James Lee Burke is a master at his craft. And it only took me two reads of his to figure that one out. With certain authors, you have series, and you have to read them in order for them to make sense. Not so with the "Dave Robicheaux" books. I worked my way through "Cadillac Jukebox," and wanted more. Then I decided the only way to determine for myself if Burke was the real deal was to read one of his signature works. Many people have mentioned "Jolie Blon's Bounce," so that's what I chose. Many people were right, because I want more of the masterful storytelling of James Lee Burke!

The story is simple, yet not so simple. True, you have Dave Robicheaux, and Clete Purcel will fit in somewhere in the mess. But when somebody's daughter is raped and murdered, the suspects don't exactly fit the profile. Tee Bobby Hulin is a talented musician, but a drug abuser, and if it weren't for bad luck, he wouldn't have no luck at all! But while he's first suspected, others are suspected, and Tee Bobby might not be so guilty after all. Enter Legion, and enter a dark, twisted enemy who messes with the mind. Dave Robicheaux just might have his hands full. But Dave can't go back to his own bitter past, and he can't keep running into the demons he used to run into.

Burke knows how to get the attention. He knows how to keep the story moving along. I've got some catching up to do, and that's fine by me. Now I can add James Lee Burke to a list of great authors! An author who knows how to spell trouble, and even make it interesting.

This crime novel has great descriptions of the area, wonderful langauge, great character names, and an interesting story. The character Legion is very evil and divine intervention "gets him" in the end. I love the Dave Robicheaux series .

I haven't been there physically, but James Lee Burke does a masterful job in placing you in the story. You can feel the heat while watching lightening flash across the night's sky. Your skin crawls with desperation of a depressed area. Your heart races with disgust as you are faced with one literature's most vile villains.
Very good read and very smooth prose.

James A. Forrest - Eye of the Storm

Jolie Blon's Bounce, A good story, a welcome addition to my "Dave Robicheaux" collection. I do worry that the author is about to kill "Dave" off. The other characters in the story seem to feel that was also. I do hope this is not so, as I really enjoy Dave's adventures in New Orleans.

Like many of the Dave Robicheaux books, this one is filled with violent people, many of whom the best can be said is that some day they will kill and be killed by one of their own kind. It's the in-between time that the rest of us have to be fearful. This one starts out with the murder of two woman in a similar way, both have been beaten brutally and raped prior to being murdered.



But the real story is the one that follows Dave around during the whole of the investigation into the murders, and that is how do you deal with real evil without becoming part of the pattern. Dave almost goes off the wagon by taking pills after he is brutally beaten by a man who is proud to go by the name "Legion". Legion is one of the devil's disciples/minions who is mentioned in the "Book of Revelations". So there is a lot, a lot of allegory going on in this book about people and the sources of evil and what people do to aide and abet evil.



In the end, the story plays out pretty much the way you expect it to if you've read any of the previous books by JLB, but this one ends with a quirky bit about a criminal that Dave calls the "Easter Bunny". EB is an albino who doesn't just break into peoples houses he does so for many reasons. In one segment Dave tells how EB broke into a Pet Store, and stole two large South American parrots. He then breaks into the house of a well-known ex-KKK leader (who is overseas), steals his computer records (which he sends to the FBI and IRS) and lets the birds loose in the guys house (they of course leave 'deposits' all over the place). I hope he brings this character back sometime in the near future.



All in all, though it is a little heavy handed at times, and has more violence than I think is necessary (IMHO), it's an enjoyable story.