Purple Cane Road

In Burke's latest mystery, lawman Dave Robicheaux searches for answers to his mother's death thirty years earlier. While the title refers to a road along the bayou, Dave's quest reveals the fascinatingly purpled bruise of the rough underside of crime and corruption of south Louisiana. Will Patton brilliantly portrays the succession of cops, thieves, and politicians with the perfect mix of violent intent (or action) and intriguing character. How can he make these bad guys so interesting? Patton has honed these characters, though Burke also introduces new ones in each of the 10 other Robicheaux stories. The abridgment is taut, and the five-hour length allows a more coherent story. Patton just excels. He uses the languid, descriptive prose to capture the colors and scents as they come across the bayou. R.F.W. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine

Starred review from July 31, 2000
HAfter the relatively lightweight Sunset Limited (1998), Cajun cop Dave Robicheaux returns in a powerhouse of a thriller that shows Burke writing near the peak of his form. Robicheaux faces his most personal case yet, when a pimp puts him on the trail of the truth behind his mother's long-ago disappearance. Meanwhile, he uncovers new evidence in the case of death-row inmate Letty Labiche, who took a mattock to the man who molested her as a child, state executioner Vachel Carmouche. Burke parades the usual cast of grotesques: feckless Louisiana governor Belmont Pugh; cold-blooded attorney general Connie Deshotel; sleazy police liaison officer Jim Gable, who "keeps the head of a Vietnamese soldier in a jar of chemicals"; and psychopathic hit man Johnny Remata, who acts as all-around avenging angel. Wife Bootsie's having had a fling with Gable drives Robicheaux into a jealous fury more than once, while daughter Alafair's flirtation with Johnny raises the temperature even higher. Old buddy Clete Purcell doesn't have a lot to do, other than to contribute to the general mayhem. Once Robicheaux learns that his mother fell afoul of a couple of New Orleans cops in the pay of the Giacano crime family, it's a simple matter of identifying the guilty pair and bringing them to justiceDor is it? Burke winds up an often convoluted and gratuitously violent plot with a dynamite ending that will leave readers feeling truly satisfied, if a bit shell-shocked. Major ad/promo; author tour.

Dave Robicheaux is back. If you've never read James Lee Burke, you may be a bit lost. Dave is a character with a history--and it's that history, uncovering the circumstances surrounding the death of a mother he barely knew, that gets him into dangerous waters yet again. As Dave is a little self-absorbed and maudlin, this might be a better choice for the true fan. What a James Lee Burke book has in spades is the atmosphere of bayous, barbeque, and bluegrass. Nick Sullivan steeps his reading in quirky accents and whiskeyed drawls. Each character is easily discernible and fresh. Through a myriad of bit players and convoluted plot twists he offers a thoughtful and entertaining interpretation. D.G. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine