The Neon Rain

A Dave Robicheaux Novel

By: James Lee Burke

Narrated by: Will Patton

Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best-selling author James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux novels began with this first hard-hitting entry in the series.

In The Neon Rain, Detective Robicheaux fishes a prostitute's corpse from a New Orleans bayou and finds that no one, not even the law, cares about a dead hooker.

More mayhem? Listen to more of James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux thrillers.

©1987 James Lee Burke (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"With its fine local color and driving action, this novel is both chilling and first-rate entertainment." ( Publishers Weekly)
"One of Burke's best." ( New York Times Book Review)

Keep'um Com'in,JLB

Once more the Poet Laureate of New Iberia gives us nasty people doing heinus deeds in beautiful southern Louisiana.And who better to tell the tale than Dave Robicheaux himself, Will Patton.

Where it all began.

Neon Rain marks the first appearance of Dave Robicheaux, Burke's idealistic Cajun cop. I've read/listened to all of the books in the series but had somehow missed this one. I encourage everyone who likes Burke's flawed detective to listen to The Neon Rain, by doing so you will gain insight into Dave's earlier life, and why he lives like he does.

Dave Robicheaux doesn't mess around. When he hears that he may be on someones hit list, he doesn't skulk and sneak around, trying to find out what's going on. Not Dave! He goes and asks the guy directly. He has a lot to deal with in this book; a dead girl, mobsters, drug and gun runners, kidnapping, a questionable partner, a new girlfriend, his own demons; and in the end he does pretty well, but probably not in the way you would expect.

The Neon Rain is a dream come true, a detective novel that bridges the gap to serious fiction with marvelous characters, an intricate plot, and lyrical prose. This is a novel I really admire.

Neon Rain

James Lee Burke writes in the gray areas of life; people are both good and bad. What they do to each other and to their environment comes out of the balance (or rather, imbalance) of these two elements. Burke is very perceptive about the lack of sharp lines in morality and the rules of life.

At first I wondered if every Robicheaux book was going to be this much about him 'battling his demons'. The internal dialogues when Robicheaux goes off the rails get intense, but looking ahead at future synopses I see that he does evolve; he keeps fighting demons but it looks like they change.

One of the things I kept reminding myself is that when this book originally came out it was smack-dab in the middle of Iran-Contra and Vets fighting for acknowledgement about the damage from Agent Orange. Placing things in context makes a difference; those issues were forefront for many in the country.
By the end of this first book, I knew I was going to try some more; for some reason I feel like reading them in order. There are also a couple of stand-alone books I'd like to read.

Burke's writing is affecting; I read a couple of magazine essays by him, reinforcing my sense of him as sharp observer of human behavior and the world around him; it's complexities and it's contradictions.
Will Patton does a more than commendable job of narrating. One note, though; he's an actor--if Dennis Quaid can do a credible cajun accent then it's hard to believe Patton couldn't have done a much better one than his attempts in this book.

I am trying to find Heaven's Prisoners. Unfortunately Audible only has an abridged version, which doesn't interest me.

Brilliant descriptive skills; dubious plot.

I began reading James Lee Burke in 1987, with this book, before I ever became aware of audiobooks. That was thirty years ago, obviously, and I can remember the thrill I felt at Burke's sheer mastery of description of place. I have still not been to New Orleans, but he makes you feel as if you are there in every sense: the sights, sounds, tastes, smells, etc. Will Patton is also utterly masterful as a narrator of Burke's books. Like other reviewers, I really would not enjoy listening to another reader trying to voice Dave Robicheaux.
The criticisms of Burke's luxuriating in violence are valid. I have made those comments myself when reviewing several of the more recent novels. Although the connections to his Viet Nam experience are plausible, still there is too much violence, no matter what the underlying psychological justification of it is. It also does undermine his legitimacy as a cop: he seems to break as many laws as the criminals whom he arrests, and he usually just gets a slap on the wrist, if anything. We understand that he is tormenting himself with guilt, but that doesn't really make up for his episodic murderous rages. He does do a great job describing these, as well as Dave's tenderness and his need to withdraw from people. Dave is a man with a treasure chest of neuroses and character flaws, and over the past thirty years he has become a bit mellower, but, really, not so much. And Clete Purcell actually outdoes Dave in the violence department: if Dave is a loose cannon, then Cletus is a completely unhinged nuclear weapon. These guys are cops? Maybe it's something in the air in Louisiana. Probably not.
Despite the criticisms, though, I continue to read and enjoy most of Burke's books. He has not lost any of his powers, at an age at which many writers begin phoning it in. When he began spending his summers in Montana I had the same experience: I have never been there, either, and yet Burke makes the place so vivid that it makes you want to buy a plane ticket and go there tomorrow. CJ Box and Craig Johnson do similar things with Wyoming, but Burke is at a level of his own in this regard. Part of what makes his skill unique is his ability to draw the people who live in these places, the good ones and the bad ones and everybody in between. The women are given short shrift, as is often the case with male writers, both in books and in movies. Tim Hallinan is one of the few male writers whose women (Rose) and girls (Miaow) are just as richly drawn and fascinating as the men. There is one skill that Mr. Burke lacks. There are so many delightful things about his writing, though, that I will continue reading Dave Robicheaux books for as long as Burke continues to write them.

Wonderful police story with fantastic narrator

I love Will Patton so I thought I would try this series since he does a lot of the narration. I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline and the plot kept me intrigued.

Dave Robicheaux is far from a perfect man or police man. This is necessary in a good story because you need a believeable hero for me to care about. If I want a Superman, I will rent Man of Steel.

The story starts out with Dave visiting a death row inmate who claims his innocence in the murder he is to die for, but warns Dave that there is a hit put out on him. From there the story gets wilder and has lots of action.

Will Patton does a wonderful job as the characters in this book,

I enjoyed the book and will continue on with this series.

Book 3, Narrator 5

My first JLB book, not sure if I'm up for a 2nd. He writes well, but the story gets lost in his florid definitions. Everything's a simile, from the sweat on someone's brow to the sun setting over Lake Ponchartrain. Will Patton, though, is amazing. He does an incredible range of voices for each character, and I could see Dave Robicheaux or Captain Guidry standing in front of me, just from listening to him give them life. It's worth a credit for his performance alone.

Will Patton is the best thing about this story

The best thing about Neon Rain is Will Patton's narration. Without that I'd of given it a three not a four. It was a good book but Dave Robicheaux is so self destructive that after a while it's hard to cheer for the guy. As for the plot, most of it you could see coming a mile away. I think there is a lot of potential there and I'm sure Burke is a better writer than this represents so I'm sure at some point I'll try the next one. First books in a series are often problematic and I think this is one of those times.

Nice Solid Story

My first time with this author and he kept me interested. Good plot and the reader (Will Patton) made it even better.

Firstclass writing!

Great characters, fascinating scenes and conversations, and good gritty story. Doesn't get much better than this.

Narrator Will Patton is . . . indescribable.

I enjoyed this book very much. When it was over, I wasted no time looking up the next Dave Robicheaux story I was going to listen to. James Lee Burke is quite a writer. His prose makes it all worthwhile. And fortunately, somebody hired Will Patton to narrate the audiobooks. WP is right up there at the very top, one of the best. I can feel the heat, steam, humidity, light rain falling as I sit and listen--oh and the nearly constant threat of one criminal or another, armed and completely lacking in moral fiber. THE NEON RAIN is a good one, glad I listened to it.