Purple Cane Road (Dave Robicheaux Book 11)

This is another workmanlike novel from Mr. Burke, and as such merits reading. That said, I admit that I'm feeling overexposed to Dave Robicheaux, just like the overexposure I eventually came to feel about Lew Archer, Travis McGee, Philip Marlowe and more recently Jack Reacher. "Purple Cane Road" is a good read. If you haven't read the earlier Burke books in the series, or cannot get enough of them, you'll enjoy this book which deepens one's understanding and affection for Robicheaux. Even if you're tiring of Robicheaux, you'll still enjoy it. If you're burned out, I doubt the book will bring you back into the fold.

IMHO this book was a 5 star read. The author really struck a chord for my preferences in reading. Its exactly the type of book I want to read with no really feely type of emotional BS in love relationships yet there was a love interest woven into the story line. The author did a very nice job of putting this mystery into something captivating for the reader. I usually will not spend the time to write a review regarding books that are less than stellar. Words come to mind like "brutally honest" and weather that reflects the genre of the story. A gritty story line located in the parishes around New Orleans held my interest thru out the entire book. Good character development with its dark undertones. I could easily see this story being made into a motion picture with Matthew McConaughey playing the part as the sheriff. If you happen to have caught that TV series a few years back, True Detective, with Harrelson and McConaughey, you'll know exactly what I'm attempting to describe here. For anyone who enjoys a dark tough assed mystery read, this is it. My compliments to you on this one Mr Burke. Nice job. (I know that my thoughts may be somewhat fragmented here. I'm not real good at writing these reviews, but I know what I like and I liked this story.)

James Lee Burke books are ones I enjoy and I don't want them to end. I want the story to be completed, but I want to keep on reading about the characters. Parts of his books read like poetry, I can see in my mind the places he describes and almost feel as though I am there walking/riding/sitting beside him. I have read many of his books and always look forward to his next. Even when I select one of his books and discover I have already read it, I keep reading it because I enjoy the poetry, the character development and the story.

I read a lot of books in a lot of different genres and James Lee Burke is one of the top 3 masters of using the English language I’ve ever encountered. His prose is poetic. The novel itself is wonderfully plotted. The setting is more vivid than most movies because of Burke’s gift for elegant prose. Burke is intimately familiar with his protagonist, Robicheaux and Robicheaux’s troubled best friend Clete. Robicheaux is one of the titans of the mystery genre having been the protagonist in well over a dozen Burke novels.I recommend this novel to any fans of the mystery genre. If you don’t like or have never read mysteries, you will still enjoy the book due to the quality of the prose.The only warning I’ll give is if graphic violence offends you, Burke is not an author you’d enjoy.

This is the second book I've read by this author. I enjoyed it, but with that said, I don't find myself craving more by this author. I will admit James Lee Burke excels in creating interesting characters and vivid imagery, but the story meanders to excess at times. One example is where a character is relating a second hand account of a decades old incident. How does a person who wasn't present have any way to describe every minute detail related to sights, sounds, smells, sensations and the like surrounding the event? It paints a detailed account, but nevertheless; highly unlikely to ever happen. Chances are in real life, the story teller would have summed up the second hand account in a few paragraphs at best.Overall, it was an engaging story and I'm glad I read it.

I've been binging on this series lately and, having started at the beginning, have gotten this far. I don't know if I'll make it all the way to the end. Mr. Burke is a good writer, he handles setting, character, dialogue very well. He's very adept at working around the constraints usually imposed by a first-person narrative style. My one complaint, and it's a common flaw with writers in this genre, is he says the dumbest things about the firearms in use. He did finally quit referring to the "receiver" of Robicheaux's .45 and started properly referring to it as the slide. )Auto pistols have a frame and a slide, they don't actually have a receiver, like a rifle.) He speaks of shotguns "sawed off at the end of the pump". There's actually nothing properly called a "pump" on a pump shotgun, when they're cut down, the barrel is usually cut down to the end of the magazine tube. A few books back he identified an M-16 as having been issued early in the Vietnam conflict as indicated by the "..knob welded onto the bolt..." to ensure functioning. Actually, it would be impossible to weld anything onto the bolt of an M-16, then the bolt wouldn't fit into the bolt carrier and nothing would function. The earliest M-16's had problems and later versions had a forward assist, but it was built in from the get-go, not welded on, and wasn't a knob, rather it was a sort of pin that could be smacked to drive the end into serrations machined into the bolt carrier to ensure the bolt's going into battery. Most AR's today still feature this but they're really not necessary with today's ammo and proper maintenance. Finally, I recently read about some cases (not casings, please) being picked up that were "aluminum cased reloads." Wrong again. Aluminum cased ammo is an economy item because aluminum is much cheaper than brass. Unfortunately, aluminum lacks brasses elasticity and for that reason can't be reloaded. Finally, the guns usually used don't often produce the kind of dramatic effect we usually see in our fiction. Most gunshot wound are disappointingly mundane in appearance. Mr. Burke, you need to employ a better fact-checker for firearm-related stuff. In this you're not alone, the majority of writers are not gun guys. A notable exception would be Stephen Hunter.

The usual high quality from James Lee Burke and Messers Robichaeux and PurcellHighly entertaining page turner that makes you feel the oppressive heat and humidity of Louisianna

If you want to spend a little time in another place, another world, few writers can take you there like James Lee Burke. But probably his greatest asset is his lyrical, poetic language. This book, set in southern Louisiana simply drips with atmosphere. It's dark, moody and complicated, like all JLB's books. The story that drives the narrative is perhaps good, rather than great. But what sets him apart from other crime writers is the humanity in his deeply flawed characters. There are no happy endings. Nothing ever works out just fine. The good guys sometimes seem not much better than the bad guys. But the fact that they keep trying seems somehow more uplifting than any number of more straightforward thrillers.

By far my favourite author, of any genre. Hugely atmospheric, enchanting, riveting, enduringly sad, yet full of hope. Wonderful author.

This was a terrific book, probably the best of the series I have read so far. It could also be read as a stand alone book as it's a great storyline and very difficult to put down.

James Lee Burke writes the southern characters in Purple Can Road a way that makes you know he has lived in their skins. The result are characters that ring true and make you feel you are a fly on the wall watching the story unfold. Purple Can Road was a really enjoyable read. Teddy Hayes "author Devil Barnett novels"