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.

Burke At His Best

Dave falls off the wagon and manages to impale himself on a cross of his own making. At one point, it looks very bleak for Dave indeed. Of course, we know that Dave will overcome, but how he does makes for excellent listening.

I've read that Dave can be ethically challenged. This is the first book I've listend to where I finally understand that comment.

Will Patton's narration is as usual, excellent, although he does have a tendency to be "breathy."
His characterization defines Clete Purcell.

This one will keep you sitting in the car or have your headphones glued to your ears.

Good Ole Dave

Typical Dave, you say, "please don't do it" and he does it and gets in deep trouble. Will Patton makes these books come alive! He is absolutely the best at getting out what James Lee Burke puts into a book. Love his Cajun dialect, when he uses it. Great Book.

Crusader's Cross lets you in how "rich" LA could be.

I liked this audiobook esp because Will Patton told the story.

LA is a very rich State! Rich in it's History! Needs a man to run it with kid gloves!

Excellent writing but characters hard to love

He’s an accomplished writer. Paced and deliberate. Very good command of language. Characters are deeper and more nuanced than most. Excellent knowledge of material. Characters are hard to like and relate to. Very real though. I loved the narrator. Very dark view of life.

Maybe too much Dave

I like the Dave Robicheaux series and have always read, not listened to them. I don't know if it was the fact that I was listening or that it is one book too many in the series but I find the descriptions of weather, smells, memories repetitive and not always relevant - almost as if the author is getting too caught up in the sound of his own voice. While a good mystery, it was almost as if he said "OK, long enough, I have to end it now", without tying up the threads.

The best in the series in some ways

This is a good series, there are a lot of books in it so I do not write a review of them all, but on this occasion I have to point out that this is a stand out. The story is beautifully developed, the ending brought to an exciting conclusion and the language and description of events fabulous. I do have to add a bit to the narrator controversy, although I find Patton adequate, he butchers Cletus Purcell's voice, - but it does not take the audio out of the first rate category - it is just that he is not as good as the other prominent narrator for that character. There are times in this story when you have to find a way to keep the audio rolling, it is just so well written and compelling that there are simply not good places to pause. The villein is extremely well built and seems to have the upper hand although you are not sure who his surrounding cast is, there are great moments of suspense and surprise twists in the story.
Highly recommended

wrong narrator!

I love hearing the Burke books and want more and more unabridged. I've listened to them exclusively for the past couple of months, including on a trip to New Orleans. So imagine my dismay when the voices I was so used to, of which I craved more, disappeared and were replaced by this limp, beat poet reading. No fair! I wish I'd checked the narrator before I bought it, I just assumed it would be Mark Hammer. What a disappointment!

A+

This is my first Dave Robicheaux novel and my first read by Will Patton. I loved both and will seek out more! Will Patton does such a good job I will look for more novels that he reads.

One of the Best

As a reader of everything he's published, the writing of this book is some of the best Burke has ever done. Fantastic!

not my favorite

not my favorite, but still a good read. it didn't have as much intrigue as most