I had just about given up on James Lee Burke. After being stunned with the genius of "Neon Rain," I found most contemporary Dave Robicheaux novels rather gloomy and over-described affairs. Went back to "Black Cherry Blues" his Edgar-winning novel and was disappointed. Now, I feel I've read another gem. I am doubly pleased because from reading and seeing interviews, I think James Lee Burke is one of the most charming authors around.

"A Morning for Flamingos" begins with the death of Dave's partner while transporting two prisoners, Te Beau, a New Iberia boy to whom Dave has certain obligations, and the menacing Jamie Lee Boggs. Dave is left critically wounded and remembers little of the actual escape. The story leads to underworld figures, voodoo, and the sordid, steamy underside of New Orleans.

The pace and brooding menace never let up, and Burke allows no loose ends to annoy the reader. The characterizations are sharp, descriptive, and unforgettable. The solution is elegant and exciting. I liked Dave all over again.

This is, without a doubt, one of the better of the Dave Robicheaux novels. As always, James Lee Burke writes with a lyrical grace that should awe the average reader. And this early novel was written before he started plagiarizing himself wholesale, stealing plots, characters and even entire paragraphs in order to flesh out his balletic swamp-songs.

A black mark on this otherwise fine novel is the odd decision to have Dave go undercover in the home of Mobster Tony Cardo, a razor-edged freak of a man living on the outlines of his own criminal organization. Personally, if I were a crook, I'd never accept an ex-cop into my home, but maybe that's just me - the fact is that tony does and that's how this rollicking book gets going.

It's not important that there's any more plot than that - in a Burkle novel, the setting is the most important element. As always, Burke paints pictures and only incidentally places characters and action within them, with the exception of Dave Robicheaux himself. I have always admired Dave - he is morally ambiguous and righteously angry, which causes him to behave in ways that are almost as freakish as Tony Cardo's ways. An example is dave's heroism at the climax of this novel - it's both awe-inspiring and breathtaking, but it's probably not what I wold have done in the same situation.

Burke is an amazing writer and a good story-teller. He's not a bad painter, either.

Being a Southern California-based mystery author with my debut novel in its initial release, I realize that there is quite a bit of debate about which crime fiction author best captures the ambience of my native SoCal. There is no debate involving Louisiana. James Lee Burke is clearly the master, and I believe A MORNING FOR FLAMINGOS is Burke's strongest work. Dave Robicheaux is left for dead during a prison escape, yet he doesn't die. He ends up back on the New Iberia police force going after a drug-kingpin named Tony Cardo. Clete Purcel tags along to guard Robicheaux's back, and they wouldn't mind catching up with the man who nearly killed Robicheaux. A MORNING FOR FLAMINGOS has a marvelous plot and well-drawn characters. Reading this book is like visiting that fabulous state of mind known as Louisiana.

I have read nearly every thing that James Lee Burke has written. I like and admire his use of descriptive words. This book, however, was not nearly as good as his Dave Robicheaux books. His discriptions were just as poetic, his intensity just as good, but I guess I just didn't like the story as much and couldn't relate to the characters as well as with his other books. But it was an interesting read and if you are a Burke fan, I would recommend this one.

This book reminds us of what in music is called a "tone poem". The melodies and harmonies swirl in an entertaining, sometimes captivating, pattern; but when it's all over, it doesn't amount to much that's memorable. We wanted to read this novel to possibly cure ourselves of our disappointment with one of Burke's Dave Robicheaux mysteries. Our findings of that one ("Cadillac Jukebox") was that his imagery surely is vivid, but his skills in developing the plot and populating it with just the right number of support characters were lacking. That tends to kill a mystery, which after all must have a story with a somewhat logical structure.

In "Boogie", we do feel the drama category works better for Burke. The mind pictures he draws, especially of the Montana landscape where leading man Iry heads after getting a parole transfer out of his native Louisiana, continue to exhibit's Burke's mastery of descriptive prose. Alas, the plot is still not as strong as we might like, although the sheer drama of his story doesn't require the pace and form of a mystery. We found it difficult to empathize with the beer-swilling, guilt-laden brawlers generally depicted herein. But get by the alcohol content, and there is on display a fair degree of understanding the human condition. Interesting that this book was both nominated for a Pulitzer after publication, but (according to Burke's own web site) was rejected first by over 100 publishers!

After we read the Robicheaux book, we opined: Burke is probably better at drama, and he is. We think he might excel at poetry -- wonder if he's ever tried his hand at that? As with the musical counterpart, we probably wouldn't remember his "melody and harmony" per se, but would settle for the slide show he can create with words to go with our coffee and red wine.

