The Neon Rain: A Dave Robicheaux Novel

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.

I've listened to all the other Dave Robichaux novels on Audible, and was SO glad to see this early one released. Of COURSE the plot, the characters, the writing - is masterful. I agree with the other reviewers here - Will Patton is the perfect narrator. Listening to this book, I truly forgot that I was listening to only one man's voice. The combination of Dave R/James Lee Burke/Will Patton remains my FAVORITE listen from Audible.

I can only listen to Will Patton read James Lee Burke. I tried his other narrator, and could not get past the first disk. Will Patton IS Dave and Clete and Helen, and all the rest as he reads the novels of Burke. No one else can hold a candle--I will have to read Jolie Blon's Bounce for myself--pity Will Patton didn't read that one also!

I'm a big JLB fan and this book may be the best in the entire series!

I REALLY hope all of the other earlier books are put into Unabridged audio format.

Will Patton is easily one of the top ten readers in the business and does a great job as well.

I want more!!

Highly recommended!!

are you going to give Mike Hammer some more work pretty soon?

In complementing James Lee I'll resist comparisons and characterizations of his writing.I will simply say that in this day and age and place where I sell you my money's worth, James Lee Burke's books are a worthy exception. I enjoy them, I benefit from them and I look forward to the next one. The only thing I would change is to have more opportunity to combine Burke and Hammer... It's just flat works!

I had already read this book, but when I saw that it was available in an unabridged format with Will Patton reading, I immediately downloaded it. I avoid the Mark Hammer narrations--I don't care for his style. The voice of Dave Robicheaux IS Will Patton. Burke is one of my favorite writers, and I love listening as well as reading.

Several years ago I discovered James Lee Burke and Dave Robicheaux and became a fan. I started working my way backwards in the stories reading the new ones that came out as well. So, it was a nice surprise when I discovered Audible had released a book written in 1987, remember the days before cell phones, pc's, hand held devies? Anyway, this was hard hitting from the beginning, gave good insight into the background of Dave, in this book he's still a NOPD detective and Clete Purcell and he hadn't bonded the way they do later. I enjoyed this book from start to finish and blew right through it in just a few days. Now where do I go from here?

There's something special about the mix of Dave Robicheaux, Will Patton, and the places and people of south Louisiana. Burke's take on the internal as well as the external life of his characters draws one right in, and makes me want more.

Will Patton is as good as anyone at delivering the accents, drama, soul of JLB Dave Robicheaux novels. I would much rather listen to him, even the abridged novels, than read them. And I just have a small quibble that only native New Orleanians would be troubled by. Some of his pronunciations are just off, and it's a buzz killer. A few that come to mind are Carondelay -when it should be Carondelette. And he's forever riding the St. Charles streetcar down the Esplanahd - I've never heard it called that, though there is an Esplanayde Avenue just outside the French Quarter. I think there are a few others that fail to come to mind. Like I said, a minor quibble, but Will, please fix it!

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.