Crusader's Cross

As always, we are diving through Robicheaux' past - it honestly feels like Dave is in some kind of purgatory where he is required to right all his wrongs, he certainly thinks that. This time we have an event featuring his half-brother, Jimmie. I'm glad to see Jimmie back since he took a powder in one of the first books and hasn't been back again. Anyway, Dave and Jimmie are saved from drowning by a young prostitute, though neither of the boys initially trigs to her profession. Jimmie falls in love and tries to buy her out of the pickle she's in, and then tries to runaway with her - it doesn't go well. Fast forward to Dave's journey through purgatory - an old con gives Dave a death-bed confession that suggests the girl was murdered. show more Dave, who lost his badge in the last book, gets it back, of course, because of a serial killer at work int he area, and goes on the hunt for the serial and whoever murdered the girl, pulling Jimmie into the fray. Oh, and Dave marries a lapsed nun along the way - now he has confession opportunities right at home.

This one feels like Burke got himself back on track after losing that old rhythm with the last book a bit.

5 bones!!!!!
Highly Recommended! show less

Since we were on our way to Louisiana as a way to celebrate retirement I decided I should read some of the books by James Lee Burke that I had sitting on my shelf. Crusader’s Cross is #15 in the Dave Robicheaux series and takes place mostly in New Iberia but New Orleans and other places are also mentioned. It was a great way to remind me of how Burke describes the Louisiana countryside.
When the book opens Dave is reminiscing about a summer he and his half-brother, Jimmie, spent a summer working on a seismograph crew along the Louisiana-Texas coastline. They worked 10 days on and 5 days off and they spent their off time on Galveston Island. They got to know a young prostitute named Ida and Jimmie fell hard for her. They planned to run show more off to Mexico together but before they could Ida disappeared. Dave always figured Ida’s pimp had her killed but Jimmie thought she was perhaps still alive. Dave had almost forgotten about Ida but an old college classmate made a dying confession to him about her and Dave felt he had to follow up on it. He has recently retired as a detective for the New Iberia Sheriff’s office. His wife, Bootsie, died and his daughter, Alafair, is away at college. In order to investigate the case about Ida he asks for his old job back and the sheriff agrees provided he help with a murder case that looks like it might the work of a serial killer. Both investigations seem to involve the wealthy Chalons family and Dave hardly seems to move without running across one of the Chalons. In the course of his investigations he meets and falls in love with a nun by the name of Molly Burke. Fans of the later Robicheaux books will recognize that Molly becomes his fourth wife. That romance provides one bright spot in a book that has lots of violence and corruption.
I hope that I won’t experience the dark side of Louisiana on this trip; but I am pumped to experience the beauty and culture. show less

Pairing Will Patton and James Lee Burke's Cajun protagonist, Dave Robicheaux, was genius. Patton grew up on South Carolina and went to a school for the arts in North Carolina, so he comes by his accents both through upbringing and avocation. The Dave Robicheaux series calls New Iberia, Louisiana, home base, with excursions to other parishes as well as New Orleans. Burke has a touch of Hemingway about him, and his books frequently detour to provide intimate descriptions of the local people and landscape.

I'm still learning to appreciate audio books. Kobna Holdbrook Smith and the Peter Grant series are one of the few that can reliably keep my attention. However, as I'm commuting a little farther these days, I'm giving audio another go. One show more of the challenges I've discovered is that for me, audio versions give equal weight to the entire story. Every chapter evolves at the same speed, as does the entire book. My physical reads pace very differently; the beginning is slow and thorough, but if it's a great story, I read faster and faster as the tension rises. Dull books get similar treatment--I also get faster, but mostly because I've switched to skimming. So one of the aspects of audio for me is that I end up paying far closer attention than I might when reading physical books.

Experiencing the story by audio read made weaknesses in Burke's storytelling apparent. Primarily, though billed as a 'mystery'/'detective fiction,' this barely qualifies. Ostensibly, there are two mysteries, that of a young woman who disappeared soon after meeting Dave and his half-brother, Jimmy, a couple decades ago, and that of a serial killer who seems to be targeting suburban housewives. Dave gets involved in the hunt for the killer by going back to the Iberia sheriff's department and asking his boss, Helen, for his detective job back. They certainly do things different in the south, because this seems perfectly acceptable to all involved and he's soon assigned to the multi-jurisdiction investigation.

Meanwhile, some incident that happened early on gets Dave rethinking about Ida Rubin. Mostly, it's a lovely opportunity for Burke to indulge in some memories of when Dave and his brother were working oil rigs pre-college, spending time and money hanging on the coast between jobs. It becomes apparent to both of them that Ida is working as a prostitute, although it turns out, an unwilling one. However, just as she and Jimmy are about to head to Mexico, she disappears.

