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The Neon Rain: A Dave Robicheaux Novel
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Manufacturer: Pocket
Author: James Lee Burke
Publisher: Pocket
Average Customer Rating:
Our Price: $10.20
You Save: $ 4.80 ( 32% )
Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Pocket
Author: James Lee Burke
Publisher: Pocket
Average Customer Rating:
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The Neon Rain: A Dave Robicheaux Novel Description
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780743449205
ISBN: 0743449207
Label: Pocket
Manufacturer: Pocket
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 275
Publication Date: 2002-10-01
Publisher: Pocket
Product Release Date: 2002-10-01
Studio: Pocket
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780743449205
ISBN: 0743449207
Label: Pocket
Manufacturer: Pocket
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 275
Publication Date: 2002-10-01
Publisher: Pocket
Product Release Date: 2002-10-01
Studio: Pocket
Editorial Review of The Neon Rain: A Dave Robicheaux Novel
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR JAMES LEE BURKE
THE NEON RAIN
Detective Dave Robicheaux has fought too many battles: in Vietnam, with killers and hustlers, with police brass, and with the bottle. Lost without his wife's love, Robicheaux's haunted soul mirrors the intensity and dusky mystery of New Orleans' French Quarter -- the place he calls home, and the place that nearly destroys him when he becomes involved in the case of a young prostitute whose body is found in a bayou. Thrust into the world of drug lords and arms smugglers, Robicheaux must face down a subterranean criminal world and come to terms with his own bruised heart in order to survive.
Customer Reviews of The Neon Rain: A Dave Robicheaux Novel
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Short book, but jam-packed story!
Review: This is the first book in the James Lee Burke series with Detective Dave Robicheaux. Takes place in New Orleans, reads like a Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler story - old fashioned, hard-boiled detective story. Rich in characters and a sense of Louisiana. Doesn't take long to read, but I highly recommend it!!
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The Beginning of Dave Robicheaux
Review: There's nothing like a James Lee Burke novel! Neon Rain is the beginning of the Dave Robicheaux series, and it is an excellent read. Burke's style is unique -- he likes to make the reader think. Nothing is ever spoonfed to us.
For example, there is this dark passage about a very bad man, the antagonist, dying from cancer, alone:
"Somewhere down inside him, he knew that his fear of death by water had always been a foolish one. Death was a rodent that ate its way inch by inch through your entrails, chewed at your liver and stomach, severed tendon from organ, until finally, when you were alone in the dark, it sat gorged and sleek next to your head, its eyes resting, its wet muzzle like a kiss, a promise whispered in the ear."
With no other description of the scene - the sterile hospital room, the nurses who lack compassion, the long nights, the brutal pain - the hopelessness of the character's situation is absolutely clear, encapsulated in this one metaphor. Death was a rodent. We have a taste of fear in our mouths that won't leave us when we put a marker in place and close the book. We know this wicked man's death was justice delivered, but we feel vulnerable to the rat ourselves. So there is some small element of conflict there as we sympathize with the dying man. Burke played on our fears, kept us intrigued to the very end, and then left us with just enough discomfort that the story will stay with us for a long time.
Burke's characters are complex, flawed, interesting. Life is messy and doesn't always treat them fairly, so my heart aches for these characters as they experience tragedies, abuses, mistakes, bad choices. But it's not just the characters that are intriguing. He knows how to make the scene come alive - literally.
I highly recommend any of James Lee Burke's novels. Neon Rain is top-notch.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Beyond crime fiction
Review: James Lee Burke is not your average crime fiction writer. "The Neon Rain," the first Dave Robicheaux novel, is so full of atmosphere and real people that I felt like I was living in New Orleans while reading the book (I wasn't; I live in Northern California). Burke can describe settings like no one else I've read. The bayous are drenched in humidity; thunderstorms come alive and arc through your subconscious; even the cracks in the sidewalk cause you to mentally step over them. And his characters are so deep, so flawed, so human, that when you're introduced to them, you're almost compelled to greet them with a mental handshake.
Burke has a knack for not quite letting you guess exactly where he's taking you. In that regard, he's much like Michael Connelly and George Pelecanos. Simply put, Burke is a great writer, and Robicheaux is one of the more intriguing characters in fiction literature, joining my personal list of favorites which includes Harry Bosch, Jack Reacher, Matthew Scudder, John Corey, Nick Stefanos, Shane Scully, Mitch Rapp and Ridley Jones.
