Crusader's Cross

A Dave Robicheaux Novel

By: James Lee Burke

Narrated by: Will Patton

Length: 5 hrs and 42 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.

Unabridged version will be available 7/26.

©2005 James Lee Burke

Changing narrator drops my review

from 5 to 3 (maybe 2 & a half). I'm sorry, Will Patton is not a bad narrator, but he is NOT Robicheaux. Mark Hammer's reading sounds just like a friend of mine who grew up in Lousiana. I had a hard time getting involved in this one. Bad idea to change so late in the series.

Beware of abridgements

I listened to this wonderful book in what turns out to have been an abridgement. I guess Audible's policy is to say 'unabridged' when an item is that, but not to say 'abridged' when the item is that. The abridger did as good a job, probably, as could be done. But the tight plot and carefully character detailing was lost, at least rendering the ending puzzling.

Loved it!

Loved it, James Lee Burke is not to be listened to in an abridged version.

Do not go by the rating

I do not know who the other person was that rated this book, but that person could not have listened. This is the a great Burke book, and I have read them all. It is my favorite formula in mysteries, a search for answers in the past , a clue a little at a time etc. Maybe it is that I am from the area that it is so believeable to be. Ok, so Burke is a little raw for some. Not for me. And Will Patton has always been one of my favorite readers.

I love James Lee Burke novels

I loved Crusaders Cross! I have listened to every novel by JLB and love the way he writes. His description of the countryside or a storm coming up, you feel you are there. He could write about sh-- and I would love it. I especially love Clete Purcel, he is wonderful no matter what. I don't care who reads to book to me.

Couldn't listen to this narrator

I just couldn't listen to this narrator. He is a fine reader, but once you have heard Mark Hammer, no one else can ever be Dave. Sorry. I tried, but I just couldn't.