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Type of bind: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN num: 9780743277204
ISBN number: 0743277201
Label: Pocket
Manufacturer: Pocket
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 512
Printing Date: July 25, 2006
Publishing house: Pocket
Sale Popularity Level: 34327
Studio: Pocket
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Product Description:
For detective Dave Robicheaux, memories -- including those of a strange and violent summer from his youth -- are best left alone. But a dying man's confession forces Robicheaux to resurrect a decades-old mystery with a missing woman at its heart. Her name may or may not have been Ida Durbin, and Robicheaux's half brother, Jimmie, paid a brutal price for entering her world. Now the truth will plunge Robicheaux into the manipulations of New Orleans' wealthiest family, into a complex love affair of his own, and into hot pursuit of a killer expanding his territory beyond the Big Easy at a frightening pace.
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Rated by buyers 
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This is my very first entry into the ongoing saga of the south Louisiana detective Dave Robicheaux. I did it via audiobook, and enjoyed the interpretive skills of reader Will Patton.
I did not, however, care for the literary effort of James Lee Burke. Perhaps I should have been warned by the author photo showing a sly Burke jauntily cocking his head beneath the rim of an outlandish panama hat. This "look at me" self-presentation is a visual metaphor for the story and prose style of Crusader's Cross.
This overlong book gets bogged down in a swamp of details, including some subplots left unresolved. In addition, I found the descriptions of the serial grisly deaths ..... of women (the victims of choice of a certain kind of male mystery and suspense writer) little more than pornographic. Burke's horrific cataloging of senseless, misogynist mayhem in the end didn't explain the motives of the murderer, and so Robicheaux's dispatching of the perpetrator is anti-climactic.
I suppose Burke's style of writing is part of the cult of the extreme that currently has the world of arts and entertainment in its grip - see Tarrintino, Quentin, in film; or for painting, Dumas, Marlene. Burke's southern Louisiana is peopled by eccentrics, the violent, the demonically corrupt, and a chorus of bayou wits who could teach Oscar Wilde and Dorothy Parker a thing or two. The only "normal" person in Crusader's Cross is Maggie (?), a non-consummated (as in vows), free-lance nun who marries the haunted Viet Nam vet and A.A. member Robicheaux. God only knows why, though she gets a role in a gratuitous steamy shower sex scene.
Then there are the improbably lurid antagonists, the cagey Galveston pimp Lou Kale (who gets his predictable comeuppance, Dirty Harry style) and Valentine Chalons (no, that name is not a typo) who is overdrawn into a gaudy caricature of evil.
There are, however, redemptive elements, so to speak, in Burke's novel. For example, he makes Robicheaux a practicing (though heterodox) Catholic, and here and there the detective muses about moral and theological matters in a unique way, and that (too infrequently for me) serve as a commentary on the narrative. This could've been further developed and more skillfully woven into the plot, making for a more singular protagonist. In addition, while Burke seems to now rely on a stock of prose-as-props for describing the Louisiana environs, especially the locale and its bizarre weather, I periodically came upon passages that to rise to the level of the vivid and poetic - no small achievement in a protracted series.
For the redemption of this long in the tooth franchise, I wonder if it isn't time for Robicheaux to become an old philosopher detective, a kind of gulf coast Catholic jedi knight, his alcoholism mastered, who with his former nun wife, become a kind of Nick and Nora of N'Awlins. Who knows what new vistas in the detective genre these characters, broadened with life experience, musing on St. Thomas Aquinas and Liberation Theology, might open up. Like the wind blowing in from the Caribbean, it could be a gust of fresh air for this musty series.
Rated by buyers -
I think this will be my last story by Burke. Way too much detail to plow through. I found myself skimming pages to wade through some of it. I think the plot was weak. But I guess good old Dave pulled it together in the end after a few bodies piled up. I agree with the reviewer that commented on Dave's age. I too figured he had to be 64, but sounds like he still had an exciting sex life, in the shower even. Guess he maintains his strength and stamina with excersizing and jogging.
I did enjoy the many references of New Orleans and surrounding area as I visited there pre-Katrina and enjoyed seeing some the areas mentioned.
Rated by buyers 
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In this intriguing mystery, heavily steeped in the flavor of the bayou of Louisiana, Detective Dave Robicheaux delves into a mystery that has haunted him since the 1950's. When he is hired to investigate the recent string of murders of young women, he sees an opportunity to investigate the mystery of his teen years. The investigation proves to be a dangerous one, one that even threatens his life and that of his wife. Dodging prostitution and drug rings, as well as others who earn their living in the world of crime, Robicheaux fights to uncover secrets, as he fights to maintain his hard-earned sobriety.
All of this ugly depiction of human frailty occurs against the uniquely beautiful backdrop of the Louisiana countryside. As the author, through Robicheaux, savors the sunsets and wildlife on the bayou, the reader can almost see the huge trees enshrouded with Spanish moss swaying in the breeze. The admiration this author has for this part of our country becomes apparent in his gently lyrical prose.
This book is highly recommended, not only for the intriguing mysteries presented, but also for the sheer beauty of the author's loving words describing the beauty of its setting.
Rated by buyers -
Book was a Wonderful Novel, But the condition of the Book was misrepresented by seller.
Rated by buyers 
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There are a lot of good mystery writers out there and there's even a decent number of great ones, but there's only a few that are the true elite. In times past, you could include Raymond Chandler, Ross MacDonald and James MacDonald among this group. Nowadays, you have writers like Michael Connelly, Elmore Leonard, Dennis Lehane and James Ellroy. James Lee Burke is also in this select group and Crusader's Cross is yet another reason why he merits such status.
Crusader's Cross is another in Burke's series of novels featuring Dave Robicheaux, who over the years has gone from New Orleans cop to private eye to small town deputy. Along the way, he's battled many inner demons, most notably alcoholism, and been married three times (the very first would end in divorce, the second with a murder, and the third by natural causes). Now Robicheaux is in his sixties and as Crusader's Cross begins, he's retired.
A man from Dave's past, however, will bring back memories of a time over four decades ago, when Dave's half-brother Jimmie fell for prostitute Ida Durbin. When Jimmie tried to rescue her from her pimp, Ida disappeared and was assumed dead. Now, a dying acquaintance of Dave's has raised doubts, and Dave, ever the crusader, will soon take the badge back to look for her. There's also a more important reason for his being allowed back on the force: there is a serial killer on the loose, and the two cases will eventually become linked in an unexpected way.
As is often the case in a Robicheaux novel, the past has a huge influence on the present, not only with Ida Durbin, but also the wealthy Chalons family who have a few skeletons in their past. In particular, the Chalons son Val will go to war with Dave, inclined to use money to ruin his adversary. For Dave, things will get really bad for him in many ways, but fortunately he has two things in his corner: his longtime friend (and darker half) Clete Purcel and a pretty nun who will charm Dave. There is also the return of Jimmie Robicheaux after an absence of ten books or so to stir the pot.
A good mystery writer will keep you turning the pages. A great one will give you two contradictory feelings: you want to see how it all turns out, but you also want to enjoy the experience as long as possible. Burke does all this, and more: he is a truly great writer whose descriptive abilities bring his world to life and whose characters are both compelling and complex. Crusader's Cross, as much as his other novels, demonstrates just how good Burke can be.
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