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 Pegasus Descending July 12, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
The narrative's sanctimonious pomposity, the plot's absurdly thin veneer, the author's inability to get even simple facts (he thinks Lujan is not a Hispanic/Latino surname) correct is just the start. The main problem with this 100 i.q. book is there are no human characters in it. Just out of stubbornness i finished all 500 pages and all he could deliver were flat caricatures at best. I got the book from the library, and still felt ripped off. Yech.Pegasus Descending: A Dave Robicheaux Novel (Dave Robicheaux)Pegasus Descending : A Dave Robicheaux NovelPegasus DescendingPegasus DescendingThe Tin Roof Blowdown: A Dave Robicheaux Novel
 Harry Bosch's psychological baggage ain't got nothin' on Dave Robicheaux! May 25, 2008
12 out of 21 found this review helpful
Twenty-five years ago, deep in his cups with a keg's worth of beer and accompanying chasers under his belt, an alcoholic Dave Robicheaux witnessed the gangland execution of his friend, Dallas Klein. Swearing off the sauce and finding a good woman who accepts and loves him for what he is, Robicheaux has spent the remainder of his life in recovery attempting to live down that unforgivable inability to stand and help his friend so long ago. What most rankles Robicheaux is that he is certain of the assassin's identity - Whitey Bruxal, a mobster with a lengthy well-documented gangland jacket - but, with no proof, he is unable to act on the knowledge!
Now, out of nowhere, Dallas Klein's daughter, Trish Klein appears in town. In a set-up remarkably similar to Baldacci's Camel Club story of Annabelle Conroy's vendetta against mobster Jerry Bagger (both were published in 2006 so it's hard to say who beat whom to that plot-line punch), it looks like she's gunning for revenge against her father's murderer. Of course, as with any police procedural or psychological thriller worth its salt, James Lee Burke has expertly upped the ante with multiple plot lines that weave in and out of one another throughout the novel - a young girl's suicide after a drunken fraternity debauch and a brutal gang rape; the hit-and-run death of an aging drifter that, on the evidence of the post-mortem, has much more sinister overtones; and the complex life of the local black dope dealer.
Although this is the apparently the 14th novel in which Burke has placed Robicheaux on center stage, this is the first time I've had the pleasure of sampling Burke's craftsmanship. And what an experience that was - his depiction of both the psychological mindscape and the physical landscape of a storm torn, poverty stricken Louisiana is outstanding. Any page opened at random will reveal Burke's masterful command of the language and his ability to create the most jarring and colourful metaphors and similes:
"The recycled air was like cigarette smoke that had been trapped for days in a refrigerator full of spoiled cheese."
On dealing with his own inner demons, for example:
"But the succubus I had tried to exorcise by marrying a woman of peace still held title to my soul. I saw the room distort and the faces of the people around me turn into Grecian masks, and I heard a sound in my ears like the steel tracks of armored vehicles wending their way across an unforgiving land."
The dialogue was creative, realistic, down to earth with a full, rich vocabulary of appropriate street lingo. The depth of characterization was wonderful (even though I was stepping into Robicheaux's world 13 novels after he was first created). The only "but" for me was the tortuous, almost Byzantine complexity of the plot. Don't let your attention drift or you may not find your way back.
I'll be hunting the second hand book stores for the Robicheaux canon starting from the beginning tomorrow.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
 Pegasus Desending April 18, 2008
I have been a fan of Burke for a very long time, however I have cooled to his last few novels. They have become repetitive, and more importantly he has endeavored to interject politics into the fabric of his work. This has disappointed me in a huge way.
Reliving the Mayhem of Clete and Dave again March 31, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
James Burke can write beautifully, but his story telling abilities have deteriorated in this series and the books all run together in both theme and violent action. 1. Really bad people blow into town where they encounter
Dave and Clete who simply must find a way to kill them lest they injure more innocent people. 2. Dave manages to act like a gentleman concerned about proprieties and southern manners while giving reign to violent tendencies that typically cause people to be put in prison. 3. Clete, his soul mate is less concerned about being a gentleman, but matches Dave's violent behavior in all ways except that he is generally in an alcoholic fog, whereas Dave is now an ex-alcoholic. 4. Most of the bad guys get killed rather than arrested.
I heard James Lee Burke talk once and say his inspiration is often the old testament. His writing in this series is about the reality of evil and the idea that it must be opposed and contained at any cost by civilized vigilantes willing to step outside the norms of human behavior.
It had been years since I had read one of these books. I had gotten bored. I won't read another unless one day I get a yen for this kind of comic book writing. More than bored I now feel repelled.
 Burke is simply one of the best writers around March 21, 2008
Mr. Burke's use of language, the descriptions of his characters and settings are remarkable. And, most importantly, a joy to read.
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