This is a wonderful book-perhaps the best I've read in a number of years. It is powerful and tragic, yet humorous at times. Iry is likeable, in spite of his history and the fact that he has made a cuckold out of Buddy. Buddy is bent on self-destruction, and Iry is concerned with self-preservation. The conflict between Beth and Mr. Riordan is never clear to me, but that is the only weakness I found in the book. This book is haunting and exhausting. The ending is somwhat hopeful, in spite of past tragedies. I strongly recommend this book.

This is my seventh Robicheaux book and I think it may b thebest one yet. Dave is his usual, hard as nails, self. Sometimes I would like to slap his buddy Clete myself. He stays in trouble of his own making. Yes, I think I would have pulled the trigger on Will Buchalter. The things he does to Dave and his family will make you want to do the same. Burke is great with his use of the language and description of the country. He makes you feel like you are there. Lots of good characters in this one. Good mystery and lots of action. Can Robicheaux save Clete, what does the German sub have that several people want? A good read.

It can be a terrible thing for the avid reader to discover the works of an already established and prolific author. If the author is not to the reader's taste, no problem exists; if, however, the author's work grabs the reader by the throat and refuses to let go, the reader is faced with the daunting task of reading everything else the author has written. Such is the case with James Lee Burke and his series of Dave Robicheaux novels; while I already have a sizable list of novels on my summer reading list, I am forced, after reading DIXIE CITY JAM, to seek out more of Burke's mystery novels.

DIXIE is set in and around the city of New Orleans (always a vivid setting for an atmospheric mystery). Dave Robicheaux is a detective with the Sheriff's Office who is juggling many balls at once. In addition to his police duties, he has been hired to locate a WW II U-boat that was sunk in local waters many years ago. He also has the added predicament of helping out his old comrade Clete Purcel stay alive as he constantly and foolishly aggravates local crime figures Max and Bobo Calucci. But things come to a head when he finds himself warding off the unwelcome advances of Will Buchalter, an enormous neo-Nazi who's ultimate motives for terrorizing Robicheaux's family remain frighteningly obscure.

Clearly, Burke has no problem with handling many different plot threads. The narrative leaps from element to element; an ailing gangster who wishes to make amends; a young man who is trying to become more than be believes he can be; an interrogation scene that will make the reader squirm. His management of these disparate elements is so skillful, so loaded with portent, that the eventual solution to Robicheaux's many dilemmas comes off as anti-climactic. In the genre of crime writing, perhaps only James Ellroy can be trusted to pull together myriad subplots into a satisfactory conclusion. But that doesn't mean it's not a travel worth taking. Burke shows a genuine flair for capturing the idioms of New Orleans speech; it may not be authentic, but in relation to the story, it is vital and alive. What may come across as precocious and obtrusive in a lesser writer is transformed in Burke's hands into true characterization and ambiance. The native patois becomes integral to the novel's success at presenting New Orleans as a character, rather than a setting.

Burke has crafted a marvelous variety of characters to inhabit his world. Robicheaux is a hero firmly entrenched in the classic detective mode, an honourable man, tough yet tender, who operates with one eye towards justice, and the other towards his own inner demons. Clete is an absurdly erratic yet loyal companion, a man who cannot control his own impulses, even at the risk of self-destruction. And among the wide diversity of supporting characters, none is more frightening or memorable than Buchalter, a creation of monstrous proportions. He is among the creepiest of psychopaths I can ever remember meeting in print, a pleasure/pain lover with severe racist overtones, a genuinely despicable monster with no redeeming qualities. It takes real craftsmanship to construct a portrait of evil so convincingly.

As I said, the ending, coming after multiple storylines involving mobsters, anti-Semitism, corrupt cops and blatant racism, seems a letdown. It wraps up the story convincingly, but perhaps it's a testament to Burke's abilities that it seems a shame to end the tale. As in all the great mysteries, Burke creates a world unto itself, rife with passion and rage. That the mystery can be solved at all is secondary to the people who inhabit the world. Burke's New Orleans is a dangerous place, a jungle of seething violence and corruption, a site on par with Ellroy's Los Angeles and Ian Rankin's Edinburgh. One can only hope his further explorations into Dave Robicheaux's universe remain as entertaining.

I've working my way through the Robicheaux series, and I must say this is the best by far; I was under the impression that Burke had hit his peak with BLACK CHERRY BLUES. As the series progresses Dave becomes a more intriguing figure--the demons and inner conflicts that Dave deals with mentally whips you by the end of this novel--and the "bad guys" take on an image of pure genius. The novel revolves around a sunken SUB, and the ramifications of Robicheaux knowing the exact location. The book takes off when the trouble invades Dave's home, and threatens to tear the fabric of his marriage. I've read many crime novels and I must say that Will Buchalter is one of the best characters to come about in a long time. The lucky ones that have read the entire series must agree with me when I say Clete Purcel is in rare form in this novel. For the casual Burke fans, this book is being developed into a movie by Tommy Lee Jones; after finishing the novel, I can see why. This is a great book.

