Light of the World
A Dave Robicheaux Novel
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4.1 • 30 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
Dave Robicheaux battles the most diabolical villain he has ever faced in this atmospheric thriller.
Sadist and serial killer Asa Surrette narrowly escaped the death penalty for the string of heinous murders he committed while capital punishment was outlawed in Kansas. But following a series of damning articles written by Dave Robicheaux’s daughter Alafair, Surrette escapes from a prison transport van and heads to Montana, where an unsuspecting Dave—along with Alafair; Dave’s wife, Molly; Dave’s faithful partner Clete; and Clete’s newfound daughter, Gretchen Horowitz—have come to take in the sweet summer air.
Surrette may be even worse than Dave’s old enemy Legion Guidry, a man Dave suspected might very well be the devil incarnate. But before Dave can stop Surrette from harming those he loves most, he’ll have to do battle with Love Younger, an enigmatic petrochemical magnate seeking to build an oil pipeline from Alberta to Texas, and Wyatt Dixon, a rodeo clown with a dark past whom Burke fans will recall from his Billy Bob Holland novels.
Drawing on real events that took place in Wichita, Kansas, over a twenty-year span, Light of the World “reaffirms Robicheaux’s status as one of the most successfully sustained creations in contemporary crime fiction” (The Washington Post Book World).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Bestseller Burke's 20th Dave Robicheaux novel (after 2012's Creole Belle), a powerful meditation on the nature and smell of evil, finds the Louisiana sheriff's detective on vacation in Montana with family and friends. There they are hounded and haunted by a psychopathic serial killer, Asa Surrette, believed to have been killed in a prison van accident. Surrette has a fate worse than death in mind for Robicheaux's journalist daughter, who interviewed him in prison. Meanwhile, his friend's daughter, one of the most damaged women in detective fiction, is working on a documentary on shale oil extraction, earning her some powerful enemies. This book could easily have been subtitled "Daddies, Don't Bring Your Daughters to Montana," as people don't just get killed: they're tortured, disfigured, and eviscerated. Robicheaux himself remains haunted by his experiences in Vietnam. But even as the stomach roils, the fingers keep turning the pages because the much-honored Burke (two Edgars, a Guggenheim Fellowship) is a master storyteller.
Customer Reviews
Light of the World
This is one of or is the best James Lee Burke novels I have read. It kept me on the edge of my seat all the way through. The character's were rich in depth and interesting. Of course I learned several new words that were used in this novel as I usually do when I read a JLB book. I await with anticipation for the next book to be released. In honour, Christine Hunt, Salt Spring Island, BC, Canada