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Dave Robicheaux #1

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.

285 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

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About the author

James Lee Burke

106 books4,283 followers
James Lee Burke is an American author best known for his mysteries, particularly the Dave Robicheaux series. He has twice received the Edgar Award for Best Novel, for Black Cherry Blues in 1990 and Cimarron Rose in 1998.

Burke was born in Houston, Texas, but grew up on the Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast. He attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the University of Missouri, receiving a BA and MA from the latter. He has worked at a wide variety of jobs over the years, including working in the oil industry, as a reporter, and as a social worker. He was Writer in Residence at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, succeeding his good friend and posthumous Pulitzer Prize winner John Kennedy Toole, and preceding Ernest Gaines in the position. Shortly before his move to Montana, he taught for several years in the Creative Writing program at Wichita State University in the 1980s.

Burke and his wife, Pearl, split their time between Lolo, Montana, and New Iberia, Louisiana. Their daughter, Alafair Burke, is also a mystery novelist.

The book that has influenced his life the most is the 1929 family tragedy "The Sound and the Fury" by William Faulkner.

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Community Reviews

5 stars
8,934 (30%)
4 stars
11,445 (38%)
3 stars
6,764 (23%)
2 stars
1,627 (5%)
1 star
629 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Profile Image for Valentin Derevlean.
587 reviews154 followers
April 9, 2018
Update recitit 2026:
5/5
Excelentă atmosfera, multe pasaje grozav scrise. Robicheaux e cu adevărat memorabil, fie că îți place sau nu. Intriga e relativ simpluță, complicată de cei din jurul lui Robicheaux, pe blog câteva impresii:
https://vderevlean.wordpress.com/2026...

4/5 (2018)
Crunt și dur, previzibil cumva în violența sa. Prea multe trimiteri ptr mine, însă unele le-am gustat căutând pe wikipedia. Bine scris, asemănător cu Lawrence Block.
Profile Image for Roxana Chirilă.
1,318 reviews188 followers
April 3, 2016
Nu e o carte pe care am putut s-o urmăresc foarte ușor - și nu știu dacă e traducerea de vină sau pur și simplu am pierdut eu șirul întâmplărilor prea devreme și apoi nu m-am mai obosit să-mi dau seama cine e de partea cui, ce face și de ce. Și, mai ales, ce era cu elefanții. Era o afacere cu niște elefanți, probabil metaforici, dar nu m-am prins ce fel de metaforă era și pentru ce.

Un polițist dă peste o negresă înecată și decide să rezolve misterul crimei ei. Pe parcurs, omoară aproape la fel de mulți oameni ca răufăcătorii, se îmbată criță, e suspendat din funcție, merge pe la unii-alții să îi anunțe că va avea ac de cojocul lor și, din când în când, mai dă peste câte o poveste interesantă din trecutul cuiva. Una peste alta, e la fel de neplăcut și dus cu sorcova ca cei pe care-i urmărește.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews