Synopses & Reviews
For detective Dave Robicheaux, memories including those of a strange and violent summer from his youth are best left alone. But a dying man's confession forces Robicheaux to resurrect a decades-old mystery with a missing woman at its heart. Her name may or may not have been Ida Durbin, and Robicheaux's half brother, Jimmie, paid a brutal price for entering her world. Now the truth will plunge Robicheaux into the manipulations of New Orleans' wealthiest family, into a complex love affair of his own, and into hot pursuit of a killer expanding his territory beyond the Big Easy at a frightening pace.
Review
"Burke's remarkable lyricism hits its most plaintive notes when he re-creates lost moments from the past....Surprise lurking in the crevices of a recurring pattern: that's nature at its most beautiful, and Burke at his most eloquent." Booklist (Starred Review)
Review
"The story is a little crowded, but Burke's well-drawn characters and evocative writing more than compensate. Another winner from a master writer." Library Journal
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"Readers who love beautiful prose do not always enjoy violence, and those who relish violence may grow impatient with Burke's poetry. But if you believe, as he does, that beauty and horror go hand in hand in this life, he can touch you in ways few writers can." The Washington Post
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"Speaking in their weird and wonderful tongues, [Burke's] characters add their voices to a regional story that takes its collective identity from the sum of their lives." Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"[A] mixture as explosive as any in Dave's checkered history, yet clearer in its outlines...Burke's best book in years." Kirkus Reviews
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"[A] mixture as explosive as any in Dave's checkered history, yet clearer in its outlines...Burke's best book in years." Kirkus Reviews
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"Burke is at the top of his game, combining pure storytelling, literary techniques and a strong Southern voice that allows time for reflection and introspection on the human condition." The Oregonian (Portland, OR)
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"What's most impressive is Burke's ability to get the reader completely invested by having Robicheaux become the man on the outside." Chicago Sun-Times
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"Burke's descriptive powers are poetic....With his latest, Burke once again affirms why he is one of the best writers in any genre." Rocky Mountain News
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"James Lee Burke's novels are irresistible....It is, of course, a combination of things. It's his evocation of a place rural Louisiana that is distinctly spooky and odd and completely corrupt. It's the sense that history weighs on Dave Robicheaux, his protagonist, ready to crush him. It's the fact that Burke continues the only genre of literature unique to America the tough-guy novel, invented by Dashiell Hammett and perfected by Raymond Chandler....It's also because he's not afraid to write beautifully about awful things." David Granger, Esquire (read the entire Esquire review)
Synopsis
For detective Dave Robicheaux, memories -- including those of a strange and violent summer from his youth -- are best left alone. But a dying man's confession forces Robicheaux to resurrect a decades-old mystery with a missing woman at its heart. Her name may or may not have been Ida Durbin, and Robicheaux's half brother, Jimmie, paid a brutal price for entering her world. Now the truth will plunge Robicheaux into the manipulations of New Orleans' wealthiest family, into a complex love affair of his own, and into hot pursuit of a killer expanding his territory beyond the Big Easy at a frightening pace.
About the Author
James Lee Burke, a rare winner of two Edgar Awards, is the author of twenty-three previous novels, including such New York Times bestsellers as Bitterroot, Purple Cane Road, Cimarron Rose, Jolie Blon's Bounce, and Dixie City Jam. He lives in Missoula, Montana, and New Iberia, Louisiana.