Cadillac Jukebox (Dave Robicheaux Mysteries)

I am madly, deeply in lust/love with Dave Robicheaux AND James Lee Burke. I've lived in the enchanting state of Louisiana my entire life and Burke makes me fall in love with it all over again each time I read one of his novels set here. He's a word magician and that's putting it mildly. For instance:"Each morning after the sun rose out of the swamp and burned the fog away, the sky would harden to such a deep heart-wrenching blue that you felt you could reach up and fill your hand with it like bolls of stained cotton. The air was dry and cool, too, and the dust along the dirt road by the bayou seemed to rise into golden columns of smoke and light through the canopy of oaks overhead. ."Hell, that's almost poetry! And he ain't just all purty words either! The plots are intriguing and compelling. I've read all of his books and feel totally lost when I've finished the latest Dave Robicheaux adventure. Keep 'em coming Mr. Burke!

It isn't often that I have to interrupt my reading and find my companion so I can read passages to him to "share," but this happens a lot with James Lee Burke's books. He has an absolutely beautiful way with descriptions and emotions that go right to my heart. I finished this book in about a day of reading, and even now, two weeks later, can't get the picture of Bootsie standing at the kitchen counter drating potatoes. How's that for memorable writing! Please, please don't abandon this series, Mr. Burke. I want to see Alafair (sp?) grow up!

The sensual strength of the prose here is tense and powerful. His last book, Burning Angel, felt loose and undisciplined, relative to this book and to Black Cherry Blues, which is, in my opinion, his best. Burke's detective, Dave Robicheaux, questions, wonders, risks, leaps, gets involved here - life happens *to* him. This is one of Burke's gifts, allowing the chaos to touch his characters, instead of concentrating on showing how his characters touch the chaos. This is a good read.

When it comes to evoking the "feel" of my home city of New Orleans and the bayous of South Louisiana, James Lee Burke is the best. As usual, his prose is terrific, and, as usual, Dave's got problems with bad guys, old friends, and, as a result, his wife. The only bad thing about the book is the usual: numerous characters and fast paced action that often confuse. But, in the end, they do come together, leaving you wanting more of what had been so confusing.