Swan Peak (Dave Robicheaux)
After the devastating events recounted in THE TIN ROOF BLOWDOWN, Dave Robicheaux and his ex-partner in Homicide, Clete Purcel, head for the mountains and trout streams of Montana for some much-needed healing.
However, while Montana might seem an unspoilt paradise peopled by men and women from an earlier, more innocent time in American history, Dave and Clete soon find that there are plenty of serpents in the garden too. The deaths of a couple of hikers suggest a perverted serial killer may be at work, while an escaped jailbird and his former tormentor are locked in a savage dance of revenge that is ultimately connected to the fortunes of a wealthy oil family hiding a terrible secret ...
Review
With its trademark mix of brutality and poetry, Swan Peak is a brilliant piece of work from an American master.
James Lee Burke is the heavyweight champ, a great American novelist whose work, taken individually or as a whole, is unsurpassed.
A gorgeous prose stylist.
Richly deserves to be described now as one of the finest crime writers America has ever produced.
The gentle giant of US crime writers, Burke always ensures that his Louisiana detective Dave Robicheaux grapples with hot topics as much as with his own inner demons.
There are not many crime writers about whom one might invoke the name of Zola for comparison, but Burke is very much in that territory. His stamping ground is the Gulf coast, and one of the great strengths of his work has always been the atmospheric background of New Orleans and the bayous. His big, baggy novels are always about much more than the mechanics of the detective plot; his real subject, like the French master, is the human condition, seen in every situation of society.
The king of Southern noir.
His lyrical prose, his deep understanding of what makes people behave as they do, and his control of plot and pace are masterly.
One of the finest American writers.
When it comes to literate, pungently characterised American crime writing, James Lee Burke has few peers.
However, while Montana might seem an unspoilt paradise peopled by men and women from an earlier, more innocent time in American history, Dave and Clete soon find that there are plenty of serpents in the garden too. The deaths of a couple of hikers suggest a perverted serial killer may be at work, while an escaped jailbird and his former tormentor are locked in a savage dance of revenge that is ultimately connected to the fortunes of a wealthy oil family hiding a terrible secret ...
Review
With its trademark mix of brutality and poetry, Swan Peak is a brilliant piece of work from an American master.
James Lee Burke is the heavyweight champ, a great American novelist whose work, taken individually or as a whole, is unsurpassed.
A gorgeous prose stylist.
Richly deserves to be described now as one of the finest crime writers America has ever produced.
The gentle giant of US crime writers, Burke always ensures that his Louisiana detective Dave Robicheaux grapples with hot topics as much as with his own inner demons.
There are not many crime writers about whom one might invoke the name of Zola for comparison, but Burke is very much in that territory. His stamping ground is the Gulf coast, and one of the great strengths of his work has always been the atmospheric background of New Orleans and the bayous. His big, baggy novels are always about much more than the mechanics of the detective plot; his real subject, like the French master, is the human condition, seen in every situation of society.
The king of Southern noir.
His lyrical prose, his deep understanding of what makes people behave as they do, and his control of plot and pace are masterly.
One of the finest American writers.
When it comes to literate, pungently characterised American crime writing, James Lee Burke has few peers.
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