Yet despite the terrors and horrors happening to these women, long swathes of the book are devoted to Dave's personal problems. A reporter and, more importantly, brother of a woman who seems to be interested in Dave, come to blows. An incident where Dave gets blackout-level drunk becomes the basis for a weak plot point. Given it is book 14 in the series, I had been hoping we'd be past the alcoholic demons of the first few books. Dave makes another impetuous decision that changes his life. There are about three moments where Dave 'works' on the case of the serial killer, and honestly, everything he accomplished could have been done as a P.I. In fact, should have been done as a P.I., as he uses virtually no legal or ethical methods.

In other words, what I discovered as I listened to Patton's melodic descriptions, is that I don't like Dave very much. He's a dry drunk, about as illogical a detective as I've ever seen, and prone to making accusations and getting in fights because of his 'gut' feeling. He makes decisions that result in physical violence, and put him in a corner where it's him against the world, and conveniently, a perfect excuse for either drinking or condescending judgement of others. In this book, he's particularly hard on women, and the visits to the murder scenes seemed a more about violence-porn than moments of compassion or empathy.

I also have to note--because this is flat-out weird--that there are about four instances of Dave using the word 'phallus,' describing a guy in a swimsuit and another guy at the urinal. I'll be perfectly content to never run into the word again in a mystery novel. I'm honestly not sure what was going on there.

In regards to plotting, I'd have to say this was weak, and couldn't recommend it to people who are more focused on the mystery-detective plotting. The narrative left Dave a few times for viewpoints of three other characters, which was a little confusing. I couldn't tell if this was Dave speaking 'as told to me by __,' or if it was an actual narrative switch. The reveal of the serial killer was a huge disappointment and provided no narrative resolution.

All of that said, I enjoyed Burke's descriptions of Louisiana and its people, and Patton's ability to capture the richness and cadences was lovely. Patton's voicing of the characters was varied and entertaining; I was surprised by his voice for the impetuous Clete Purcell, but I found I rather enjoyed it. Result? I'll listen to another of Burke's books as read by Patton. But I sincerely hope there's not as much phallus in it.

Verdict?
Patton's reading: four solid stars
Audio editing: three stars (seriously, fix those chapter transitions)
Plotting: one star
Writing: three stars show less

James Lee Burke is one of the best, but I think his more recent books just rehash the plots of some of the other ones. Crusader's Cross felt like I had read it all before: Dave Robicheaux acts holier than thou, Clete Purcell beats someone up, a shoot out in a hunting cabin on stilts, colorful mob characters, a drunk/insane lady hits on Dave, a serial killer, Dave's wife is kidnapped, the three-legged racoon . . . .

It's like all the components are on the computer and a program rearranges them, picks new names, and prints it out. Maybe Roald Dahl was right -- these books are all written by the Great Automatic Grammatizator!

Another good installment with Dave, although the ending was a little predictable. Good stuff about alcoholism. Dave (Burke?) tends to express the false alternative that degenerate individuals have either a sociological or theological source, when criminal personalities stem from the potentialities of our civilization and our species.

In the fourteenth Dave Robicheaux novel, a face from the past that has haunted Dave since he was 20 re-emerges. Dave and his brother Jimmie had long since thought Ida Durbin was dead. But when some odd events start occurring, Ida's death becomes more and more suspect, and all signs lead back to the wealthy Chalons family.

Meanwhile, someone is on the loose killing women in Baton Rouge. The Baton Rouge serial killer hits close to home when he kills a young woman Dave interviewed and then dumps one of his victims in New Iberia Perish.

Dave, Clete, Helen, and Molly, Dave's new love interest, all find themselves wrapped up in murder and mayhem as Dave tries to unravel all the mysteries.

Once again, James Lee Burke has created a poetic show more masterpiece. While Crusader's Cross probably doesn't rank among my favorite Robicheaux novels, it's still among the elite in the world of crime fiction. Burke is known for his exquisite setting development and how accurately it reflects the Louisiana Bayou. His development also mimics the slow, easy pace of the Deep South. Crusader's Cross stays true to this form.

Valentine Chalons is a repulsive antagonist coming from an extremely dysfunctional, wealthy, southern family. Lou Cale/Coin is equally repulsive. Yet, I still feel sorry for them when Dave "loses it" and sinks to their levels. Dave Robicheaux is one of the most unique characters in crime fiction in the sense that you don't always cheer him on. He has such realistic human qualities, and those qualities include a side that isn't always lovable or endearing. Robicheaux is constantly battling evil and sometimes that evil just drags him right down with it. Helen does her best to keep Dave out of the slime, but sometimes even that isn't enough. In Crusader's Cross, Helen gives Dave his shield back only to have to park him on desk duty almost immediately afterward.

