Crusader's Cross

A Dave Robicheaux Novel

By: James Lee Burke

Narrated by: Will Patton

Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Critically acclaimed and best-selling crime writer James Lee Burke returns to Louisiana where his ever-popular hero, Dave Robicheaux, sleuths his way through a hotbed of sin and uncertainty.

For Dave Robicheaux, life in Louisiana is filled with haunting memories of the past. In Crusader's Cross, a deathbed confession from an old schoolmate resurrects a story of injustice, the murder of a young woman, and a time in Robicheaux's life he has tried to forget.

Her name may or may not have been Ida Durbin. It was back in the innocent days of the 1950s when Robicheaux and his brother, Jimmie, met her on a Galveston beach. She was pretty, and Jimmie fell for her hard, not knowing she was a prostitute on infamous Post Office Street, with ties to the mob. Then Ida was abducted and never seen again.

Now, decades later, Robicheaux is asking questions about Ida Durbin, and a couple of redneck deputy sheriffs make it clear that asking questions is a dangerous game. With a series of horrifying murders and the sudden appearance of Valentine Chalons and his sister, Robicheaux is soon involved with the murderous energies of the New Orleans underworld.

©2005 James Lee Burke (P)2005 Simon & Schuster Inc. All rights reserved. AUDIOWORKS is an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division.

Another Winner

Dave Robicheaux and Will Patton are a killer duo together! No one does Dave better. I’ll listen to several books but I always have to come back and get my New Iberia fix.

Dump the sound editor NOW!

I love James Lee Burke's writing. I can smell the marsh and feel the humidity and taste the salty air when I listen to one of his books. Dave Robicheaux is a great character whom I have followed for years and Will Patton's reading is spot on. So what's with the editing of this book? Will will be winding down a beautifully written sentence and CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN (or whatever chapter comes next) is tacked to the end of the sentence with no pause at all. It doesn't happen with every chapter but it happens a lot. I listen to books when I'm driving and every time this happens it is a shock to my system and I spend the next few minutes asking WHY? WHY? WHY? Then I realize that I've lost the gist of the next chapter and have to rewind to see what is happening. This is most irritating and it is a discredit to a skilled writer and marvelous narrator.

Beautiful prose, great mystery

I was only recently introduced to Dave Robecheaux in the Tin Roof Blowdown.

Burke's tortured detective struggles with his demons of the past while trying to find the decency in a world that seems to have gone mad with criminal activity of the worst kind. His writing style is so descriptive and graphic that you can smell the Lousiana swamp, hear the rain, and feel the humidity of the area near the City of New Orleans. The characters are rich, the mystery uncommon. Yet, Dave wades into the crimes to humanity with the tenacity of a bulldog, all the while questioning his motives, his anger and his own sense of what is the right thing to do - in spite of himself.

A great read, and it was good to go back some to learn of the Robecheaux character. I look forward to going through the series.

Good mystery bad characters

Corrupt cops, broken people, prostitutes, serial killers.....sick people. Very disturbing book.....I need a shower!

Oh Dave

He gets into alot of trouble but overall Mr. Robicheaux is one righteous guy. The new wife seems ok too.

I'm probably a minority on this one

Out of all the books in this series, this has by far been the worst. The nuts and bolts of the serial killer part of the book only received about a tenth of the story line. As with many of his stories, he solves two crimes. One in the past and a current one. This one was so comingled it really made the story ridiculous, with the crime of the book being wrapped up in the last 20 minutes.

It reminded me of the Heinlein book, Mark of the Beast, where he purposely wrote a crap story to make his publishers happy, only for it to be a best seller because it came from him. I kind of feel this is what happened in this book.

Dave Robicheaux seriously self destructs. I get it, I am a widow too, as is he in this book. You do crazy stupid shit, but it seems over board.

I really feel bad for writing such a review because I do enjoy this series.

Will Patton, the narrator, forgot how he made two of the main supporting characters sound. Other than that he did well.

I did, as always, enjoy the poetic prose throughout the book.

One of Burke' best

One of series favorites. The later ones tend to stretch credulity too much but this one rocked. Three more words.

Mystifying Mystery

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No. I like this author a lot, but I just could not get into this book. I don't know why. I repeatedly lost my place. There was something about the plodding development of the storyline that put me off.

Would you be willing to try another book from James Lee Burke? Why or why not?

Oh, yes! He is a terrific author. His descriptions are sometimes a bit verbose and overdone, but even then he has provocative things to say.

What aspect of Will Patton’s performance would you have changed?

I would have made his rendition of some of the characters even a little bit more gritty. He is an excellent narrator--don't get me wrong on that score. There was just something slightly too gentle in his affectations.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes. In the hands of a very skilled director, this would make for a great movie. Alas, I do not know who that director would be. He would have to be of Hitchcock caliber.

Any additional comments?

I do not recommend this particular listen. I am keeping it only because I want to figure out why I am not being caught up in the plot. I want to make sense of my not quite grasping its development.

One of the best Detective novels, EVER.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This novel was a success on many levels. The story was good, the performance excellent, and the way you are transported to that time and place in New Orleans is a real treat.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Crusader's Cross?

Hard to pick but I really enjoyed Dave's relationships with Clete, his ex-partner. When they were chasing down a leads and knockin' heads they were a convincing team.

What does Will Patton bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

This book would not have been the same if not for Will Patton's performance. His gravelly yet whisper of a voice was well modulated and kept you listening. Personally I could listen to this guy recite the alphabet. His vocalizing of different characters was excellent and his Cajun' accent was a success. I skipped the books by the other narrator to listen to Will.

great immersion in the setting and human morality

Great writing. Great job of presenting setting and comments on humanity, characters and motivation. Nice job of presenting the nuances of alcohol addiction. There were clues presented early, like a character swallowing a wedding ring, that weren't followed up. It left me wondering why such a great detective let clues slip. He knew the DNA of a murder victim but didn't use the info to connect to the murderer and continued to act surprised that the victim wasn't related to other suspects. Despite what were probably editing/proofreading flaws, the writing is so good, that other things can be forgiven.
What ever happened to the days of editors who actually read the book and sent it back to the author?