Light of the World

September 30, 2013
Will Patton has read several Burke books before, and that experience shows. In this audio edition of the author’s 20th crime novel featuring Louisiana detective Dave Robicheaux, Patton boasts a confidence that can only come from experience. Robicheaux is a melancholy character, naturally enough given his life experiences, which included a stint in Vietnam and the death of his father in an oil rig explosion. Patton is completely convincing in the part, offering a perfect Cajun accent to accompany his sorrowful tone and pacing. This time around, Robicheaux and his family are trying to relax in Montana, but a murderer who escaped from prison targets his journalist daughter. Patton proves equally effective at portraying the book’s other characters, regardless of gender. Given the book’s conflict, providing the bad guy with a distinctive and menacing voice is crucial—and Patton succeeds there as well. A Simon & Schuster hardcover.

This very bloody book features a crazed serial killer who arrives in Montana about the same time that Louisiana sheriff's detective David Robicheaux gets there for a vacation with family and friends. Will Patton's narration of this entry into the series is, with a few exceptions, top-notch. Patton's thick Southern drawl is a good match for the book's lush prose, and he masterfully renders Clete Purcel, Robicheaux's gravelly voiced best friend. The point of view is Robicheaux's, though, and he sometimes lectures readers about politics or sociology. Patton sounds no less pedantic delivering those lines. Also, Patton slows the pace to that of a poetry reading when Burke gets into a descriptive mode, a style that only draws attention to the occasional over-the-top prose. A good, not great, listen. G.S.D. (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine