James Lee Burke: Three great novels - Robicheaux: tales from Louisiana

James Lee Burken jännärisarjan neljäs, viides ja kuudes romaani on kätevästi paketoitu yhdeksi niteeksi: Three great novels - Robicheaux: tales from Louisiana (Orion, 2005; ISBN 978-0-75287-276-6).



Romaanit ovat kaikki erilaisia, mutta toisaalta jonkinlaista kaavamaisuuttakin näissä havaitsin, varsinkin kun kolmen aiemman romaanin lukemisesta ei ole pitkäkään aika. Toisaalta jälleen kerran luku-urakka ei kestänyt kauankaan, vaikka pienellä painettu teksti olikin haastavaa lukea.

Tajusin kirjan luettuani että kaikkia James Lee Burken Robicheaux-romaanisarjan teoksia ei ole Helmetin kautta saatavissa. Niinpä tein sen melko harvinaisen tempun, että tilasin teossarjan seuraavat kuusi osaa Saksan Amazonista, missä ne olivat tarjolla edullisina yhteisniteinä.

A MORNING FOR FLAMINGOS

A routine assignment transporting two death-row prisoners to their execution goes fatally wrong, leaving Dave Robicheaux brutally wounded and his partner dead. Obsessed with revenge, Dave is persuaded by the DEA to go undercover into the torrid depths of New Orleans. He becomes irrevocably caught up in the nightmarish web surrounding Mafia don Tony Cardo and must pit himself against his own worst fears in order to survive.

A STAINED WHITE RADIANCE

A bullet shot through the window of Weldon Sonnier's house propels Dave Robicheaux back into the lives of a family he's not sure he wants to be reacquainted with. Weldon Sonnier's CIA-influenced past has led to dangerous connections. As Weldon puts himself in the line of fire, Lyle Sonnier, television evangelist and faith healer, reveals to Dave a violent family history that intersects menacingly with Dave's own.

IN THE ELECTRIC MIST WITH CONFEDERATE DEAD

When a movie crew arrives in New Iberia to shoot a Civil War epic, Dave Robicheaux finds that it's not just the bayou's living inhabitants that are being disturbed. As he hunts a sadistic killer targeting young prostitutes, evidence of an earlier murder is brought to light. The skeletal remains are the last echo of a crime Robicheaux himself witnessed almost forty years ago.