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The Neon Rain: A Dave Robicheaux Novel Paperback – October 1, 2002

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James Lee Burke (Author)
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James Lee Burke (Author)
4.1 out of 5 stars 271 customer reviews
Book 1 of 20 in the Robicheaux Series
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Product Details

  • Series: Dave Robicheaux
  • Paperback: 275 pages
  • Publisher: Pocket Books; Reprint edition (October 1, 2002)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0743449207
  • ISBN-13: 978-0743449205
  • Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (271 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #28,340 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 starsA Weak Start To A Terrific Series
By Douglas A. Greenberg VINE VOICE on September 6, 2001
Format: Mass Market Paperback Verified Purchase
The best way to read any literary series, including those involving hard-boiled detectives, is to pick them up in the order the books were written. That way, the individual stories take on greater meaning as part of the ongoing evolution of a principal character as he or she develops and changes. In light of this, it's tempting to recommend that prospective readers of James Lee Burke's Louisiana-based Dave Robicheaux series should start with *The Neon Rain*, which sets the stage for the numerous subsequent books.
Anyone who reads Burke's prose should be impressed by his unusual gift for verbal description. His ability to paint word pictures of places, characters, moods, and feelings is exquisite, and for this reason alone a reader might plow through the entire story. However, the plot construction of *The Neon Rain* is so anemic that I would not be surprised if many of those who read this New Orleans-based story simply refuse to go on to the subsequent stories set in New Iberia. This is a shame, since most of these later works are excellent mysteries in which the stories are far more complex and engrossing.
In this novel, and to some extent in all of them, Burke employs a formulaic approach in which his protagonist veers from crisis to self-inflicted crisis (in pursuit of righteousness and justice, of course), with the narrative invariably punctuated both by breathtaking descriptions of places and people (and also meals), and periodic episodes involving bloody mayhem. After a while it gets pretty predictable; in his later works, however, Burke develops story lines that are sufficiently interesting that he can make the formula work, at least most of the time.Read more ›
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3.0 out of 5 starsThree and 1/2 stars...
By Cynthia K. Robertson TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on August 31, 2005
Format: Paperback
After reading two Dave Robicheaux mysteries by James Lee Burke, I decided to read this series from the very beginning. Neon Rain is the 1st book in the now 14 book series and was extremely helpful in filling in the blanks of Robicheaux's past that are only hinted at in later books.

Neon Rain opens in New Orleans where Robicheaux is a lieutenant in the New Orleans Police Department. He lives on a houseboat in Lake Pontchatrain, is recently divorced, is a Viet Nam vet and a recovering alcoholic. He carries around more than his fair share of scars and baggage. A man on death row at Angola Prison asks to see Robicheaux hours before he is executed, and informs Robicheaux that there is a contract out on his life. Robicheaux is just as surprised as anybody, but it involves the chance discovery of a young black prostitute floating dead in a bayou. In trying to solve the mystery of the contract, the lieutenant stumbles upon lots of graft and corruption in New Orleans that starts with prostitution and drugs, and ends up with murder, tax fraud, and smuggling arms to Central America. It's sometimes hard to figure out who are the bad guys, who are informants and who are the government agents. And the more involved Robicheaux becomes, the more dangerous his life comes.

This is a good start for Burke, although the plot got a little confusing in spots. Robicheaux is a loose canon, and it's hard to tell why his boss thinks he's such a good cop. He can be brutal and violent and unreasonable. And he never follows any rules. Also, Robicheaux becomes romantically involved with Annie Ballard, but I couldn't figure out why she was attracted to him. Still, Burke is a master of description and observation.Read more ›
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4.0 out of 5 starsMystery 101 (One Man's Continuning Education)
By Gregor von Kallahann on September 1, 2002
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Except for a few Christies in my teens, I never read mysteries at all (except for one or two that somehow made it into my college curriculum). It had less to do with a lack of interest than a lack of time. I was a struggling academic a long time (too long) and, although I enjoyed mystery films and TV shows, almost everything I read had to do with what I thought would be my life's vocation.
But the genre always intrigued me. International literary figures from Borges to Duerrenmatt have championed the genre and have often used it to their own ends. I was aware that many mystery writers were quite serious about their writing and that much of it rivaled the best in contemporary serious literature.
So in recent years, I've been playing catch up. I've joined with others in forming a Mystery Discussion Group in my public library...and most of these folks are much more knowledgeable than I am. In the past year, we have been doing a lot of sampling of various series, usually a very early work.
I will say that of all the authors we've discussed thus far, James Lee Burke was the least well received--by OTHERS! I found this hard hitting, hard bitten writer to be compelling. But most of the other members of the group seem to prefer more of a "drawing room" type mystery. I don't think I had ever really realized how great a gulf there was between the various sub-genres (I guess it's the Hammett vs. Christie school of thought).
If you've ever railed against the "bloodless" old-school, high tea kind of mysteries, you may want to check Burke out. People really die brutal, ugly deaths here. Murder is not seen as an intellectual puzzle, but as a horrible, de-humanizing reality. For that alone, I give Burke high marks.Read more ›
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