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Purple Cane Road
On sale
11th April 2013
Price: £9.99
‘When James Lee Burke writes, the little birdies sing, the sun comes out and old men learn to dance again. That’s how good he is. And now he’s back . . . Purple Cane Road may be the finest novel Burke has written’ INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
‘At times Burke’s writing and atmosphere remind one of William Faulkner; at other moments Raymond Carver. I cannot think of much higher praise that can be accorded a novel’ THE TIMES
‘No crime writer in America can hold a pen to Burke’s mastery of style and powers of evocation and empathy’ GUARDIAN
‘PURPLE CANE ROAD is not only a brilliant mystery, with an astonishing denouement, but a moving evocation of nostalgia and pain set in a marvellously described location’ SCOTSMAN
When Detective Dave Robicheaux discovers disturbing secrets from his mother’s past, he embarks on a journey through a murky world of vice, politics and murder.
Robicheaux has been told that his mother, Mae, was a hooker and ended her life drowned in a mud puddle by two cops working for the Mob. As Robichaeux and his partner hunt for the killers, they hook up with a door-to-door salesman turned state governor, a psychotic hit-man, and the owner of the mansion at Purple Cane Road – who knows rather too much about Robichaeux’s wife . . .
Praise for one of the great American crime writers, James Lee Burke:
‘James Lee Burke is the heavyweight champ, a great American novelist whose work, taken individually or as a whole, is unsurpassed.’ Michael Connelly
‘A gorgeous prose stylist.’ Stephen King
‘Richly deserves to be described now as one of the finest crime writers America has ever produced.’ Daily Mail
Fans of Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly and Don Winslow will love James Lee Burke:
Dave Robicheaux Series
1. The Neon Rain
2. Heaven’s Prisoners
3. Black Cherry Blues
4. A Morning for Flamingos
5. A Stained White Radiance
6. In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead
7. Dixie City Jam
8. Burning Angel
9. Cadillac Jukebox
10. Sunset Limited
11. Purple Cane Road
12. Jolie Blon’s Bounce
13. Last Car to Elysian Fields
14. Crusader’s Cross
15. Pegasus Descending
16. The Tin Roof Blowdown
17. Swan Peak
18. The Glass Rainbow
19. Creole Belle
20. Light of the World
21. Robicheaux
Hackberry Holland Series
1. Lay Down My Sword and Shield
2. Rain Gods
3. Feast Day of Fools
4. House of the Rising Sun
Billy Bob Holland Series
1. Cimarron Rose
2. Heartwood
3. Bitterroot
4. In The Moon of Red Ponies
* Each James Lee Burke novel can be read as a standalone or in series order *
‘At times Burke’s writing and atmosphere remind one of William Faulkner; at other moments Raymond Carver. I cannot think of much higher praise that can be accorded a novel’ THE TIMES
‘No crime writer in America can hold a pen to Burke’s mastery of style and powers of evocation and empathy’ GUARDIAN
‘PURPLE CANE ROAD is not only a brilliant mystery, with an astonishing denouement, but a moving evocation of nostalgia and pain set in a marvellously described location’ SCOTSMAN
When Detective Dave Robicheaux discovers disturbing secrets from his mother’s past, he embarks on a journey through a murky world of vice, politics and murder.
Robicheaux has been told that his mother, Mae, was a hooker and ended her life drowned in a mud puddle by two cops working for the Mob. As Robichaeux and his partner hunt for the killers, they hook up with a door-to-door salesman turned state governor, a psychotic hit-man, and the owner of the mansion at Purple Cane Road – who knows rather too much about Robichaeux’s wife . . .
Praise for one of the great American crime writers, James Lee Burke:
‘James Lee Burke is the heavyweight champ, a great American novelist whose work, taken individually or as a whole, is unsurpassed.’ Michael Connelly
‘A gorgeous prose stylist.’ Stephen King
‘Richly deserves to be described now as one of the finest crime writers America has ever produced.’ Daily Mail
Fans of Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly and Don Winslow will love James Lee Burke:
Dave Robicheaux Series
1. The Neon Rain
2. Heaven’s Prisoners
3. Black Cherry Blues
4. A Morning for Flamingos
5. A Stained White Radiance
6. In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead
7. Dixie City Jam
8. Burning Angel
9. Cadillac Jukebox
10. Sunset Limited
11. Purple Cane Road
12. Jolie Blon’s Bounce
13. Last Car to Elysian Fields
14. Crusader’s Cross
15. Pegasus Descending
16. The Tin Roof Blowdown
17. Swan Peak
18. The Glass Rainbow
19. Creole Belle
20. Light of the World
21. Robicheaux
Hackberry Holland Series
1. Lay Down My Sword and Shield
2. Rain Gods
3. Feast Day of Fools
4. House of the Rising Sun
Billy Bob Holland Series
1. Cimarron Rose
2. Heartwood
3. Bitterroot
4. In The Moon of Red Ponies
* Each James Lee Burke novel can be read as a standalone or in series order *
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Reviews
Although nominally in the crime fiction genre, Lee Burke's novels transcend such a bracketing, being highly atmospheric slices of Southern Americana. Think Faulkner, with equal depth of character but clearer resolution of motive and plot
When it comes to literate, pungently characterised American crime writing, James Lee Burke has few peers.
Burke creates a landscape in which lovely and terrible things happen, with characters big enough never to be upstaged by the scenery. Potent, lyrical, inimitable
Burke's effortless command of language and his understanding of turbulent emotions make his books, and this one in particular, both moving and painful. I can think of no other writer today who captures the American South with such eloquence and sympathy
Wonderful writing lifts this dark, grim tale to a lyrical hymn to the possibility of personal redemption
'When James Lee Burke writes, the little birdies sing, the sun comes out and old men learn to dance again. That's how good he is. And now he's back . . . Purple Cane Road may be the finest novel Burke has written' Independent on Sunday
Purple Cane Road, confirms him as the most skilful stylist currently writing in America . . . Once more, James Lee Burke goes from strength to strength; he's The Man
The gentle giant of US crime writers, Burke always ensures that his Louisiana detective Dave Robicheaux grapples with hot topics as much as with his own inner demons.
James Lee Burke has created an extraordinarily vivid world: scary, bleak, full of eccentric low-lifes and devious, vengeful characters on the make . . . At times Burke's writing and atmosphere remind one of William Faulkner; at other moments Raymond Carver. I cannot think of much higher praise that can be accorded a novel
Purple Cane Road is not only a brilliant mystery, with an astonishing denouement, but a moving evocation of nostalgia and pain set in a marvellously described location
The king of Southern noir.
No crime writer in America can hold a pen to Burke's mastery of style and powers of evocation and empathy; this is prose that cuts straight to the heart, summoning a wonderful parade of damaged humanity in its wake
PURPLE CANE ROAD is not only the best book of the year by a street, but also possibly the best he has written . . . Like all Burke's novels PURPLE CANE ROAD has an intricate plot, brilliantly imagined characters, and is written in a language which, at once sharp yet poetic, can handle anything from extreme violence to languorous ease
James Lee Burke is the heavyweight champ, a great American novelist whose work, taken individually or as a whole, is unsurpassed.
Richly deserves to be described now as one of the finest crime writers America has ever produced.
A gorgeous prose stylist.
It is difficult to think of new superlatives to describe Purple Cane Road: like all James Lee Burke's novels it has an intricate, but superbly machined plot, brilliantly imagined characters (with brilliantly imagined names), and is written in a language which, at once sharp yet poetic, can handle with nonchalant skill anything from extreme violence to languorous ease. But this must be the best of the series . . . Indeed, the book makes most other crime writing seem crude, simplistic and immature
His lyrical prose, his deep understanding of what makes people behave as they do, and his control of plot and pace are masterly.
There are not many crime writers about whom one might invoke the name of Zola for comparison, but Burke is very much in that territory. His stamping ground is the Gulf coast, and one of the great strengths of his work has always been the atmospheric background of New Orleans and the bayous. His big, baggy novels are always about much more than the mechanics of the detective plot; his real subject, like the French master, is the human condition, seen in every situation of society.
