A review by cusackfan98
Robicheaux by James Lee Burke

4.0

I always drop everything I'm reading to pick up the latest James Lee Burke. The writing is compelling, moving you quickly to the end. Burke's description of the people and physical surroundings of New Orleans is so vivid and idyllic (his small town of New Iberia); makes me want to visit again. But he also doesn't shy away from exposing the seedier side of "The Big Sleazy" as he likes to call it: Post Katrina, mobs/gangsters, poor tenements. I always listen to the audio version so I can here the french words/accents and Will Patton has been narrating these for a number of years. Robicheaux is a troubled man: memories of Viet Nam, working the program in AA, losing his wife, visions of "the boys in Butternut" (Civil War soldiers) marching through the bayou, aging and facing his own mortality. I would give this a 5 but I felt the ending wrapped up to quickly and fell apart. I wanted to hear more about Homer, Emmeline, Smiley, and Alifair's movie project. Otherwise, a very satisfying read.