Clete is Clete. There is no comparison to Clete, a walking contradiction. He's as devoted a friend as any fictional character will find, but as usual the lengths he'll go to prove that devotion are often frightening.

Dave is on wife number four with Molly. I worry for her safety. His previous wives haven't had such a good go of things! But, Molly fits Dave's type. She's a rebel; she's down-to-earth; and she's a scrapper.

The dynamics of the characters as well as the relationships between them is pure gold and pure Burke.

I listened to this book on audio, and I'm afraid it's going to be my last Dave Robicheaux audio book. Will Patton was the reader, and while I truly enjoy Patton's work in films, I did not enjoy his reading of Dave Robicheaux. I know the major factor is because I've mentally established Mark Hammer's voice as Dave Robicheaux's voice. However, I do have some particular details in addition to my preference for Hammer. Patton was very dramatic, and this novel is told from the perspective of Robicheaux who would never, in my interpretation, be dramatic. And he certainly wouldn't have a breathlessly dramatic sound. Even though Burke's descriptions are often breath-taking for the reader, it's common place for Dave; he lives in it every day. In addition, the man who corrects his adopted daughter on her speech would not say "da" in place of "the" or use a hard "t" sound on a th consonant blend.

As with all Dave Robicheaux novels, there were many French-derived names present. Patton didn't seem to pronounce them as fluidly as Hammer always did. The accents, the stresses, the pronunciations just flowed in Hammer's readings and Patton has a more jerky style when he stresses certain syllables in those French pronunciations. It sounds almost like he's having difficulty pronouncing them.

Then there's the role of Clete Purcell. Never in a million years would I have imagined Clete to sound the way Patton read his role. There simply are not words. However, I do believe he missed a significant amount of the sarcasm that is essential to Clete's character. I didn't laugh anywhere near as much with Clete as when I've read a book myself or listened to Hammer's reading.

I know that it isn't fair to compare the two readers; each is his own person with his own style. And I've heard many people who loved Patton's reading. But I've created an image of Robicheaux in my mind, my imagination, and Hammer nailed that image (pun intended - ha!). This reading simply didn't measure up to the perfection of Hammer as Robicheaux. show less

Meh. I'm not really sure how to review this. I've followed the Dave Robicheaux novels forever (albeit not always in order). Usually I love them and would give it 5 stars without hesitation. This one certainly contained all the elements of the series: the flashbacks, the little glimpses of bayou life, the sometimes almost comical by-play between characters. I loved the way the title tied in this time too: Dave on a cross (Isn't he always?), a nun, and of course, with one of the murders.
The characters didn't disappoint either. Dave was just as... well, Dave... as always, although towards the end of the book, he gets a little too "sunlight and fluffy bunnies" for my taste. But hey, character development happens. Besides, he's been bagged show more on enough, he's deserved a little sunlight. Clete is his usual over-the-top, psychotic, unrepentant self, and Helen is as sardonic as always. Dave's brother is in this one, and he struck me as an obsessive mook.
Ida Durbin was probably my one sore point in the characters, because I simply didn't care. She was nothing but a memory and a phantom through most of the book, and she could have stayed that way for all I cared. The way Dave and his brother met her was funny, but that was about it. When she disappeared, I didn't care if she was dead or not. I continued to not care clear through to the final page. I didn't hate her, because to hate, you have to care. I didn't, at all. She was nothing but words on a page that I had to get through to get back to something I cared about.
Even with that, I would give it 5 stars...
But then I get to the murder mystery part. There I had an issue. Maybe it was because I read the first half of the book, then had to put it aside for a few months because life got in the way. Up to the point at which I found out who the killer was, it was really going well with plenty of twists and turns. I was really interested to find out who the killer was, and who's theory was right. Then I did find out... and went "Huh? Why?" I still feel like I missed some key point that would have clarified it all for me, yet I can't figure out how I could have missed anything that major if it was there.
As such, from that angle, it barely chokes out 3 stars.
So, I suppose I'll give it 4. As a part of the series, it fit in very nicely, and there was some very nice character development, and I certainly wouldn't suggest not reading it if you enjoy Mr. Robicheaux and his group. I mostly read these because I enjoy the characters anyway. It may be my own fault I feel like I don't know everything I should know, and because of that, I'll put it in my list of books to reread to see if I catch on the second time around. show less