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Detective Dave Robicheaux returns in another adventure--only this time, he travels from New Iberia Parish to the wilds of Montana to solve the mysterious murder of a University of Montana coed and her boyfriend.Tags
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I am not new to the Dave Robicheaux novels, but it has been a long time since I read one. Burke is one of those authors whose work has gotten a bit too violent and downright gratuitously bloody for me, so I hesitated before I picked this book up. However, I was driving cross country to Montana, and decided that I would give it a try. I found the descriptions of the country wonderful, and to my surprise found this novel to be one in which the good guys were good guys and the bad guys, well bad guys. There were characters who interested me, and made me care about them. In fact there were a whole raft of them, plus many of them started out bad, and then redeemed themselves. In fact I liked them so much that I cheered out loud for them. It show more was a good thing that I was alone in the car. There wasn't overt descriptions of violent horrible torture and death, but the novel was still edgy. That is a delicate balance for an author to keep and Burke did it well in this novel. In fact, this novel redeemed Burke for me and moved him back into my radar sights as a mystery author that I wouldn't mind reading in the future. What kept this from being an outstanding mystery, with a higher rating, was that the mystery part of the novel was rather mundane. What kept my interest were the wonderful characters and their moral development during the course of the novel. show less
Swan Peak is the seventeenth book in James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux series and, by now, longtime fans of the series probably know Dave Robicheaux and Clete Purcell better than they know their own real life first cousins (and might even enjoy their company more). What makes Swan Peak different from other Robicheaux novels, though, is that it is the first book in the series to be set entirely someplace other than in south Louisiana, home base for Robicheaux and his sidekick. But even in Montana, Robicheaux and Purcell, being who they are, manage to attract the attention of the same kind of people who have caused them so much grief in New Orleans and New Iberia for several decades.
Being one of the good guys (and these two, despite show more their numerous flaws, are definitely two of the good guys), even while on summer vacation, is not always easy. It is especially not easy for Clete Purcell who cannot control his mouth when he is hassled by two thuggish security guards for inadvertently camping overnight on private property. And it is not easy for Dave Robicheaux for one simple reason: he is Purcell’s best friend, and nothing about being Purcell’s friend is easy. Dave, his wife, Molly, and Clete may have come to Montana for a little R&R and lots of fishing, but very little fishing, and even less R&R, is what they get.
When a pair of college students is brutally murdered on a hill that overlooks the property they are staying on, Dave and Clete find themselves slowly sucked into the crime’s investigation, an investigation that soon threatens to blow up in their faces when every rock they overturn unmasks yet another lowlife pervert willing to do whatever it takes to remain under the radar of local cops and the FBI.
A James Lee Burke novel is one to be savored and, unlike most novels of its type, Burke’s books do not make for quick reading. Swan Peak, containing several subplots and numerous characters that sometimes cross from one plotline to another, is no exception, demanding to be read with a certain degree of attention if its full impact is to be felt.
Along the way, we meet both a Texas prison guard searching for the escaped prisoner who almost stabbed him to death and that prisoner, a talented country singer and picker who has come to Montana to find the woman he still loves, herself at one time a successful hillbilly singer. But before he can find the man he so badly wants to hurt, the guard finds Candace, a waitress who sees good in him that he does not even see in himself. There are the Wellstone brothers, unscrupulous oil operators from Houston, one of them terribly disfigured by burns but married to the very woman for whom the escaped prisoner is searching. And then there are characters like the sexual predator and tent preacher, Sonny Click, and the insane serial killer who delights in killing in the most painful ways imaginable – lots of characters, lots of subplots, all masterfully tied together by the end of the book into yet another powerful chapter in the lives of Dave Robicheaux and Cletus Purcell.
Rated at: 5.0 show less
Being one of the good guys (and these two, despite show more their numerous flaws, are definitely two of the good guys), even while on summer vacation, is not always easy. It is especially not easy for Clete Purcell who cannot control his mouth when he is hassled by two thuggish security guards for inadvertently camping overnight on private property. And it is not easy for Dave Robicheaux for one simple reason: he is Purcell’s best friend, and nothing about being Purcell’s friend is easy. Dave, his wife, Molly, and Clete may have come to Montana for a little R&R and lots of fishing, but very little fishing, and even less R&R, is what they get.
