James Lee Burke: The Glass Rainbow

[753C]

I am going to make a blanket statement. My apologies in advance. Here it is:
There is no one currently writing better detective fiction than James Lee Burke. Period.
Burkes Southern Louisiana is a decaying paradise. His characters are complex, endearing, revolting, tragic, humorous, beguiling, vicious... you get the picture. His plots are suspenseful page turners. His villains are evil incarnate. his protagonists are battered, tormented, principled, hypocritical, gallant.... and will not hesitate to scrub evil men off the face of the planet. His prose transcends the genre. Burke has the ability to describe just about anything and make it sound like poetry.
I just finished The Glass Rainbow. +
If you haven't read anything by this author I highly recommend you give him a try.

 

[Tai_Mai_Shu]

I've never read any of his work so which book to you recommend I start with?

 

[753C]

The ones that got me started way back when were "Dixie City Jam", and "Heavens Prisoners". These aren't the first in the series, but the series doesn't really need to be read in order. Another popular earlier novel was "In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead". Try any of these. I read these three first and then commenced to reading just about everything the guy had in print in a matter of months.

 

[iamkatherine]

Thanks for this. I've wanted to read Burke for a long time now but was never sure where to begin.

 

[753C]

Thanks for this. I've wanted to read Burke for a long time now but was never sure where to begin.

Your welcome, and I hope you enjoy the stories. He really captures the atmosphere of the deep south and his writiing is superb.