Product Details

• Published on: 2007-07
• Format: Large Print
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 638 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. The pain, dismay and anger brought on by the events surrounding Hurricane Katrina explodes from the pages of this new Dave Robicheaux novel. For nearly a quarter of a century, Burke has used this series, despite their dark subject matter, to show his obvious love of the land, the people and the cultures of the South and specifically New Orleans. There is a mystery for Robicheaux to solve, but it's the destruction of Burke's beloved New Orleans that resonates like thunder throughout the book. Will Patton, who has come to embody the heart and soul of Burke's weary, Southern knight, matches the author's prose in all its intensity and pain. Adept as he is at portraying the eccentric, the evil and the endearing characters found in Burke's books, it is the actor's reading of Burke's descriptive passages, whether it be a storm forming off the Louisiana coast or the shock of blood escaping from a gunshot wound, that creates a fully realized world for the listener. Patton's insightful interpretation of Burke's darkly expressive imagery makes for a rich literary experience rarely achieved in crime fiction today.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
If this isnt the best iteration of the long-running Will Patton/James Lee Burke audio collaboration, it has set the bar very high. Pattons Detective Dave Robicheaux sounds gruff, philosophical, and human while Robicheauxs childhood friend, Clete, an ex-cop, alcoholic PI, and loose cannon, has a dark, gravel voice that seems to come from Pattons ankles. Clete is tracking some bail bond skips who turn out to have committed a string of other vicious crimes before, during, and after Hurricane Katrina, including rape, murdering a priest, and burglarizing the house of the citys toughest mobster. (Mistake.) Burkes portrait of shattered New Orleans itself is heartbreaking--but for sheer evil, the bland, warm-custard voice Patton gives psychopath Ronald Bledsoe will scare your socks off. B.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, AudioFile Best Audiobook of 2007 © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
*Starred Review* "I wanted to wake to the great, gold-green, sun-spangled promise of the South Louisiana in which I had grown up. I didn't want to be part of the history taking place in our state." That sentence wouldn't be out of place in any of Burke's Dave Robicheaux novels, all of which have been distinguished by their elegiac tone, but it's only fitting that it should appear in his latest, a heartfelt post-Katrina ode to a lost New Orleans and a lost world. In a sense, Dave Robicheaux, Burke's Cajun detective, whose heart is in the past and whose eyes are on the horizon, expecting trouble, has always been anticipating Katrina--or at least some form of cataclysm--as he has watched his world spin further and further out of control. But Katrina was no fictional event, and Burke writes about its aftermath as vividly and powerfully as any nonfiction chronicler. The plot itself, the investigation of the murder of two black men in the ninth ward, hinges on familiar Burke tropes--the powerless caught in a web of circumstance; surprising acts of nobility from the least likely people; unfathomable evil prompting eruptions of Robicheaux's thinly suppressed rage--but the novel's power comes from the way it explores the tragedy of Katrina in a way that is perfectly in tune with the series, a kind of perfect storm brought together by the confluence of fictional and nonfictional realms. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

A little boring
First book I have read by this author.

I found the book a little dry, contradicting, and sometimes hard to follow. Perhaps the writing style is not my preference.

The ending was unpredictable and worthwhile.

Probably will not read books by this author again.

needs a rewrite
The book has a lot to say about the fate of a great city which has been destroyed by nature and not protected by man. With such a powerful story it is a shame that the ending is lack luster.

Katrina in New Orleans Reveals the Hearts of the Pure, the Corruption of the Flesh, and the Twisted Psyches of the Evil Doers
The fictional parts of The Tin Roof Blowdown pale in comparison with the factual references in the book to the horrible disasters that befell those who lived in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina blasted its way across those vulnerable levees. Building on that apocalyptic event, we see souls stripped to their cores . . . revealing much that is normally hidden during "civilized" times. James Lee Burke has written one of the most powerful novels I've ever read about how troubles bring out whatever is in us.

Mr. Burke does a marvelous job of capturing the shifting emotions of those who lived through the experience. Many began by being optimistic that things would not be too bad. Others saw the storm as an opportunity for gain. But soon, the caring were overwhelmed by the horrible dangers being faced by the vulnerable. With unending challenges, emotions became dulled through fatigue. After a little rest, the civilized veneer began to return and people were outraged by the excesses. As the implications of all the harm sunk in, people just wanted to forget about it. Those who had felt something for the victims eventually go back to looking out for themselves. No one knows what really happened to most of the victims . . . other than that they were abandoned by those who might have helped them. It's a time of infamy in American history . . . especially since we did it to ourselves.

As the book opens, Dave Robicheaux's friend, Clete Purcel is looking to recover some cons who have skipped bail. Jude LeBlanc, a priest who is dying of cancer, heads by bus for a date with destiny in the lower end of New Orleans' Ninth Ward. Otis Baylor, a self-satisfied insurance agent, is planning to sit out the storm in comfort with his family thanks to his generators. Baylor's neighbor, the export-import businessman Tom Claggart, is expecting to have to defend his property from "the black Irish" after nightfall. Dave Robicheaux is loaned to New Orleans for the duration. Soon, the storm will mix these lives in new ways.

Then, all hell breaks loose. People have to face their worst fears . . . and beyond. What will they do?

The consequences of those actions reverberate through each person's life . . . and those they hold nearest and dearest. The complications develop as each one seeks to either restore what has been lost . . . or to gain something that's not deserved.

Meanwhile, some valuables are missing. Naturally, there's a scramble to recover the missing items. That scramble brings the worst sort of people out of the woodwork and the worst out of those who are searching. Dave finds himself personally drawn into the drama as one of the searchers develops a yen to hurt Alafair, his daughter.

There are a lot of unexpected dimensions in this story. That's what makes this a special book. Occasionally, Mr. Burke gives in to describing what we expect. It's in those rare moments that the power of originality in The Tin Roof Blowdown will hit you.

Keep your heart pure!