Plot-wise and writing-wise, this book is as good as Burke's others. But it lacked heart, considering Dave's loss. For a guy who's pretty introspective (about his drinking and the war,etc.), he doesn't seem to give a second thought about Annie after she's killed. He talks a little (very little) about his guilt, but not about how he misses her and loved her. Instead he turns almost immediately to Robin, which just doesn't seem in character. It bothered me and got that fifth star knocked off.

This is the second in the Dave Robicheaux series. I am trying to read them in order. Dave has quit the New Orleans police department and is running a fishing camp. He is married and very happy. Then a plane crash, and one of the bodies disappears. Dave is drawn back into the underworld he knows so well. This time he really pays for his involvement. Won't say how because it would take away from the reading. He goes at it with Bubba Rocque, a man he grew up with and has known for years. Bubba in one of the bad guys now. But, is it Bubba or his wife that is the worse. Burke writes so you can feel like you are there. You can see the people fishing and moving through the darkness. Except for his flashbacks I would give it a 5 rating but I don't care for those. A good book that will hold you attention.

James lee Burke is one of thosed underrated masters of prose,forever delegated to second rung because of his genre. Heavens prisoners, the second in this series,is,in many ways, the best. Dave Robicheux, the alcoholic new Orleans cop,is out fishing when a single engine plane crashes into the lake,and everything changes.Mr. Burke's descriptions of alcoholic despair and rage are perhaps the finest,and least sentimental I have read. The violence is brutal and freakish in its intensity[as violence is],the dialogue is so well written that i feel for these characters,and want to read more. Though much Longer then Neon rain, the first entry,Mr. Burkes seems to hold the intensity through the narrative. From the lousiana locales to histroical comments on Cajuns, from Cletus Purcell{his sort of sidekick]to the suprising[at least for me] ending, Mr. Burke solidifes himself as one superb writer.And, fortunately, the series goes on ...

This book deals with paradigm shifts and how they changed the way we have looked at the world. Burke takes a subject like "Perspective Drawing" and shows how it changed the world fo science and architecture by providing a basis for measuring.

The last chapter of the book is the best and should probably be read first. In this chapter Burke summarizes the changes in science that have happened over the past 2500 years and how the paradigms control what scientists see and study. (Interestingly enough he never uses the word "paradigm" but refers to the lens through which we view the world as a "structure.")

Unfortunatly, the book lacks the editing that would have made it a great book. Burke is too wordy, and will use three paragraphs to discuss a point that was adequately covered in the first one. This lack of concise writing dilutes the impact of Burke's ideas so that it is hard to pick out the significance of the events.

Burke also will spend great amounts of time on the buildup to a world changing idea, but then short change the big event. For example, he discusses the various views and discussions that led up to Issac Newton's work, but then simply says in a single paragraph that Newton's work was so dramatic that it stopped scientific progress for 100 years. I'd like to dig into that!

I recommend this book despite its flaws. Understanding how we reached science's position today shows that there were other ways of looking at the world that we cut off along the way.

1. A good eyeopenner for an unconventional way of looking at the history of science.
2. Revealing in the sense that it looks at trends instead of individual incidents.
3. However suffers from its ambition to wrap entire European history of science in one book, hence appear to jump into rash conclusions.
4. But note it started from a BBC series, hence if we read it as if watching TV, it is adequately informative judging by educational programme standard.
5. Burke as a British is biasis in the claim to study how the 'universe' changed in only looking at European history; he touched on Islamic and Chinese discoveries but without expanding how culture changed in such other parts of the world, contradicting his title claim.
6. Burke's central theme is to argue some incidental scientific or natural events in history decicively atlered the course of history; an interesting view, an acute insight and even revealing theory, but tend to ignore the natural cultural development which build up through history to teach us to behave the way we do; cultural and religious inter-influence between tribes and races and downplayed in expence of arguing for the importance of scientic advancement.
7. Nevertheless a good book to read, clear illustrations, and not difficult to comprehend.

Having read Burke's previous efforts, I was prepared to be entertained and amazed at how seemingly unrelated thoughts and developments came together to move history and innovation forward - but this book exceeded my expectations! Another reveiwer commented (accurately) that Burke gives religion a pretty rough time, it must also be said that he gives an incredible perspective on how much impact religious thought impacted people's freedom to think, and how those places tolerant of fresh thinking attracted (and benefitted from) thinking people.

The same is shown to be true of political freedom, economic freedom, and, well, you get the picture...freedoms made great differences.

Burke does a fabulous job of providing meaningful context to innovation and innovators. He also demonstrates that a lot of innovation was not pursued, but rather occurred almost by accident - two things sitting next to each other for the first time, and someone decides to combine them!

If you don't read any of his other books, be sure to read this one! I have only one bit of advice when reading it - pace yourself - it is much too good to rush, so savor it...

Set in the bayou country of Louisiana, 'Burning Angel' by James Lee Burke blends gritty crime fiction with an understated supernatural element that is both suspenseful and entertaining. Homicide detective Dave 'Streak' Robineaux investigates a double murder that involves Sonny Marsallus, a local gambler, money-launderer, and soldier of fortune. Robineaux isn't the only one interested in Marsallus; a shadowy cadre of assassins wants Sonny dead. During his investigation, Robineaux gets sidetracked into a land dispute between the poor, black Fontenots and an upper-class attorney, Molleen Bertrand.

Burke displays a dazzling command of language and descriptive power, and his vision of the South is elegantly drawn, where ghosts of the past seem close at hand. The main characters, particularly Robineaux, Marsallus, and Bertrand are finely honed, as are the pimps, thugs, and crime lords of New Iberia.

The book only falters in the depiction of the Fontenots. Burke is keenly sensitive to the plight of this family, cast as helpless victims to malevolent external forces (in this case an amoral white overclass). Although we empathize with the Fontenots, characters stripped of free will (and thus unable to influence events) are never interesting.

Nevertheless, 'Burning Angel' is wonderfully paced and well written, and Burke's soaring prose elevates it to dizzying heights. Lost loves and family secrets haunt these characters, and as Robineaux visits the Bertrand plantation one last time, Burke closes with an epilogue that is a tour-de-force of sheer craft:

"And like some pagan of old, weighing down spirits in the ground with tablets of stone, I cut a bucket full of chrysanthemums and drove out to the Bertrand plantation...all our stories begin here--mine, Molleen's, the Fontenot family's, even Sonny's."

The story of the South begins and ends on the plantation. On this ground Burke seeks the interconnectedness of things; life begins in a lover's tryst, and ends in a graveyard, as Lee's phantom army marches through the trees. It is a remarkable gesture, a sweeping vision of life and death that lifts this book beyond its genre into something else, something that rings true in the human heart, something that we call art.

BURNING ANGEL is one of James Lee Burke's novels featuring Dave Robicheaux as a detective with the Iberia Parish sheriff's office. Robicheaux's interaction with Sonny Boy Marsallus is at the heart of the story. Sonny Boy is a shady character with a checkered past but as the story develops, he appears to be a guardian angel to Robicheaux and his family. As unsavory a character as Sonny Boy is, he seems like a choir boy when compared to the other characters Robicheaux faces. Even their names (Sweet Pea Chaisson, Emile Pogue, Johnny Polycarp Giacano) invoke images that are reinforced by Burke's descriptions and by the threats they pose to Robicheaux. Secrets emerge and lives change as Robicheaux investigates powerful people and their effect on those who have little or no power.

James Lee Burke is a best-selling author whose awards include a nomination for a Pulitzer Prize, two Edgar Awards, and the CWA/Macallan Gold Dagger for Fiction. THE NEON RAIN was the first of the Robicheaux series, and Burke's series featuring Texas Ranger-turned-lawyer Billy Bob Holland began with TWO FOR TEXAS.

The author is a consummate storyteller and is a master at description. He conveys the strengths and weaknesses of the characters, both the positive people in Robicheaux's life and those who are less desirable. Burke's love of Louisiana is evident, and the geographic location is an integral part of the compelling story he tells.

Although the writing is excellent, there are weaknesses in the story line. Some events are not connected, and the reader is left with unanswered questions. Burke tells a complex story so these are minor criticisms.

When asked what he would do if he had to give up writing, Burke answered "I would never give up writing!" That's good news for readers! BURNING ANGEL is a must read for Burke's fans as well as for those who want to get to know the people and places in Iberia Parish, if only through the pages of an outstanding novel.

I've now read nine of his books. I first read Purple Cane Road. It led me to read his stories in order. I'm so glad I did. The quality of Mr. Burke's story line, narrative, and insight flow through his books. I've read hundreds of mystery, crime, thriller books. Burke's about the best! Burning Angel was a delight. I was there with Dave and Bootsie, and Clete. Makes me fear he'll stop writing; makes me want more. I want to pass him on, recommend James Lee Burke to those who have yet to discover his stories as well as his insightful references to healing, help through the friends of Bill W.

I am a great fan of Burke and his Dave Robicheaux. His fiction is, in my opinion, the most literary of the genre. In addition, his characters are wonderfully colorful, the descriptions beautiful (especially of the Louisiana landscape), and always original. That said, I think that this book is a bit formulaic, although it is very good. He seems to be pasting old themes to a character who needs some renewal. (Sorry, James, if you read this -- I think you are excellent!) Dave Robicheaux is a wonderful creation, but he needs new life. Black Cherry Blues was the finest book he wrote.

Although Burke appears to have fallen into a formulaic trap with the Robicheaux series, this entry redeems itself with its intense plotting and the carefully wrought prose his readers have come to take for granted. While the plot involves one of New Iberia's "old" families, a woman with whom Dave once had a brief fling, and New Orleans' mobsters, all familiar ingredients of past books in this series, his addition of a 28 year old murder of a civil rights leader by a crusty old misfit added zing to an otherwise tired story.

The ending seemed to forewarn of more than an end to this novel, however, perhaps an end to the series itself. Soon James Lee Burke will introduce a new character with a setting in East Texas. Alas for those of us who have come to love the Cajun detective with all of his strengths and failings. Although Burke is such an accomplished writer that his readers will no doubt learn to love the new hero as well, I will miss the people and landscape of Louisiana

I have read just about everything James Lee Burke has written, but my favorite character by far is Dave Robicheaux. This was actually the first of the Burke books I "read" (this one I actually listened to in audio as it was a gift to me -- and that alone was wonderful as the narrator had a fabulous Louisiana accent that brought the words alive). JLB's style is poetic, and the scenes he sets for you bring you right there to the Bayou with his words. He is a master at setting the scene and making you see the characters and hear their voice. His ability to spin a crime story with twists and turns, while getting you into Dave's head, his history and his love of his family are unsurpassed. Best advice regarding the Dave series: try to read them in the order written -- it helps to get a sense of time in Dave's personal life -- there are changes that occur and I was blind sided by a couple of them because I read out of order.

James Lee Burke continues to produce thought-provoking and thoroughly readable fiction. Cimarron Rose weaves a fine tale with strong characters, good plotting and excellent first person narration. Drawing from his usual themes, Burke reflects on how the past informs the present, how men like hero Billy Bob Holland, (an ex-Texas Ranger) reconciles the violence in his life whilst trying to be decent as he raises a surrogate son in the form of a young mexican boy, (echoes here of Dave Robicheaux's adopted daughter Alafair). Cimarron Rose begins well and continues to grip the reader as a gallery of typical Burke villians(revolting pyscopaths, obnoxious federal agents, crooked law enforcement officers and rich spoilt, vicious brats) give hero Holland grief. Varying in style only slightly from Burke's earlier books, those who have enjoyed his work before should enjoy this book too.

Former US Assistant DA,and Texas Ranger Billy Bob Holland rides his horse into a honkey-tonk, unfurls his lariat and effortlessly loops it around the torso of a woman-beating thug. He drags the dude out the door for a bit of cowboy keelhauling discipline. Readers NOW must be aware--like Dorothy--they're "no longer in Kansas". Courtesy of James Lee Burke's hard-edged,yet superbly literary style, our New West hero essays roles of defense attorney by day and LONE RANGER at night. Burke convinces us Deaf Smith (a town near Austin,combining resort ambience of Lake Travis with working class morphed-Yuppster Round Rock Texas, and generously violent doses of old West Tombstone) exists on Earth, not galaxy far away in the Final Frontier.

This is only Setting. CIMARRON ROSE evokes old West and the New(Drug Thug)West. Billy Bob finds himself legally defending his unacknowledged son Lucas in a gruesome rape/murder case featuring a dog soldier battle-array of drug dealers; bent DEA; feckless FBI agents; a formerly abused-child, now border-line psychopath bent on revenge against the Bobster; some repugnant nouveau rich whose adopted son,at very least,is a sociopathic punk and prime candidate for the murder Lucas is(?)framed-for.

James Lee Burke writes like John Updike. He's got poet's command of language and maturely controls a difficult(fantastic)plot. Characterizations are excellent; psychological observations ring astute; his physical descriptions are striking and beautiful. Do yourself a favor. Read what a great writer can do with a seedy study of the human condition. I'm told Burke does this trick often.If this is formula writing, it's excellent. Take a gander at CIMARRON ROSE.It's no New Age Flower shop tour for sure.And in this one,The Lone Ranger doesn't use silver bullets.(4 & 1/2 stars)

Cimarron Rose is a typically offbeat James Lee Burke tale, set in the small town of Deaf Smith, Texas. Defense attorney, Billy Bob Holland, is asked to take on the cases of two young men, and soon finds himself in the middle of a complex set of corrupt relationships that will not be sorted out unless he does it. The book has a fascinating story within a story delivered in the form of a journal inherited from his Great-grandpa Sam that Billy Bob reads almost daily while pursuing the case. The book has fascinating characters whose evil, blindness, and carelessness make the story develop in unexpected ways. Although the book has much violence in it, there is a genuine attempt to keep the violence within some sort of limits that makes the book more appealing.

I like books that feature significant character development, and this one does an exemplary job with Billy Bob and Lucas Smothers, who is accused of a rape and murder. These two men are very complicated but in a way that will draw you in, and cause you to root for them to keep following their ideals and dreams.

The backdrop is a crooked town, in a corrupt county, with lots of bent government types running around. Although probably no worse than a lot of other places, this book is about a sort of Texas Sodom and Gomorrah. There is a need for someone to do more than what is required, and Billy Bob takes on that role. You will find those who are satisfied with their wealthy lives just as culpable as those who are totally corrupt.

Fans of the Dave Robicheaux novels will find this one follows the general approach of those rich, complex stories.

Clearly, Billy Bob is a fellow who operates well outside the law, a sort of modern day Lone Ranger. At the same time, he can barely keep himself from going off the deep end mentally. As a result, he is sort of like a ticking time bomb, and you keep expecting him to go off. And he does.

The plot culminates in a trial that presents the kind of unexpected developments that you will recognize from Perry Mason stories.

After you finish reading this novel, you should think about when you should follow God's law, when men's laws, and when your own conscience. How would you have handled the dilemmas presented here for Billy Bob and Lucas? How could they have handled them better?

Live in the present and make a pathway for good!

White Doves at Morning has the stark beauty and vivid imagery of all Burke's novels, but not it's strong plot. The many characters introduced are never fully developed beyond a few central personalities. No one can compare to James Lee Burke when he discribes with similes and all five senses the character's surroundings, in this novel the Cival War, but his similies wear thin in one passage as he strings one after the other and seems to lose his point. The hero of the story, Willie Burke, is in the vein of Billy Bob and Dave, heroes of Burke's two wonderful series, but one doesn't feel any greater empathy for Willie by having known him so well through Burke's other strong, defiant characters. The story ends rather abruptly and does not rap up the lose edges as cleanly as a fan of Burke's would expect. The story is a decent one if the reader does have expectations after having read Burke's other, nearly perfect novels. But a new reader of Burke should consider reading a second novel of his before judging his abilities on just this one.

The arrival on bookshelves of anything written by James Lee Burke is a reason for celebration in my household-- as well it should be, for the man is arguably the finest living craftsman of eloquent prose in America today. At my own book signings, my oft-repeated line is that I'd read a phone book written by James Lee Burke.

But I have to confess, I hesitated before taking home a copy of WHITE DOVES IN THE MORNING, Burke's most recent release. After all, it features neither Dave Robicheaux nor Billy Bob Holland; it is not a reprinting of what I consider Burke's Golden Age of fiction, the stuff he wrote in the 1960s (which still staggers, with its literary mastery) before disappearing for almost two decades.

WHITE DOVES is, rather, a Civil War novel-- not surprising, in a way, to any reader of Burke's other fiction. His fascination with both combat in general and the Civil War in particular is evident in much of his writing. Nonetheless, for the reader eagerly awaiting the next return of Streak or Billy Bob, the thought of instead plunging into a... historical novel? ...might given even the most ardent James Lee Burke fan pause.

It shouldn't. Within a half-dozen pages, it is evident that the master is in rare form here. Burke's lyrical, evocative prose quickly sweeps the reader into a story that is impossible to put down.

It helps that much of the setting is familiar ground: Burke's beloved Louisiana bayou country, specifically the New Iberia of 1861 - 65. The smells and sounds of what will, in a century of so, be Dave Robicheaux country, will be immediately recognized by any Burke aficionado, serving as a timeless land of live oaks, hanging air vines and mosquitoes buzzing in the marshland shadows.

It also helps that many of the character names we've become accustomed to in the Robicheaux chronicles are also present-- this time, as living characters who flesh out the fables and anecdotes and events that later will be passed down to Dave Robicheaux and from him, to we readers. We meet the Negro freeman and slave owner Jubal Labiche, whose skin color will make no difference to the soon-to-be-invading Yankees. We meet brothel owner Carrie LaRose and her brother, the brawling, pirate-minded Jean-Jacques LaRose, both shrewd Cajun entrepreneurs who deal in contraband and live by their own rough code of ethics. We meet Ira Jamison, whose sprawling Angola Plantation will later become Angola State Penitentiary.

And while we do, we realize that we already know their descendants, themselves familiar from the Burke/Robicheaux series: the twin Labiche daughters of another generation, one of whom will be executed for the murder of her molester; the LaRose descendant, elected Louisiana governor only to die in a last effort to save his doomed wife in a pyre that was the LaRose mansion; even the Angola Prison which is so often a key dark role in Burke's Robicheaux tales.

It is a masterful device, this intermingling of our recollections from other novels and other storylines, that in less capable hands could have failed miserably. But Burke handles it with ease, even to the point of centering the story on his own ancestor, one Willie Burke.

If there is any flaw in WHITE DOVES IN THE MORNING, it is the distinctly too-abrupt conclusion with which Burke has provided as an epilogue. Here, in a departure from the seductive rhythms, eloquence and rich characterization which Burke uses elsewhere so well, the author merely ticks off, one by one, a digest of the ultimate fates of the characters. It is a decidedly less-than-satisfactory conclusion for the reader; worse, it does a disservice to the characters in this novel. Burke's skill has turned them into living people about whom we now care.

