A Morning for Flamingos
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4.4 • 16 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
'No argument: James Lee Burke is among the finest of all contemporary American novelists' DAILY MAIL
A routine assignment transporting two death-row prisoners to their executions goes fatally wrong, leaving Dave Robicheaux brutally wounded and his partner dead.
Obsessed with revenge, Dave is persuaded by the DEA to go undercover into the torrid sleepy depths of New Orleans, a volatile world of Mafia drug-running and Cajun voodoo magic. He becomes irrevocably snarled in the nightmarish web surrounding Mafia don Tony Cardo and must put himself against his own worst fears in order to survive.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In a muddy, weed-filled coulee, Louisiana detective Dave Robicheaux begs an escaped convict for his life and is left more troubled by his lack of courage than by his gunshot wounds. Burke ( Half of Paradise ) proceeds to balance the resulting self-doubts of his tough, sympathetic hero with a complex, credible plot in his latest Cajun mystery. Robicheaux, a widower, leaves his small town for New Orleans, where he used to be a cop, to run a sting operation for the DEA. He engineers drug buys aimed at incriminating the local drug lord, an ex-Marine with nightmares and a habit from Vietnam, while trying to ferret out Jimmie Lee Boggs, the killer responsible for the coulee incident. Vivid supporting characters include Robicheaux's former NOPD partner Clete Purcel; an old true love now the widow of a Mafia figure; Gros Mama Goula, a juju woman; and Tony Cardo, the jumpy dealer whose inner struggles reflect Robicheaux's. Attentive to language and atmosphere, Burke delivers action on churning Gulf waters, in city streets, in deserted fields and within the souls of his memorable characters--and a fully satisfying resolution.
Customer Reviews
A Morning For Flamingos
Once again, Mr Burke's artistry in assembling a mesmerising panorama from the broken, injured and ragged side of humanity is peerless. There is a timelessness to his writing, a deeply spiritual yet non-preaching message of hope and love twisted within the wreckage of his characters that, despite their backgrounds, their desperation and hurt, is achingly beautiful.
Robicheaux is as humanly flawed and naturally honorable as ever, while his loyal and damaged friend Clete Purcel makes the reader wish they could shake his hand or give him a hug while trying to hold back their tears.
To be a lover of books and not read James Lee Burke is to go to Paris and never eat the food.
Marty Cobcroft