Burning Angel

James Lee Burkes Dave Robicheaux series transcends the bounds of detective fiction and deserves the title of literature. Burning Angel, the eighth book in his time-tested series, proves the point. These novels are worth reading for their prose style alone. Theyre written as well as anything Ive read that is deemed Southern literature.

Lyricism and brutality in James Lee Burke

Burkes prose is lyrical when describing the lush environment of rural Louisiana, brutally graphic in passages that describe the ever-present violence. Burkes not for the squeamish. But if you can stand the heat, youll be well rewarded.

In Burning Angel, as in so much of the series, Dave Robicheaux tangles with the New Orleans mob when its tentacles extend into his own territory, New Iberia Parish. This time the Giacano crime family takes a bow. The wounded Vietnam veteran, former New Orleans police lieutenant, now deputy sheriff, and future private investigator finds himself face-to-face with the familys predictably violent and probably deranged soldiers. Key among them is a crafty local thug named Sonny Marsallus, whom Dave knew as a child growing up in Iberia parish.

A cast of characters, familiar and unfamiliar

The series familiar characters are all present. Daves second wife, Bootsie; their adopted daughter, Alafair, now thirteen; the elderly Black man, Batist, who works with Dave in the bait-and-sandwich shop in his back yard; Daves predictably unpredictable former NOPD partner, Cletus Purcel; and an elected sheriff who had no prior police experience. The novel introduces a fresh cast of bad guys, including a corrupt cop, a bent wealthy lawyer, brothel owners, poor local African-Americans, and an assortment of psychopaths associated with the New Orleans mob.

In any one of the Dave Robicheaux novels, you can safely expect that not just Dave but everyone around him, including his wife and daughter, will be threatened with danger. You can also expect Dave to exhibit physical courage to the point of foolhardiness. Clete Purcel is even worse. At times, it appears that the two of them are more violent than the criminals theyre chasing. But its all in what might, at a stretch, be called fun.

This is book 8 of a 23 book series. It was written 25 years ago. First of all, I am a fan of James Lee Burke. I am from Louisiana and understand the culture he writes about.I try to read any series more or less in order. As with any series, after 7-8 books the writer has a lot of repetition.
Burning angel had no plot,story, or ending. It was over 400 pages of filler. At the end of this book, it just stopped. It has a half dozen un answered questions.
I love descriptive writing but I dont need to know how the air smells every time Dave leaves a building. He repeats over and how the sun rises and sets. How the moss looks and the cane field sways in the breeze.
It seemed like most of the characters kept havent flash backs of Viet Nam or Korea-with no connection to the story line. As far as the characters, I just couldnt keep them straight. It was incredible to me that Dave could walk into a restaurant in New Orleans, beat the crap of the head of the mafia while he was surrounded by his body guards and just walk away.
I was thinking if Dave Robicheaux eats another ham and onion sandwich I will just die. Some phrases/words repeated oftenneon,copacetic,ham and onion sandwich,mist, and my favorite, pork pie hat
I will probably lay off a while before read book #9.
In summary, the author was off on this one. I felt like he had a deadline and just filled in the spaces with pulp.

There’s always passages I highlight and page mark. Words and sentences poetic and insightful. I found this book difficult to track particular characters. Found myself getting lost in Paragraphs of dreams and Musings. Then trying to pick back on the line of plot difficult at times. They all dance well for me in this book.

Louisiana with it’s swamps, bayous, coules, heat and damp is a necessary background for the characters that inhabit this novel. It’s got its own rhythms of life and these are woven into the plot. There are some slimy characters doing their evil best to destroy other people who happen to be standing between them a dishonest profit. Lives come cheap to them. Dave Robicheaux is the force of good and along with a cadre of loyal friends try to stand against the evil forces. Some things are left unsolved by story’s end leaving the reader to make his/her own guesses about certain events. I liked the setting of the story. James Lee Burke did an excellent job in his description of southern Louisiana.

I have read them all thru to this one, number 8 in series. I think this must be a bit stream of consciousness. The “Electric Mist” one is the best in series so far. If I was struggling for a good crime thriller I would try number 9 in the series, but am looking for alternatives now. The characters all blend together – not defined clearly. The main character “Dave” is recognisable but seems to use his alcohol and Vietnam experiences as an excuse to act badly. The story meandered slowly. I skimmed. And I do admit I still do not know what it was all about. I am just your average reader with average intelligence – but this made no sense to me. I thought “The Return of the Native” by Thomas Hardy was heavy going but far better than this “Burning Angel” – and actually the Hardy novel was far more easy to understand. Try Michael Connelly the Bosch books every one a number 5 rating. And surely not everyone around New Orleans is involved with the mafia or a racist, as seems the case as depicted by James Lee Burke. Oh yes and the character of “Clete” is really corny. With his dialogue of “podna” and “hey mon” – just sounds silly.

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