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Loading... Pegasus Descending: A Dave Robicheaux Novel (Dave Robicheaux Mysteries) (edition 2006)by James Lee Burke
Work InformationPegasus Descending by James Lee Burke
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. I love James Lee Burke's novels and search for any I haven't read yet whether in thrift stores or book stores. This novel was beautiful. His mysticism and deeply felt emotions are a wonder. ( ) At times I think I've read too many of James Lee Burke's novels. His characters are at times too violent and too out of control. And those are the protagonists not the villains. Pegasus Descending is the 15th Dave Robicheaux story. Robicheaux is an alcoholic who is working hard on his recovery and attends AA meetings and Mass regularly. But he still struggles with demons from childhood, Army service in Vietnam and his years as a New Orleans police officer. In Pegasus Descending there are too many crimes , including murders, to enumerate. Set in the time just before Hurricane Katrina in 2006 casinos in Louisiana have introduced new crimes and criminals. A college freshman woman shoots herself after being gang raped in a fraternity house. Or is it suicide. The son of a wealthy criminal is shot to death and a drug dealer suspected of the crime. But is that a frame. Burke captures the flavor of Louisiana, though I have never been there to confirm that. Someday perhaps. I've now read books 1 through 7, 9, 11, and 15 in the Dave Robicheaux series, and I'm sad to report this will be my last, as each new book seems to reinforce Burke's flaws without building further on his great strengths. There have been no good surprises in several books now. The repetitiveness of the later entries of the Robicheaux series shouldn't detract from Burke's achievement in creating an intriguingly complex hero and a rich and unique environment in which he lives and works. Burke is one of the very best thriller writers from the standpoint of prose style. His descriptions are fine, and when probing human character he never underestimates the reader's capacity to register nuance. You can pick up almost any of these books as your first, and be satisfied. But I'd start at the beginning. January 2007: The latest Dave Robicheaux novel, and one of the best. If you read Burke, you know his special brand of detective fiction--hard boiled, but redemptive. His assessment of humanity is scathing and hopeful at the same time. And Louisiana is a character in every book. This one climaxes just before Hurricane Katrina hit the coast and wiped out much of Southern Louisiana, for decades, if not for always. The plot holds together well in this excellent entry in the Robicheaux series. Burke provides more insight into the Dave-Clete relationship than he has in previous books, and really shows the bond that has formed in these two throughout the years. Burke also does a nice job with the relationships between Dave and Helen Soileau and Dave and Molly. This was some his best character work in several books. no reviews | add a review
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Detective Dave Robicheaux is facing the most painful and dangerous case of his career. A troubled young woman breezes into his hometown of New Iberia, Louisiana. She happens to be the daughter of Robicheaux's onetime best friend--a friend he witnessed gunned down in a bank robbery, a tragedy that forever changed Robicheaux's life. The twists begin when Trish Klein--the only offspring of Robicheaux's Vietnam-era buddy--starts passing marked hundred-dollar bills in local casinos. Is she a good kid gone bad? A victim's child seeking revenge? A promiscuous beauty seducing everyone good within her grasp? And how does her behavior relate to the apparent suicide of another "good" girl, an ace student named Yvonne Darbonne, who apparently participated in a college frat orgy before her death?--From publisher description. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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