Pegasus Descending [Import] [Hardcover]

James Lee Burke (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Orion (2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752874780
• ISBN-13: 978-0752874784
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.9 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (121 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,102,979 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

James Lee Burke, a rare winner of two Edgar Awards, is the author of twenty-three previous novels, including such New York Times bestsellers as Bitterroot, Purple Cane Road, Cimarron Rose, Jolie Blon's Bounce, and Dixie City Jam. He lives in Missoula, Montana, and New Iberia, Louisiana.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars At the top of his game..., July 27, 2006

By 

Cynthia K. Robertson (beverly, new jersey USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pegasus Descending: A Dave Robicheaux Novel (Dave Robicheaux Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Last summer, I discovered James Lee Burke and ended up reading all 14 Dave Robicheaux mysteries in quick succession. Thank goodness Burke just came out with Pegasus Descending as it's been a long 8 months without a fix.

Dave Robicheaux is still a detective, working for the Iberia Sheriff's Department. The year is 2005 and three unsolved deaths are on Robicheaux's plate. First, a young co-ed getting ready for college is found with a gunshot wound to her head. It looks like a suicide, and the detective can't figure out why this apparently happy, well-adjusted girl would have taken too many drugs, had sex with more than a few men and then shot herself. The skeletal remains of a homeless man (nicknamed Crustacean Man) are found in a drainage ditch and seem to have sat there for 12 months. His injuries are not consistent with a hit and run. And a college student, Tony Lujan, is killed with a shotgun. Robicheaux suspects that all three deaths are related, but can't find the pieces that will tie this puzzle together. He keeps coming back to the same names: Bellerophon Lujan and Whitey Bruxal, two men who have mob ties and are in the casino business. Unfortunately, the politically ambitious DA, Lonnie Marceaux, wants to pin the crimes on a small-tine black drug dealer, Monarch Little. How Pegasus Descending plays out is riveting and I was completely surprised at the end.

Many of Burke's characters that we have grown to know and love are back. Cletus Purcell is always there for Robicheaux and is always good for a few belly laughs. Robicheaux seems a little more grounded with his new wife, the former nun Molly Boyle. The women in Robicheaux's past tended to be victim-types. So it's refreshing for Robicheaux to have two strong women in his corner, wife Molly and Sheriff Helen Soileau. There is a new female FBI agent in town who provides some comic relief. Betsy Mossbacher gets the nickname Calamity Jane when she backs into a sheriff's cruiser her first day in town. Robicheaux can't decide whether Homeland Security has drained the FBI of their "first team" or maybe she's being punished. But despite the humor, there is always an underlying blackness in Burke's books whether it is caused by Robicheaux's battle with alcoholism, lost opportunities, senseless deaths, and with Pegasus Descending, the looming specter of Hurricane Katrina.

Many writers of mystery series run out of energy, ideas, characters, etc. once they've been at it for awhile. Luckily for his readers, Burke is still at the top of his game in Pegasus Descending.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pegasus is wet with atmosphere and a good read., July 19, 2006

By 

Robert Busko (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pegasus Descending: A Dave Robicheaux Novel (Dave Robicheaux Mysteries) (Hardcover)

It just wouldn't be July or August without a Burke crafted Dave Robicheaux novel. In Pegasus Descending Burke treats us once again with a gritty, humid, and atmospheric thriller that is sure to satisfy all of Burkes loyal readers. I've said this before but I'll say it again, James Lee Burke is one of the finest descriptive writers alive today. He can describe a humid summer day in the pages of his book and you'll have to wipe your brow because of the sweat gathering there. The scenes and smells he describes will fill your senses. That and his cast of characters, including former Marine Clete Purcell makes each new book like a visit home.

Dave Robicheaux is a survivor of too much of a good thing. Long off the bottle he is still paying for his affair with alcohol and as another reviewer said, the past is never far away. Trish Klein, a young scam artist, turns out to be the daughter of Robicheaux's best friend and fellow Nam vet Dallas Klein. Robicheaux witnessed Dallas' execution style murder years before but was too blasted to intervene. Fast forward to now and young Trish has disappeared after ripping off a local mobster.

Burke has a love affair with NOLA. It will be interesting to see if he eventually incorporates Katrina into a future novel.

Pegasus is a must read for all Burke fans.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "...wish to rise? Begin by descending...plan a tower to reach the clouds? Lay ...the foundation in humility." St. Augustus, March 24, 2010

By 

michael a. draper (Guilford, CT) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pegasus Descending: A Dave Robicheaux Novel (Dave Robicheaux Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Dave Robicheaux is working on three cases that he comes to believe are connected.

The first is the case of a young co-ed who is found dead of apparent suicide but the facts don't add up.

Then there is a black vagrant whose body is found in a gulley by the road. He is so decomposed, he is given the nickname the Crustation man. Not many people would care for the apparent victim of a hit and run but to Dave, it is a matter of justice.

Besides the third case, Dave is asked to question a young woman who is passing money at a casino that looks like it has the markings of a former hold up. Dave finds that this woman is the daughter of a friend that Dave had seen killed during an armored car robbery.

The third death is that of a college student. There had been a racial incident and the black man involved was known to sell drugs. The ambitious district attorney views this man as the main suspect when the college student is killed. However, Dave thinks that the man is being set up.

James Lee Burke is a master and the reader is glued to the action as Dave attemps to sort these crimes out. All of this is happening as New Orleans is on the verge of Hurricane Katrina and the destruction that storm brought with it.

Dave Robicheaux, with his sense of justice, his faith and his unstable temper is one of the great characters in literature. Together with his loyal but flawed side-kick Clete Purcel, these two characters leave an imprint that is unmatched.