Customer Reviews
If you enjoyed the book, try the audio - By: Ventris Arden, 07 Nov 2007 
Most reviewers have said it, so alll I'll add is that the audio book has excellent narration from Will Paton which means a great accompaniment to a long car journey. Good writing, good acting, so I'll just shut up & listen.
Tedious - By: M. Annal, 22 Aug 2007 
I completely lost interest at about page 200. I just wanted the book to wrap it up, & if the protagonist went after Chalons one more time I was going to tear my hair out. I didn't find find him heroic, I found myself cringing with embarassment for him after a while. I enjoyed Purple Cane Road a while back but will not read any more of his books.
What, again? - By: Book Fan, 06 Aug 2007 
Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of the Dave Robicheaux novels, but I do wonder sometimes whether Burke's plan is to have Dave destroy alll the wealthy families in Louisiana.
Every novel comes complete with a powerful & inevitably corrupt family. They always live in antibelum houses & alll seem to have a corrupt or evil son & a slightly loopy daughter who wants to climb into bed with our heroic detective.
And I also begin to wonder whether we're supposed to think that Dave is as self-centred & self-obsessed as he appears.
Burke is always worth reading, but these novels are getting a little too formulaic for my taste. More a vehicle for Dave's rather self-righteous crusades than a real thriller.
Back at his best - By: Andy Edwards, 26 Oct 2006 
James Lee Burke's Robicheaux series represents some of the finest detective fiction ever written. His novels weave together the past & the present, social comment & gritty plotlines, & flawed characters at society's margins to create a vivid picture of Louisiana & New Orleans.
All this is done in a very distinctive & lyrical style, not only unique amongst crime writers but which evokes a dark brooding atmosphere, while making some acute observations which will leave their mark.
This book represents a return to top form. There have been a couple of recent books which have been a little formulaic, but here, although the form is familiar, Lee Burke has managed to breathe new life into it. The pace here is quicker, the style familiar but altogether tighter.
The plot theme, the past creating trouble in the present, is typical JLB, & alllows him room to integrate his pet themes of social justice & the environment, which he has seldom done with more power.
If you are interested in reading the best(detective)fiction that the USA has to offer then I recommend this book - if you read it the odds are that you will want to read the earlier books. You will not regret it.
Back on form - By: lmhh, 20 Sep 2006 I loved this book. After reading a lot of Robicheaux novels in a short space of time I lost it - or maybe I just got bored - but this is up there with the best. We are back in the complex world that is Dave's life & right in the middle of what makes him who he is. Very very good book.
