November 27, 2017
Burke (Light of the World) once again features Dave Robicheaux—detective, veteran, widower, father, alcoholic—in this enthralling yet grim novel of crime, hate, and tragedy. Robicheaux may be at home in New Iberia, La., but he’s not safe from suspicion and self-doubt when the man who killed his wife is murdered. Together with his best friend, PI Clete Purcell, Robicheaux seeks truth, no matter how incriminating, even as more bodies fall and mysteries twine together. The cast is Shakespearean in its variety: a demagogue, a novelist, the mob, good cops and bad, victims of hubris and hate, and ghosts aplenty. No one here is blameless amid white supremacy, bigotry, misogyny, child abuse, flourishing sex and drug trades, and deep socioeconomic inequity, and Robicheaux and Clete never shy away from confronting what they see as the world’s evils. But as the stakes get higher, the friends—who are more than happy to risk themselves—must decide what it will take to protect those they love and respect. Along the way, Burke investigates accusations of rape, corporate colonialism, and Southern nostalgia, not always without his own bias. The novel’s murders and lies—both committed with unsettling smiles—will captivate, start to finish.
March 5, 2018
Voice actor Patton does not disappoint in his reading of Burke’s 21st novel featuring Dave Robicheaux, the deputy sheriff of New Iberia, La. Dave is coming to grips with his wife’s death in a car crash. When the driver responsible for the crash is murdered on the same night Dave drinks himself unconscious, he becomes the prime suspect. This is but one story line in a book filled with them, as well as a large cast, including a narcissistic golden boy who’s testing the political waters; a legendary novelist whose best book is being turned into a movie produced by a loathsome, dying mobster; and Dave’s novelist daughter, Alifair, who’s writing the screenplay. Then there’s Chester (“Call Me Smiley”) Wimple, a seemingly simpleminded hit man who’s effectively ridding Louisiana of its evildoers. Reader Patton’s honeyed Southern accent proves a perfect instrument for presenting narrator Dave’s poetic descriptions of bayou landscapes as well as Dave’s melancholy moods. The would-be politician speaks with the blissful confidence of the very wealthy, the novelist’s approach is drily above it all, and the mobster sounds hoarse and very ill. They all take a rear seat when it comes to Patton’s creative interpretation of Smiley—lisping, babyish, singsongy, and, when tested, chillingly homicidal. This is another winning performance from Patton. A Simon & Schuster hardcover.