And it is in this sole failing that WHITE DOVES IN THE MORNING gives every James Lee Burke fan a reason for optimism.

We want more than Burke's closing has left us-- far more than the brief, tantalizing, much too incomplete information on the balance of these characters, these lives. We want the author to take us back: back to antebellum New Iberia, back to these characters, back to this compelling chronicle of a time and a place that he has drawn so well.

I don't know if WHITE DOVES IN THE MORNING was intended as the first in a new, ongoing series; given the amazing talent that is James Lee Burke, I can only hope so.

Earl Merkel

The creator of David Robiceaux and Billy Bob Holland returns to historical fiction in a work set in Civil War-era Louisiana.

James Lee Burke has reached that stage where his name has become synonymous with his most successful literary creation --- David Robiceaux. Burke's Robiceaux novels have now spawned imitators and fans eagerly await the next installment in the series. In some instances, these fans become bitterly disappointed when a work bearing Burke's name on the spine does not contain a Robiceaux story therein. The series is so engrossing and well done that it is easy to forget that Burke's earliest writing dealt with other, occasionally historical, plots. In WHITE DOVES AT MORNING, he returns to that genre.

WHITE DOVES AT MORNING is a stand-alone novel, thus giving Burke freedom with his characters that he does not entirely have with the Robiceaux books or the Billy Bob Holland novels. One reads WHITE DOVES AT MORNING with no expectations other than that there will be a well-told, engrossing story. Burke has taken this freedom and run with it and, in the process, has created what might well be his finest work to date.

WHITE DOVES AT MORNING is set primarily in rural Louisiana during the Civil War and early Reconstruction. The primary characters are, as we are told, on the inside front cover, ancestors of Burke, though it is not immediately clear how much of the tale told within is family lore and how much is torn from the whole cloth of Burke's imagination. There is in all probability a healthy mix of both. Despite the change in subject matter, Burke continues the theme that runs through the Robiceaux novels --- that the rich are evil and can only transcend their circumstance with a healthy dose of guilt. This worldview, alas, is wearing rapidly thin --- there is no inherent evil in wealth, any more than there is a particular inherent nobility in poverty --- and Burke's incessant dwelling on the premise almost distracts from the beauty of his writing. Similarly, his presentation of the cause of the Civil War --- that it was fought over the issue of slavery --- is worse than simplistic; it is simply incorrect. The magnitude and beauty of Burke's writing, however, is such that one can easily suspend disbelief when encountering these issues and appreciate the beauty of this work.

The beauty and contrast within WHITE DOVES AT MORNING lie primarily in its characters. Robert Perry and Willie Burke, despite their disparities of background and opinion, join the Confederate Army while not sacrificing their principles, as well as their commitment to Abigail Dowling, a Massachusetts abolitionist who had come to Louisiana several years previously to aid in the battle against yellow fever. Burke also forms a friendship, unlikely for that time and place, with Flower Jamison, a beautiful young slave who is owned by Ira Jamison, owner of Angola Plantation and, though he refuses to admit it, Flower's father. Burke secretly teaches Flower how to read and write, an act that places both of them in danger. Flower becomes the catalyst from which much of WHITE DOVES AT MORNING proceeds. She finds herself the object of desire of Rufus Adkins, the overseer of her father's plantation and a source of unspeakable evil. Adkins and Burke, cast together in combat during the Civil War, are uneasy comrades. They wear the same uniform, but are by no means on the same side.

It is this conflict, woven throughout WHITE DOVES AT MORNING, that is the ultimate manifestation of Burke's ability to present through implication the complexity of relationships against a backdrop of social and moral difficulty. There are also passages here which bring to mind some of the best work of Cormac McCarthy, particularly when the author describes the horror of battle and its physical and emotional aftermath. The end of the war, however, does not herald the end of the terror. Burke, Flower, and Dowling find themselves caught between the conquering army of the North and the dreaded night riders --- the Ku Klux Klan and the Knights of the White Camellia of which Adkins, ever the lowest common denominator opportunist, is a member.

WHITE DOVES AT MORNING ultimately demonstrates the rippling effect that an act of bravery and simple kindness --- in this instance, Burke's instruction to Flower in reading and writing --- can have upon people over time. Fans of Robiceaux who eschew this work simply because their favorite Cajun detective is not its prominent feature will only cheat themselves. At the same time, those who are unfamiliar with Burke's work will find WHITE DOVES AT MORNING far more than an introduction to a new author. This work, in time, will perhaps become the most highly regarded of all of Burke's efforts.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Of course, everyone knows before we start this book that everything is connected in several ways to everything else. The Real skill is in finding these connections and telling about them in an interesting way. Well James Burke as editor, does this with great skill. I first read the book straight through. Then I came back and read with the hyper-links. Sure enough, you get different perspectives. Then you add the links that he did not think of. I am ready for the next book.
By the way, James Burke was not the first to think this way. You should really read "The Ascent of Man" by Jacob Bronowski ISBN: 0316109339. It was used as a Humanities course in a local joiner collage.

