technicat reviewed Burning angel by James Lee Burke (Dave Robicheaux (8))
Richly layered but dark story, afterwards you'll want a cold beer and a po' boy
4 stars
This is my second James Lee Burke novel - the other was In the Moon of Red Ponies in his Billy Bob Holland series, and this one, Burning Angel, is in his much longer (and critically rewarded) David Robicheaux series. This a small data sample but I think I'm getting a handle on his formula - both stories feature many of the same ingredients: a protagonist with a tortured past, his hot-but-you-better-not-mess-with-her wife, an unsavory guardian angel also seeking redemption, and overshadowing everything is corporate greed (or Satan, they're basically synonymous). The Robicheaux series takes place on the author's home turf, so it's no surprise that, although I enjoyed the other book, I found this one more absorbing, with richer dialogue and nuance for local cadence (not that I'm a Louisiana native, but it feels authentic), an environment where you can almost feel the humidity and see all the arteries …
This is my second James Lee Burke novel - the other was In the Moon of Red Ponies in his Billy Bob Holland series, and this one, Burning Angel, is in his much longer (and critically rewarded) David Robicheaux series. This a small data sample but I think I'm getting a handle on his formula - both stories feature many of the same ingredients: a protagonist with a tortured past, his hot-but-you-better-not-mess-with-her wife, an unsavory guardian angel also seeking redemption, and overshadowing everything is corporate greed (or Satan, they're basically synonymous). The Robicheaux series takes place on the author's home turf, so it's no surprise that, although I enjoyed the other book, I found this one more absorbing, with richer dialogue and nuance for local cadence (not that I'm a Louisiana native, but it feels authentic), an environment where you can almost feel the humidity and see all the arteries clogging, and an aching sentimentality for the people in the present and crimes of the past. It did take a while to get through the almost five hundred pages, though, so I don't know about tackling the other twenty-three Robicheaux books!
