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4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
No one writes mysteries like James Lee Burke. The most beautiful writing, the best plotting and the most unforgettable characters.
Clear 3.5, rounded to 4.
This is the first book I've read that's written by JLB. All in all, I can say the experience has been somewhat mixed. I liked the plot, the characters, the story, and clearly see what makes Robicheaux tick. The story is quite simple at its core - a murder investigation that may be the work of a serial killer. It is complicated by juxtaposing it over a murder from many decades ago, that may or may not be related, but Dave happens to have a personal stake in that one as well.
It is quite clever how JLB brings that old murder into context in the present timeline and inquiry. The characters are very good, and their interaction is very believable. In my opinion, the mystery aspect is perhaps not as deep or intricate as in some other books I've read, but from reading other reviews I realized that that perhaps is NOT the point of Robicheaux novels.
The mood JLB creates elevates the story to a whole new level. It lays the mood of the bayou, and though I've never been to that part of the world, I could almost see the mist slowly rising from the water's surface, the thunderclap in the storm, the darkness.
What did not appeal to me was, quite simply, there wasn't enough of any of the above. I was left expecting some more depth, context, background added to the story, some more storytelling built around the central plot. Most importantly since the story is written in first person from Dave's PoV, I was expecting to hear much more of him - about him, about the people around him that he meets, he likes, or dislikes, or remembers... Sure there are snatches, and parts where he remembers old interactions and adds his reflections, where he describes current interactions and overlays his emotions at that moment. But there are too few of those instances, and even when there is something, it was surprisingly brief. Critical interactions and events, key to the storyline and the central premise and plot are described in a handful of words - at most a handful of lines - and we're onto the next day, or Cut - to the next event.
I guess it makes the writing much more terse and emphatic, maybe forceful - I concede. It does, however, take away from the intimacy of knowing a person when he is telling you a story in first person. That to me is the whole point of choosing to write a story in first person - to get to know the character, and to relate to their thoughts and beliefs, their biases, their persona. I didn't find that here.
I will, however, find and read other books in the series. Definitely.
This is the first book I've read that's written by JLB. All in all, I can say the experience has been somewhat mixed. I liked the plot, the characters, the story, and clearly see what makes Robicheaux tick. The story is quite simple at its core - a murder investigation that may be the work of a serial killer. It is complicated by juxtaposing it over a murder from many decades ago, that may or may not be related, but Dave happens to have a personal stake in that one as well.
It is quite clever how JLB brings that old murder into context in the present timeline and inquiry. The characters are very good, and their interaction is very believable. In my opinion, the mystery aspect is perhaps not as deep or intricate as in some other books I've read, but from reading other reviews I realized that that perhaps is NOT the point of Robicheaux novels.
The mood JLB creates elevates the story to a whole new level. It lays the mood of the bayou, and though I've never been to that part of the world, I could almost see the mist slowly rising from the water's surface, the thunderclap in the storm, the darkness.
What did not appeal to me was, quite simply, there wasn't enough of any of the above. I was left expecting some more depth, context, background added to the story, some more storytelling built around the central plot. Most importantly since the story is written in first person from Dave's PoV, I was expecting to hear much more of him - about him, about the people around him that he meets, he likes, or dislikes, or remembers... Sure there are snatches, and parts where he remembers old interactions and adds his reflections, where he describes current interactions and overlays his emotions at that moment. But there are too few of those instances, and even when there is something, it was surprisingly brief. Critical interactions and events, key to the storyline and the central premise and plot are described in a handful of words - at most a handful of lines - and we're onto the next day, or Cut - to the next event.
I guess it makes the writing much more terse and emphatic, maybe forceful - I concede. It does, however, take away from the intimacy of knowing a person when he is telling you a story in first person. That to me is the whole point of choosing to write a story in first person - to get to know the character, and to relate to their thoughts and beliefs, their biases, their persona. I didn't find that here.
I will, however, find and read other books in the series. Definitely.
This is my favorite of James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux books. This is the most mystical, moody, moralistic of his stories. As always, his descriptions of place and scene cannot be beat.
I loved the supernatural all l ligament and the "relationship" between Dave and the major. another strong addition to the series.
This is one of my favorite ever mystery novels. James Lee Burke captures Louisiana so accurately that I can almost smell the boudin in the air. This was also the first one of his books I ever read. It was highly recommended in the New York Times Book Review Genre section and it intrigued me. Even though his schtick gets a bit old, he still conjures up a magical environment and this one is one of his best.
He's my favorite author. Read a Burke book and your in a dark theater by yourself surrounded and engulfed by his images. I've read them all but can only do so once every 3-4 months because in the end they are their message about the human condition is not hopeful.
A Cajun mystery with Detective Robicheaux. The plot involves the mob, a few ghosts, and a serial killer. Burke writes very natural narrative and is quite funny too. The language was a bit strong for me, though.
...cont'd...
In The Electric Mist is the sixth book in the series, and involves a killer targeting young prostitutes and the discovery of a body from decades before, both of which are somehow connected with a movie shooting in the locality and the gangster who is funding it, a man who went to school with Dave. All the familiar elements of a Robicheaux are there, with the exception of Clete Purcel rolling round like a match searching for a powder keg. Dave debates the nature of good and evil with the spirit of a Confederate general while searching for a killer and wrestling with his own demons of drink and violence, his disgust with the venality and self-interest of people around him threatening to overwhelm his own sense of decency.
I got my first James Lee Burke novel, Heaven's Prisoners, from the Cork City library when I was an impoverished, study-shy 19 year old student, and read it under a hot April sun down by the river on the grounds of the University. His books remain as beautiful and potent and profound as they did when I lost whole days to them beside the Lee, and I don't begrudge a single one.
In The Electric Mist is the sixth book in the series, and involves a killer targeting young prostitutes and the discovery of a body from decades before, both of which are somehow connected with a movie shooting in the locality and the gangster who is funding it, a man who went to school with Dave. All the familiar elements of a Robicheaux are there, with the exception of Clete Purcel rolling round like a match searching for a powder keg. Dave debates the nature of good and evil with the spirit of a Confederate general while searching for a killer and wrestling with his own demons of drink and violence, his disgust with the venality and self-interest of people around him threatening to overwhelm his own sense of decency.
I got my first James Lee Burke novel, Heaven's Prisoners, from the Cork City library when I was an impoverished, study-shy 19 year old student, and read it under a hot April sun down by the river on the grounds of the University. His books remain as beautiful and potent and profound as they did when I lost whole days to them beside the Lee, and I don't begrudge a single one.