Heaven's Prisoners (Dave Robicheaux Mysteries)

So many people have been telling me that if I like crime fiction then I should read James Lee Burke. they were right - he can really write...

Good read.

After book one (NEON RAIN) our hero, David Robicheaux (hereinafter DR), has retired from the NOLA police department and opened a bayou fishery up by tapping into his pension. He's also married to his love interest from book one but DR can't avoid a mystery and one stumbles upon him while he's out fishing on the bayou and just like any good fictional detective he pokes his nose into places and...more

After book one (NEON RAIN) our hero, David Robicheaux (hereinafter DR), has retired from the NOLA police department and opened a bayou fishery up by tapping into his pension. He's also married to his love interest from book one but DR can't avoid a mystery and one stumbles upon him while he's out fishing on the bayou and just like any good fictional detective he pokes his nose into places and violent, corrupt people get angry. But the real strengths of this tale (other than it being a solid mystery) are the focuses, as usual, upon the bayou and New Orleans (NOLA) and DR's alcoholism for a dark tragedy comes down upon him and he finds himself drinking that "golden fire" once more. Rarely have I read something that has made me understand the addictions of alcohol and how hard it is to shake off. But even all those reading pleasures are a still a notch down from the character of New Orleans/The Bayou with its balmy heat waves, summer rains, poorboy sandwiches, evening skies that are the color of torn plums, cicadas in the purple haze, fireflies lighting up the trees, and, of course, the charm of not just New Orleans but its French Quarter. That makes it a pleasure to read and bumps up the overall quality of the novel. I look forward to reading the next one. CHARACTER/PLOTTING: B; STORY/PLOTTING: B minus to B; SETTING: B plus to A minus; OVERALL GRADE: B plus; WHEN READ: February to March 2011.   hide

Love this Book

Burke is a virtuoso practitioner of the Southern writing tradition of and rich, sensual imagery, which he couples with taught suspense and explosive, almost hallucinatory violence. Smell the bayou, hear the patois, taste the gumbo, and get inside the protagonist's stubborn honor, PTSD and alcoholic torment. Burke transcend the "crime fiction" genre with all of his Dave Robicheaux...more

Burke is a virtuoso practitioner of the Southern writing tradition of and rich, sensual imagery, which he couples with taught suspense and explosive, almost hallucinatory violence. Smell the bayou, hear the patois, taste the gumbo, and get inside the protagonist's stubborn honor, PTSD and alcoholic torment. Burke transcend the "crime fiction" genre with all of his Dave Robicheaux novels.   hide

James Lee Burke is a friend and I love fishing with him and reading his books.