Buy it. Read it. Then do what I was forced to do. Buy the whole Robicheaux series. "The Neon Rain" will leave you no choice.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: don't stop with this one
Review: If this is the first book, of the Dave Robicheaux series you have read, then keep reading. This is the worst of the novels of this series. The others are better, oh a lot better! This one is over-the-top violent for no good reason. The rest of the series is Dave evolving into a more intelligent and clever detective, with great sensitivity to himself and humanity.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: bang on
Review: I got a bang out of 'Neon Rain,' and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys an engaging fast read. I especially like the character (Lieutenant Dave Robicheaux.)
The story points back to a time thats murky and full of tales and fables. Lieutenant Dave Robicheaux follows one of those tales and proves that the story is real. A good story...well done.
Review Summary: Short book, but jam-packed story!
Review: This is the first book in the James Lee Burke series with Detective Dave Robicheaux. Takes place in New Orleans, reads like a Dashiell Hammett or Raymond Chandler story - old fashioned, hard-boiled detective story. Rich in characters and a sense of Louisiana. Doesn't take long to read, but I highly recommend it!!
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: The Beginning of Dave Robicheaux
Review: There's nothing like a James Lee Burke novel! Neon Rain is the beginning of the Dave Robicheaux series, and it is an excellent read. Burke's style is unique -- he likes to make the reader think. Nothing is ever spoonfed to us.
For example, there is this dark passage about a very bad man, the antagonist, dying from cancer, alone:
"Somewhere down inside him, he knew that his fear of death by water had always been a foolish one. Death was a rodent that ate its way inch by inch through your entrails, chewed at your liver and stomach, severed tendon from organ, until finally, when you were alone in the dark, it sat gorged and sleek next to your head, its eyes resting, its wet muzzle like a kiss, a promise whispered in the ear."
With no other description of the scene - the sterile hospital room, the nurses who lack compassion, the long nights, the brutal pain - the hopelessness of the character's situation is absolutely clear, encapsulated in this one metaphor. Death was a rodent. We have a taste of fear in our mouths that won't leave us when we put a marker in place and close the book. We know this wicked man's death was justice delivered, but we feel vulnerable to the rat ourselves. So there is some small element of conflict there as we sympathize with the dying man. Burke played on our fears, kept us intrigued to the very end, and then left us with just enough discomfort that the story will stay with us for a long time.
Burke's characters are complex, flawed, interesting. Life is messy and doesn't always treat them fairly, so my heart aches for these characters as they experience tragedies, abuses, mistakes, bad choices. But it's not just the characters that are intriguing. He knows how to make the scene come alive - literally.
I highly recommend any of James Lee Burke's novels. Neon Rain is top-notch.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Beyond crime fiction
Review: James Lee Burke is not your average crime fiction writer. "The Neon Rain," the first Dave Robicheaux novel, is so full of atmosphere and real people that I felt like I was living in New Orleans while reading the book (I wasn't; I live in Northern California). Burke can describe settings like no one else I've read. The bayous are drenched in humidity; thunderstorms come alive and arc through your subconscious; even the cracks in the sidewalk cause you to mentally step over them. And his characters are so deep, so flawed, so human, that when you're introduced to them, you're almost compelled to greet them with a mental handshake.
Burke has a knack for not quite letting you guess exactly where he's taking you. In that regard, he's much like Michael Connelly and George Pelecanos. Simply put, Burke is a great writer, and Robicheaux is one of the more intriguing characters in fiction literature, joining my personal list of favorites which includes Harry Bosch, Jack Reacher, Matthew Scudder, John Corey, Nick Stefanos, Shane Scully, Mitch Rapp and Ridley Jones.
Buy it. Read it. Then do what I was forced to do. Buy the whole Robicheaux series. "The Neon Rain" will leave you no choice.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: don't stop with this one
Review: If this is the first book, of the Dave Robicheaux series you have read, then keep reading. This is the worst of the novels of this series. The others are better, oh a lot better! This one is over-the-top violent for no good reason. The rest of the series is Dave evolving into a more intelligent and clever detective, with great sensitivity to himself and humanity.
Customer Rating:
Review Summary: bang on
Review: I got a bang out of 'Neon Rain,' and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys an engaging fast read. I especially like the character (Lieutenant Dave Robicheaux.)
The story points back to a time thats murky and full of tales and fables. Lieutenant Dave Robicheaux follows one of those tales and proves that the story is real. A good story...well done.