James Lee Burke's ability to construct magical prose hasn't been even slightly dimmed by age. The glorious, spellbinding words flow here just they always have and swirl into mesmerizing, irresistible images.

What has developed with age, however, is Burke's propensity to spin narratives driven by fantasy and hallucination. I liked Dave's tendency to see visions related to the civil war past that was all around him -- they grew naturally out of both the character and the setting -- but Clete fantasizing a personal relationship with Joan of Arc that becomes the prime driver of the narrative? Maybe it's just me, but that feels pretty far over the top.

I miss the earlier, more straight-forward narratives of Clete and Dave's partnership, those in which the narrative illuminated the relationship between both men and the environment in which they live in a rational and realistic way. Burke's prose is still magical, but the narratives he builds with it need to be grounded in a greater sense of reality in order to be genuinely engaging.

James Lee Burke takes a different tack in his long running Dave Robicheaux series with the thriller in the voice of Clete Purcel. Clete's rough background from childhood, Vietnam service to his run-ins with bad guys and his resort to violence are evident on many pages. The main mystery is put forth but pulled back when another underlying caper takes center stage. The technique of an extended red herring leaves some scenes too easily resolved as Dave and Clete immediately move on from wildly violent situations. As always, Burke pens some vivid descriptions of the bayou and the tough streets of New Orleans. But perhaps Dave and Clete are becoming too much of superhuman characters who recover from injury in no time (including bullet wounds and tasers) which leads to disbelief. Still, the pages easily turn and fans of the series will be rewarded.

I love this series. Clete is fantastic. Fans of the Dave Robicheaux series will love this story told in Clete Purcell’s voice. The writing is conversational, the story is engaging, and the characters are multi-dimensional. In the process of telling the story in Clete’s POV, we also get deeper insight into Dave in a way that only his best friend can tell it. I don’t know how James Lee Burke continues to do this.