Swan Peak: A Dave Robicheaux Novel

There are enough plot summaries here, so my attention turns to the meaning of Burke's offerings. 'Then one of those strange and unexpected moments occurred, the kind that makes you feel every human being carries a secret well of sorrow whose existence he or she daily denies in order to remain functional.' (p. 156) At its heart, Burke's writing shows us that the meaning of life is how each of us deals with pain; and how for so many our pain is concealed by all manner and degrees of destructive behavior against self and others. The juxtaposition of how his achingly beautiful prose embroiders this wrenchingly ugly truth takes my breath away. His violence is not gratuitous, but always connected to a story of the agony which spawns it. Most of us probably don't manage our pain in such extreme ways. But if his journey into the darkness of the human soul helps us see how our own layers of the personality onion protect our tender core, it will be for the better of all.

Swan Peak by James Lee Burke is the 16th book in his Dave Robicheaux series, and this novel is dark, evil and wonderfully written. Detective Dave Robicheaux hails from New Iberia, Louisiana. He's spending the summer in Montana with his wife Molly, and best friend Clete Purcell. Robicheaux plans on spending his days fishing and enjoying the Bitterroots. Events conspire against him, and as usual with Dave and Clete, trouble seems to follow them where ever they go. Two college co-eds are brutally murdered, and one is found near where Robicheaux is staying. Two tourists are also found murdered at a rest stop. Robicheaux feels that the Wellstone brothers, Ridley and Leslie are somehow behind the evil things happening in this small town of Missoula. The Wellstones made their money in Texas, and are now operating a local ministry. Leslie Wellstone, a monster of a man with burn scars all over his face, is married to the pretty country singer, Jamie Sue Stapleton. At the same time, Jamie Sue's true love, Jimmy Dale Greenwood, escapes from a Texas jail after being brutalized by a jail gunbull, Troyce Nix. Nix knows that Greenwod will try to find Jamie Sue and follows Greenwood to Montana. And as if this isn't enough darkness going on, Purcell and Robicheaux are both dealing with demons caused by their childhoods, their Viet Nam experiences and in Robicheaux's case, his battle to stay sober. How these people all converge in this small town and the end results are as surprising as they are masterful. In terms of writing, James Lee Burke it not just a mystery writer, but an author who writes mysteries. His books are written in a style that can be found in good literature. In fact, in addition to two different mystery series, Burke is the author of eight novels. When Clete became frustrated with the happenings in Missoula, "He closed his cell phone and flipped it over his shoulder onto the bed. If ever reincarnated, he vowed, he would live in a stone hut on top of a mountain in Tibet, thousands of miles away from people whose lives were modeled on the lyrics of country-and-western songs." James Lee Burke has been publishing a new Robicheaux every July, and it's one of the things I most look forward to during the summer.

Where to begin to review a magnificent literary achievement. How about his perception of America is dead on. I am trying to read this slowly as he is our favorite writer. I have 80 pages to go and I am milking it, rereading passages and pages. I stand in awe of James Lee Burke's power of prose and how the intersection of characters create their fate, as one of his characters, Candace says. I feel like I have grown a more compassionate heart with each Burke book. It is amazing how a reader such as myself, may deem a character despicable, only to find compassion for them later in his books. He always encompasses the scale of good and evil. The truly good, the truly evil and those caught in between due to life and the events thrown at them. As always, the power of forgiveness runs as a red thread throughout his books. His characters and plot in this book are complex and how he manages to juggle all successfully, is beyond me. That is what makes him a great writer. His words always hit the bone. After I finish, I am rereading "Tin Roof Blowdown" as I can't let go of his writing just yet. Every year, I reread a Burke book after finishing the new one. On the eve of this release, it felt like Christmas eve, waiting in anticipation of a new Burke book. James Lee Burke is a national treasure of our country and I feel blessed to have him in our life. I love reading his philosophy of life in every book which is always spot on. His books are the true barometer of our country's health or dysfunction and it's people, our environment and our politics. I want to add that James Lee Burke is a man of faith. As Christ redeemed us through love, I love it when his characters become redeemed through love. As above, so below. Love and forgiveness, ever present threads in his books.

Don't do it Jimmy Dale, don't do it... I won't review the story because you can read about it above, and I really don't want to know what happens in a book before I read it, but I do like reading the reader's thoughts on the book. This was a magnificent listen (audio download). God bless James Lee Burke and Will Patton. I was a little hesitant when I read Dave was going off to Montana, wondering how Burke could pull it off, but the same beauty of language, the same craft in his writing, and the same wonderful plotting held up to even the best of the Louisiana novels. I listened to it straight through, except for a little sleep, and found my self pacing back and forth several times and rewinding many times just to listen again to Patton's gorgeous rendition of Burke's beautiful words. I rarely talk outloud to characters in a book, but I was constantly giving advice to Jimmy Dale and Nix. There was an interesting juxtaposition in this book that I haven't seen in other Burke books, the seemingly evil and despicable Nix winds up a someone you feel like rooting for...odd for Burke. As an aside, some of the vulgarisms Clete comes up with just stun me (and I raised three teenage boys). It's Burke's knack for description in a different version. Also, lots of political swipes here that I wish would've been left out...it so jars the pace of the story, whether you agree with them or not. King, Parker, and now Burke can't seem to leave well enough alone. Burke is a national treasure. His previous books will stand as testament to what New Orleans was pre-Katrina and I hope soon that he will re-visit New Orleans with the same love and deep lushness of description that we've come to expect. Tin Roof Blowdown was so stark and apocalyptic. Since Mr. Burke is getting on in years, I treasure each book with such love. I wait for July as if it were Christmas. And as for Will Patton, he should receive every single reader award that can be bestowed on him. Geez, what a great book this was...

Swan Peak is a "pseudo-sequel" to Black Cherry Blues, the Edgar Award-winning third Dave Robicheaux novel. Like that previous book, it takes place in Montana, where Robicheaux, his wife Molly and longtime friend Clete Purcel go for a fishing trip partly meant to help them escape the devastation of Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina (which was powerfully and sadly evoked in The Tin Roof Blowdown.) The fishing party are the guests of Albert Hollister, one of wealthy oil man Ridley Wellstone's many enemies, with whom Dave and Clete must soon contend after inadvertantly trespassing on his property. After being warned away by two thugs Clete is recognized by one of the men - a former associate of Mob Boss Sally Dio - as the man who engineered Dio's demise in a Montana plane crash (see Black Cherry Blues.) Things get more complicated when two college students are found murdered near Hollister's land; the emnity between Hollister and Wellstone makes the oil tycoon a possible suspect and Dave is recruited by the local authorities to help with the investigation. Meanwhile Clete becomes dangerously infatuated with Wellstone's sister-in-law, a beautiful country singer who's being stalked by a former lover who is himself on the run; he escaped from a Texas prison after nearly killing a brutally violent guard named Troyce Nix. When Nix comes to Montana in pursuit, Robicheaux first sees him at a revival meeting put on by the shady Rev. Sonny Click (who may have Wellstone connections) and immediately pegs him as a menace despite being unaware of the ex-military man's disgraceful involvement at Abu Graib. All of this might sound confusing here, but Burke combines his intertwining storylines so smoothly that it's easy to appreciate his masterfully graceful prose, as well as his poetic eye for detail in both landscape and character. Nobody writes crime novels like James Lee Burke, and Swan Peak shows he is at the peak of his considerable powers. Also recommended: A Stranger Lies There - winner of the Malice Domestic Award for best first mystery, it features a vividly rendered desert backdrop that should please fans of James Lee Burke's colorful Montana and Louisiana settings.