When a pair of college students is brutally murdered on a hill that overlooks the property they are staying on, Dave and Clete find themselves slowly sucked into the crime’s investigation, an investigation that soon threatens to blow up in their faces when every rock they overturn unmasks yet another lowlife pervert willing to do whatever it takes to remain under the radar of local cops and the FBI.
A James Lee Burke novel is one to be savored and, unlike most novels of its type, Burke’s books do not make for quick reading. Swan Peak, containing several subplots and numerous characters that sometimes cross from one plotline to another, is no exception, demanding to be read with a certain degree of attention if its full impact is to be felt.
Along the way, we meet both a Texas prison guard searching for the escaped prisoner who almost stabbed him to death and that prisoner, a talented country singer and picker who has come to Montana to find the woman he still loves, herself at one time a successful hillbilly singer. But before he can find the man he so badly wants to hurt, the guard finds Candace, a waitress who sees good in him that he does not even see in himself. There are the Wellstone brothers, unscrupulous oil operators from Houston, one of them terribly disfigured by burns but married to the very woman for whom the escaped prisoner is searching. And then there are characters like the sexual predator and tent preacher, Sonny Click, and the insane serial killer who delights in killing in the most painful ways imaginable – lots of characters, lots of subplots, all masterfully tied together by the end of the book into yet another powerful chapter in the lives of Dave Robicheaux and Cletus Purcell.
Rated at: 5.0 show less
Swan Peak is James Lee Burke's usual -- meaning it's beautifully written, with characters that make you want to scream and cry. The difference for this installment is location. Dave Robicheaux has moved to Montana to get away from things in New Iberia and the New Orleans area. But trouble finds him anyway.
The use of first person and third person POVs has broadened the potential of Burke's stories. We now have more insight into the dark recesses of Clete Purcell's mind than ever before. It's fascinating. And it leaves me feeling in need of some of his whiskey. Or whatever he's drinking at the moment. That's a dark hole that houses Clete's mind.
The character of Nix makes you want to believe in hell. Then Burke goes ahead and makes him show more start changing, so he becomes almost sympathetic and you have a hard time hating him. Dammit. And then Burke goes and redeems him -- the story's villain -- and turns the victim into the bad guy, albeit briefly. I still think Nix is rotten deep down, but he showed a shred of humanity. It was his victim that couldn't get past the sins perpetrated against him that put him in Nix's place. How's that for a plot twist.
One of my favorite lines, demonstrative of Burke's ability to create an image:
"…inhaling a breath that was as sharp as a razor in his throat."
Don't tell me you don't feel that.
Another of my favorite passages demonstrates Burke's deft hand with a thoughtful moment for Dave, where he sums up so simply and eloquently the philosophy of Dave Robicheaux and how he sees his world:
"But if there is a greater lesson in what occurred inside that clearing, it's probably the simple fact that the real gladiators of the world are so humble in their origins and unremarkable in appearance that when we stand next to them in a grocery-store line, we never guess how brightly their souls can burn in the dark.
Or at least that's the way it seems to me." show less
The use of first person and third person POVs has broadened the potential of Burke's stories. We now have more insight into the dark recesses of Clete Purcell's mind than ever before. It's fascinating. And it leaves me feeling in need of some of his whiskey. Or whatever he's drinking at the moment. That's a dark hole that houses Clete's mind.
The character of Nix makes you want to believe in hell. Then Burke goes ahead and makes him show more start changing, so he becomes almost sympathetic and you have a hard time hating him. Dammit. And then Burke goes and redeems him -- the story's villain -- and turns the victim into the bad guy, albeit briefly. I still think Nix is rotten deep down, but he showed a shred of humanity. It was his victim that couldn't get past the sins perpetrated against him that put him in Nix's place. How's that for a plot twist.
One of my favorite lines, demonstrative of Burke's ability to create an image:
"…inhaling a breath that was as sharp as a razor in his throat."
Don't tell me you don't feel that.
