability to bed his wife without any real preparation (also, there's certain liberties taken with each of his performances.. .a man of his age, not a single 'I just need a minute'..).
If we look at this a little more literally, this is a man who spends his day around dead bodies and fishing boats and at no point did the story reference his hygiene routine. His pheromones must be incredibly potent if they can distract Bootsie from the combination of scent's and trauma that is littered through out his day.
Also, and I'm aware each character needs to be flawed, but Robicheaux kind of leaves her in the house with their child a lot. It's a very dated role she plays. It doesn't take away from the books quality, but on a personal note, I think it would be nice Dave made a bit more effort to include his family in some of the evenings out. Buy a couple of kevlar vests and treat them to some snowcones and a shandy.
Maybe that level of connection isn't important to all women. I guess, there is a certain amount of attraction that women feel to a man who knows his way around a revolver and an outboard motor anyway, but I just think his wife and child could use a bit of socializing. The line between protecting her, and restraining her started to become somewhat blurred. Her only real pleasure seemed to be when he'd treat her to a wonderful bit of physical affection, but then he'd go about his day of solving murders on the bayou.
On a serious note, it's a great story with plenty of action and twists and turns.
Much like the protagonist at the scene of a 20 year old crime, I must admit that I'm late to the party. This is my first book in the series (so I've started at book 10), although I am confident books 1 - 9 are equally as well written I didn't need them in order to jump in at this point and have a good time.
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