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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
https://www.danscanon.com/2020/05/black-cherry-blues-by-james-lee-burke.html
No one writes mysteries like James Lee Burke. The most beautiful writing, the best plotting and the most unforgettable characters.
It was a decent read but it's not in the big leagues.
If I were to teach a creative writing class, I think I'd use the first three Dave Robicheaux novels as text. The growth from book one, Neon Rain, through #2 Heaven's Prisoners, and into #3 Black Cherry Blues is a wonder to behold.
#1 is a well written intro that contained all the things a novel needs to make it worth reading.
#2 is an over-written continuation that stumbles off the road and into the woods. (See: Philip Pullman for an explanation.) Heaven's Prisoners is still a good story, just weighed down with writing.
#3 is like watching Cassius Clay become Muhammed Ali. Burke gets control of his writing, and thus his locales, characters, and philosophizing. David Robicheaux becomes a real character, a person, not just a series of surfaces in service to a plot. I'd say that except for the bad guys, who remain more caricature, everyone in Dave's orbit gets filled out. Maybe the move to Montana provided the fresh air necessary to breathe life into the series. Whatever, it worked.
Worth the read, I'm on to #4, and as usual, I'm sure you'll get the plot summary somewhere.
#1 is a well written intro that contained all the things a novel needs to make it worth reading.
#2 is an over-written continuation that stumbles off the road and into the woods. (See: Philip Pullman for an explanation.) Heaven's Prisoners is still a good story, just weighed down with writing.
#3 is like watching Cassius Clay become Muhammed Ali. Burke gets control of his writing, and thus his locales, characters, and philosophizing. David Robicheaux becomes a real character, a person, not just a series of surfaces in service to a plot. I'd say that except for the bad guys, who remain more caricature, everyone in Dave's orbit gets filled out. Maybe the move to Montana provided the fresh air necessary to breathe life into the series. Whatever, it worked.
Worth the read, I'm on to #4, and as usual, I'm sure you'll get the plot summary somewhere.
Definitely a 4. While I enjoyed it, I feel like it was wrapped up a little too neatly. Could have easily carried into the next book.
meh... really, it was just okay. Quite a bit different from the first 2 books, but I'm really over Dave Robicheaux, unfortunately. This book seems to be filled with dreams - A LOT OF IT, with a lot of dead people in it... enough said.
This is good storytelling. Even if it's a bit confused and slow to start Burke's storytelling is miles above the rest. Robicheaux is still swimming through the lost tragic and traumatic lost of his wife Annie, his past comes back to bite him in the behind and he might, just might have stepped into a bit of a mess that will put him in jail and much worst unless he finds a way to make sense of it all. Not all black, definitely no white knight, Robicheaux lives in a world of grey and where the choices are never, never easy and life is hard with burst of vivid colours.
I liked it. Really good, modern noir. Not as tightly structured as the first two novels but still, Burke delivers a gripping tale of deceit, despair and greed.
I liked it. Really good, modern noir. Not as tightly structured as the first two novels but still, Burke delivers a gripping tale of deceit, despair and greed.
Okay, I love Mr. Burke's short stories. This is the first novel of his I've read. And while I thoroughly enjoyed it and plan to read more soon, I really hope there aren't quite so many trees in them. Honestly this book had more trees in it than any I've ever read. Anywhere and everywhere Dave Robicheaux goes, he makes sure to let me know what kind of trees are nearby. That aspect wore on me a little bit, but everything else about the book I enjoyed. It was maybe a little uneven and began slowly but soon more than made up for any shortcomings I might have perceived.
Audiobook: James LeeBurke is a master. His writing is vivid, the characters well-drawn, and the plots intriguing. Dave Robicheaux is an ex-New Orleans cop whose-partner, Dixie Lee, now a “lease-man” for an oil company thinks he has overheard two other lease men discussing burying a body. Unsure as to what he heard and what to do about it, he seeks Dave’s help. In the meantime Dave chain-whips a bad guy (he really should have known better) and the guy turns up dead so Dave is facing a murder charge. He’s been a homicide detective but apparently has little faith in their ability to solve the crime and find the real killer so he heads for Montana to sort things out
where his murder charge is resolved (are you really surprised) in the midst of Native Americans fighting against a land hungry oil company (that’s probably a redundancy).
There was something a bit off about this novel. Perhaps it was that Dave was no longer in Louisiana; perhaps it was the -- to my mind -- excessive guilt-ridden self-examination that seems more a plea for forgiveness from others than seeking to understand himself; perhaps it was the excessively slow cadence of the reader who I normally like very much (Will Patton); perhaps it was the implausible plot and would you take your six-year-old daughter on a dangerous mission? or, perhaps it was that I didn’t get the same sense of place that usually pervades Burke’s Louisiana Robicheax novels. Then again it might have been the outrageous way he solves the case.
Personally, had I been the social worker, there is no way I would ever have placed Alifair with Dave given the level of violence with which he surrounds himself.
But he does write beautifully.
where his murder charge is resolved (are you really surprised) in the midst of Native Americans fighting against a land hungry oil company (that’s probably a redundancy).
There was something a bit off about this novel. Perhaps it was that Dave was no longer in Louisiana; perhaps it was the -- to my mind -- excessive guilt-ridden self-examination that seems more a plea for forgiveness from others than seeking to understand himself; perhaps it was the excessively slow cadence of the reader who I normally like very much (Will Patton); perhaps it was the implausible plot and would you take your six-year-old daughter on a dangerous mission? or, perhaps it was that I didn’t get the same sense of place that usually pervades Burke’s Louisiana Robicheax novels. Then again it might have been the outrageous way he solves the case.
Personally, had I been the social worker, there is no way I would ever have placed Alifair with Dave given the level of violence with which he surrounds himself.
But he does write beautifully.