Another of my favorite passages demonstrates Burke's deft hand with a thoughtful moment for Dave, where he sums up so simply and eloquently the philosophy of Dave Robicheaux and how he sees his world:
"But if there is a greater lesson in what occurred inside that clearing, it's probably the simple fact that the real gladiators of the world are so humble in their origins and unremarkable in appearance that when we stand next to them in a grocery-store line, we never guess how brightly their souls can burn in the dark.
Or at least that's the way it seems to me." show less
Dave Robicheaux's further adventures with good and evil. Burke's writing hit some poetic highs in this one, but it had the usual dose of brutality as well, and just a bit too much of the author indulging his inner philosopher/preacher--I found myself shaking the book and muttering "Get on with the story, Jim, please". Burke also changed POV from first person Robicheaux to omniscient author and back multiple times. Although he has done that before, particularly using third person narrative from Clete Purcel's perspective, this time it was more pervasive and distracting, I thought. After Tin Roof Blowdown, I was relieved to find that Burke does apparently still believe in redemption and that some people are better than they know show more themselves to be. But I keep hoping for Dave to find some peace, and for Clete to finally self-destruct. Because that's where their lives ought to be trending, and it might be time for them to get there. show less
Another good Robicheaux read. He brought in a lot of strings but pulled them together at the end. ully established a sense of place. Montana was the back drop instead of Louisiana but he successfAs usual full of sharp jibes and glib retorts and Burke/Robicheaux philosophizing. But Robicheaux and Purcell are getting old.
Robicheaux and his wife take Cletus Purcell to cool down and recover in Montana, fish and relax. No one thinks that is going to happen and Clete immediately runs afoul of the wealthiest land owner in the area, though it becomes clear that some of Clete's past is about to catch up with him. There's a murder, a couple college kids, out back of the ranch house where they're staying, as well. Dave ends up working for the local sheriff to help solve it and that leads to corruption, serial murder, and a bad religious man. Dave can't escape his life, his history, or his pet peeves by going to Montana, neither can Clete.
Honestly, though, Mr. Burke, can we just keep Dave in Louisiana, please.
4 1/2 bones!!!!!
Highly Recommended!
Honestly, though, Mr. Burke, can we just keep Dave in Louisiana, please.
4 1/2 bones!!!!!
Highly Recommended!
I am often repelled by the violence and sadism in Burke's books, but there is something about his prose, his love for his setting, that keeps me coming back. Swan Peak was set in my favorite part of the country, the border between Montana and Idaho. My husband and I drove over the Lolo Pass and Burke's descriptions of the landscape brought that trail to life for me. Clete Purcel was the star of this novel and I wished we had heard more from Molly. The fugitive guitar playing country singer Jimmy Dale was my favorite character.
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ThingScore 63
Swan Peak is a deeply confused book, and so must its author be, realizing–even as he writes on autopilot–that his mouthpiece Robicheaux, occasionally even speaking in first person, is a violent sociopath, immune to human emotion, and totally detached from reality.
added by Shortride
Despite the story’s length and complexity, Burke’s view of the world is more explicit than ever: noble intentions baffled by long-festering damage from war and alcoholism, and beneath it all the determination of the rich and powerful to keep their perks. ... Like all Dave’s adventures, a tale of violent conflict whose deepest violence boils inside the heroes.
added by Roycrofter
Author Information
121+ Works 38,425 Members
James Lee Burke, winner of two Edgar awards, is the author of nineteen previous novels, many of them "New York Times" bestsellers, including "Cimmaron Rose", Cadillac Jukebox", & "Sunset Limited". He & his wife divide their time between Missoula, Montana, & New Iberia, Louisiana. (Publisher Provided)
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Swan Peak
- Original title
- Swan Peak
- Original publication date
- 2008-07
- People/Characters
- Dave Robicheaux; Clete Purcel
- Important places
- Missoula, Montana, USA; Louisiana, USA
- Dedication
- For our son, James L. Burke III, and his wife, Kara, and their son, James L. Burke IV
- First words
- Clete Purcel had heard of people who sleep without dreaming, but either because of the era and neighborhood in which he had grown up, or the later experiences that had come to define his life, he could not think of sleep as a... (show all)nything other than an uncontrolled descent into a basement where the gargoyles turned somersaults like circus midgets.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)All of these things will happen of their own accord, without my doing anything about them, and for some strange reason, I take great comfort in that fact.
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