James Lee Burke

My thanks to the Author publisher's and NetGalley for providing me with a Kindle version of this book to read and honestly review.
The Author is quite simply a Master of the art of storytelling.
Clever engaging intelligent with superb characters throughout. This is the twenty fourth book in the excellent 'Dave Robicheaux' series, though our hero takes a back seat in this story to his friend Clete Purcel. Gripping from first to last page with plenty of humour and wit to soften the threat and violence.
Only this Author could introduce the apparition or ghost if you prefer of Joan of Arc to the mean streets of Louisiana without her seeming out of place to the storyline
Completely and utterly recommended.… (altro)

Heaven's Prisoners is without question one of my favorites of his novels. That rich Louisiana atmosphere and food, oh yes, the food! drew me in completely.

The references to "The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner" were perfect for Dave's thoughts on the violence that is drawn to him. I read that book in high school and to this day if I do a "wrong", I try hard to do a "right" to absolve my feelings of guilt. Will the "rights" make up completely for the "wrongs" done and free the albatross? I question that a lot.

Thank you Mr. Burke for the lovely afternoon, whisking me away to the South and making me too, regret the passing of simpler times.… (altro)

I said farewell to Burke a few years ago, feeling he had done all he could with Dave Robicheaux but hadn't had the sense to let the man die, or retire at the very least. (Also, his cavalier routine killing-off of Dave's various wives pissed me off.) But there's no disputing that in his late 80's the man can still write circles around many of the authors being published on a regular basis. This novel, set in Union-occupied Louisiana during the U. S. Civil War (but not ever on a battlefield), drives that point home. The prose is exquisite; the subject matter grim, graphic and profound. A difficult read, with characters both unlikeable and complex, many of them struggling with guilt over actions they could hardly have avoided. Redemption and self-forgiveness are still Burke's stock-in-trade, and he has handled them very well here.… (altro)

Set in the lates ‘90s in southern Louisiana, Clete is the 24th book in the Dave Robicheaux series by James Lee Burke only, in this novel, Cletus Purcell, Dave’s long-time friend, one-time partner in the police, and now private investigator, is narrator and main protagonist. He had left his prized cadillac at a friend’s car wash for detailing but, when he returns several days later, he finds it being torn apart by three goons linked to the cartels. This will lead him and Dave on a chase to prevent the unleashing of a new and extremely toxic substance.

James Lee Burke is one of America’s greatest writers whose books never disappoint and Clete is a good example of why. At heart, Burke’s tales are about the battle between good and evil but that doesn’t make them simple. Clete, once sidekick, now main protagonist, has a very distinct voice that adds layers to his character and neither he nor the story let up from first page to last. Combining elements of noir, southern Gothic, spirituality and a touch of the supernatural with beautiful, descriptive prose, and complex characters, this is one atmospheric, gritty, often violent, and always compelling read that examines many of the tough issues of the time but that are still as important, if not more so today, and I loved every nail-biting twist and turn of it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review… (altro)