Creole Belle

Burke is is kind of mystery-thriller writer who makes the likes of Harlan Coban and Dan Brown look like the absurd hacks they are. Burke’s plots are complex and credible (within the confines of the genre, of course, where pistol whippings, murders, etc. are par for the course), his characters rich, his dialogue pitch perfect. I’ve read all the Robicheaux novels. There’s a similarity to the themes (corrupt old money allies with greed and avarice in the form of the mob or other shady characters, like televangelist hucksters) but the plots and characters are complex and well-crafted enough to keep each of them unique. The Billy Bob Holland books of Burke’s are also terrific, in fact I prefer them. But this is just what great, popular, suspend-your-disbelief writing is like.

James Lee Burke never fails to deliver excellence. All of his Dave Robicheaux novels are beautifully crafted, well-delivered portraits of a man troubled by his past, living (mostly) in exquisitely-described New Iberia near New Orleans, full of amazingly vile bad guys and complex good folks. Creole Bell is no exception. It’s a great story, and Burke’s luminous descriptions of the bayous, bays, and backwaters of Louisiana are worth the read all by themselves. This particular story is as much about Dave’s best friend Clete as about Dave, and it presents interesting history on the two men and their family members. The insights into the nature of evil, the weaknesses of the human animal, and long lessons of life captivate me every time. I can never put down a James Lee Burke book–it always gets read in one sitting. He’s a good late-night companion. One of my all time favorite authors, and another stellar book.

After reading some of the other reviews, I still feel drawn to JLB and Dave and Clete. Sure, he’s pushing it with the “aging hero thing”, but his writing is fluid, poetic, violent and wonderful. Having lived in La. all my life I can say for certain that he nails it. His words come off the page in clear, vivid color. I can smell the humid, musty leaves. Taste the Cajun and Creole food and hear the sounds of the swamp. This book was a bit different than the other Robicheaux stories, but that’s what makes it so great. My favorite is “Jolie Blon’s Bounce”. Creole Belle is a bit more colorful in it’s language and the violence is amped up a bit more than some of his previous D.R. stories. If I were to critique it, I’d say that Molly takes a huge backseat to all the other characters. Bring her to the fore again. Politically, Burke/Robicheaux and I differ. Religiously, we do not agree. He paints all non-Catholics as hacks. We’re not. And I’d love to read a prequel or two, or three. Give us a look at the making of the Bobsey Twins. Go back in time to when they were young and just coming home from Nam. Let us see them in NOLA, walking a beat, getting wasted, and kicking a__. Whatever he does, I’ll still read it. I can’t seem to give it up and wait for each installment, impatiently.

This book has been sitting on my shelf for months as I wondered when I would have the time to read it. Last week I pulled it down, hefted it, read the jacket, set it on the table. An hour later I opened it, and all the magic that is Burke filled my head.

I will admit, this would be a tough read if you weren’t familiar with all the backstories and the relationships that have been build in about 20 previous Dave Robichaux/Clete Purcell adventures. How do they do it? How do they get up and keep coming back for more, these two septugenarian pincushions.

Creole Belle is a really long book, but it just flies with so much action, so many interesting evil characters. Which of these characters are really evil and which ones are just part of the complex choices of whodunit? The plot is secondary to the action, and the plot is really quite silly. I kept wondering what it was that Dave and Clete were supposed to know that kept the bad guys after them. Some readers chose to be offended by the intensity of the author’s political ravings. But the book is not about the evils of big business, big oil raping the environment. That’s just part of the stage. I think the book is more about relationships, the dads and the daughters, the recurring characters, the host of indescribably evil people that Dave and Clete inexplicably keep giving second chances to live, which always ends up biting them in the butt. Burke’s ability to keep inventing such horrible characters is just amazing. Somehow, well into the 21st century, he has created the worse Nazi war criminal, ever!

(Spoiler) After about 600 pages the book ends when Dave and Clete stop being wishy-washy and decide to kill all the bad guys and set fire to their hideout. They get shot up pretty bad, lose a lot of blood. How do they do it?

SPOILER ALERT

Considering what transpired in the Dave Robicheaux book, The Glass Rainbow, which preceded Creole Belle, the main protagonist was getting on my nerves!!!

Dave has ALWAYS, been a good man, but he was sooo sanctimonious in this novel it was aggravating as hell!!! Luckily James Lee Burke is a genius and you ignore Dave’s unwarranted behavior.

Buy it, read it and enjoy!!

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