This latest edition of Mr. Burke's unique perspective of history is aptly named. Unlike his previous, best known works, "Connections" and "The Day the Universe Changed", James Burke does not examine the events bearing on a specific topic indepth. This volume, of 20 chapters, contains a plethora of persons and events in each. It has an exhaustive index of 18 pages and 447 points of reference in the margins. Taking a different literary approach from his previous works, Burke makes his point of the connections between seemingly disjointed and unforeseen events in history remarkably well. Aptly titled "The Pinball Effect" James Burke coherently outlines events leading from one point of reference to a completely unforseen outcome. He does not examine the advent of a specific discovery or human insight exhaustively. In prose style, it is a true outline, giving very brief summaries of the interactions of events and persons. This gives a whirl wind, fast paced tone to the work. Additionally, adding to the the pinball pace of the book, Burke has added to the margins of each page "gateways", cites to other pages in the book, where the event is mentioned. Based on the premise that history can be recorded as timelines, and these timelines invariably cross innumerably, these "gateways," as Burke terms them, show how preceived unrelated events are indeed related. The major premise of this work is that these relationships are impossible to determine contemporaneously and it is only with the benefit of hindsight can the implications be devined. Since knowlege expands exponentially, each new insight building upon the former, and chaotically, with each individual mind developing it's own thought patterns, the possbilities are exhausting. These inexhaustive combinations and the tangentery implications that may be drawn therefrom is the "Pinball Effect." Thus, this departure from Burke's previous approach is well suited to his premise. This work is not a companion book to the television series "Connections 2", although many chapters cover topics of these episodes. In an interview to the Boston Phoenix newspaper, on debute of the "Connections 2" series in 1994, Burke stated that the indepth examination given in the hour long episodes of "Connections" and "The Day the Universe Changed" were not accessible to today's television audience, accustom to soundbite TV. Therefore, "Connections 2" consisted of facer pased, half hour shows. Whether or not this premise is true, "The Pinball Effect" is not a dumbing down of knowleged for the masses by it's outline technique. It is fascinating, fast paced reading as such, but is is also an excellant reference book. Every bookshelf should contain a copy for this reason alone. Almost the whole of Western scientific history and it's impact on society is in this book. The excellant index and bibliography enables one to look up characters and events divergent as: Josiah Wedgwood, Luigi Galvani, Immanual Kant; immigration quota laws, phosphates, and block and tackle systems and thereby guage their time, place and implications. This is not a book to gain indepth knowledge of any particular subject by. It is an excellant overview of the complexity of modern Western history, from the view of a scientific historian, for both the neophyte and the proficient. True to it's name, "The Pinball Effect" takes the reader on a fast and furious ride through the major events of our history, events which are all too often taken for granted. It is highly recommended. Reviewer's note: I've tried to include indentation and line spacing between paragraphs, but they do not seem to show on the screen. If these do not appear, please excuse the inconvenience.

A previous reviewer has pointed out that much of what is described in the book is coincidence. This is true but misses the point entirely. The author does not mean to imply cause and effect; the world is too complex for that. The point is that there are several sets of scattered events that can be joined together; the fascinating thing is that such events and connections exist in the first place. Burke gives examples of such, and does so in such a way that you know he is only sampling from a much larger collection of them.

For example, the following sequence of events comes from the first chapter of the book:

Rowland Hill is best known for introducing the idea of postage stamps. The first printer that the British government hired was an American named Jacob Perkins, who later turned his new printing techniques to the problem of mass producing printed cotton cloth. For this he used a special gum imported from West Africa called Senegal gum. This was made possible by the French who had colonized that part of the world. That in turn was made possible by the 17th century statesman called Jean-Baptiste Colbert, who modernized much of France and in particular its navy. He was responsible for the building of the Canal du Midi that cut a swathe in France from the Atlantic to the Med. One of the engineers who worked on this massive undertaking was Sebastien Vauban, a brilliant inventor who also came up with a new method of siege warfare that was used by French and American troops to defeat the British at Yorktown. The American victory led to a huge number of loyalists fleeing to Nova Scotia. One of them was Abraham Kunders, who saw an opportunity in transporting the other group of refugees sweeping into that part of the world, namely Scots who had been kicked off their lands. After some time this transatlantic traffic was beginning to wane. Meanwhile, Hill's Penny Post had just begun, and Kunders was quick to realize that this would mean a huge amount of mail requiring transportation across the Atlantic, and made sure his company was there to ship a good deal of it. This made him rich, and started a successful family business which by the twentieth century and a clerical error was the Cunard shipping company, that built such well known liners as the Lustiania and the Queen Elizabeth II.

And that's just part of the first chapter, remember.