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The Neon Rain
The Neon Rain
The Neon Rain
Audiobook8 hours

The Neon Rain

Written by James Lee Burke

Narrated by Will Patton

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

New York Times best-selling author James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux novels began with this first hard-hitting entry in the series. In The Neon Rain, Detective Robicheaux fishes a prostitute's corpse from a New Orleans bayou and finds that no one, not even the law, cares about a dead hooker. "One of Burke's best."-New York Times Book Review
LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 29, 2009
ISBN9781440718786
The Neon Rain
Author

James Lee Burke

James Lee Burke is a New York Times bestselling author, two-time winner of the Edgar Award, and the recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts in Fiction. He has authored forty novels and two short story collections. He lives in Missoula, Montana.

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Reviews for The Neon Rain

Rating: 3.8470320791476413 out of 5 stars
4/5

657 ratings45 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book, which is shelved in the Mystery section in my library, would be more precisely categorized as a detective novel, I think. This isn’t my sub-genre of choice; honestly, I grabbed it because time was short and this was one of the thinner books on the shelf, but I ended up listening to the audio version on Scribd.

    This is the first of the Dave Robicheaux novels, in which Lieutenant Robicheaux (New Orleans PD) a Vietnam veteran and recovering alcoholic, takes matters into his own hands while dealing with murder, gun running, and corruption.

    Because this is not my genre of choice, I don’t have a lot to say about the qualities of the story. Both the outdated depiction of women in the book and the fact that the main character served in Vietnam clued me in that it’s been a few years since publication -35 years, in fact – and while I would have appreciated just one female character who wasn’t a saint, a shrinking violet or a victim, the book is 35 years old and a product of its time. I’d consider it a three star read except for two things: Burke’s lyrical descriptons of the natural beauty of Louisiana, and narrator Will Patton’s excellent narration. These two high points compel me to add a star. I recommend the audio version. I might, one day, consider listening to more of the series, if only to see if women are portrayed more realistically in later years.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    First time with Burke. Thoroughly enjoyed it. A good listen filled with summer heat, helping to drive away the winter blues
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    By the time I got to chapter 8, I could no longer tolerate the visions of grotesque injuries and torture included in this tale.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I am truly enjoying this Authors books. Having Will Patton narrate them is the icing on the cake.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I've been away from Dave Robicheaux and James Lee Burke for quite a few years. Before catching up, I decided to start over again. Burke's language and evocation of the Louisiana Bayou country has thrilled me from the start. I often stop to reread passages that are filled with beauty or that create such a tension between good and evil that my heart pounds. He is one of the best "mystery" authors in the world. Such a joy to look forward to his entire body of work!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    While this will never be a favourite, the novel was good. Well written, good characters, interesting locale, etc.

    I'm guessing, because this book is thirty-ish years old, that it was likely a much better read back in the 80s, but now, the hero recovering from, or continuing to suffer from both alcoholism and the ravages of war is a tad cliche.

    What I am sick of—and yes, I understand that this happens all the time, but I'm talking more as a plot device—is the dirty cop. I think I could happily read books until the end of my time here on earth, and be completely happy with never ever reading about a character in a position of trust, be it police, doctor, scientist, military, government, or church, that's dirty. Sure, there's some authors that do it well, but goddamn, it's so overused. Find another way, authors.

    Anyway, all that aside, there's enough here that I will definitely invest more time with James Lee Burke.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A complex story that begins with Robicheaux accidently discovering the body of a young woman while boating. Unraveling the story leads him to wrestle with his own devil's left over from Vietnam and alcoholism. It doesn't seem as if it is destined to become a series yet it does. It leaves me wondering about Burke's own background, how he knows some of the things he does and to wonder what demons he had wrestled with.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Neon Rain opens in New Orleans where we meet Cajun Dave Robicheaux, a lieutenant in the New Orleans Police Department. A recovering alcoholic and Vietnam vet, he lives on a houseboat on Lake Pontchartrain. He's been called up to Angola Federal Prison to meet a man on death row who has requested his visit. He's been arrested by Dave over the years and wants to let him know that he's heard there is a contract out on Dave's life. Apparently Dave found the body of a young black prostitute floating in the bayous while he was out fishing one day. Dave is surprised because he's not interested in the case and has just assumed the woman drowned. His feelings change once he discovers his life is in jeopardy so he and his partner, Clete Purcel, begin their own investigation. This leads them to a conspiracy of graft and corruption that spreads into the dark alleys of New Orleans famous French Quarter and into a world filled with drug lords and gangsters that may be connected to the highest levels of the U.S. Government.

    Neon Rain is the beginning of a first rate, “hard boiled” detective series. There’s a lot of brutality in this story and some fairly extreme violence. The author really brings us to Louisiana with his atmospheric descriptions of New Orleans and the mysterious bayous and different lifestyles of the region. I've read a couple other Dave Robicheaux books over the years and while I don't think this was the very best one, it does introduce us to some really interesting characters. I'm not sure when I stopped reading the series but I'm definitely planning to pick them up again.

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A Twitter pal talked me into starting these books and I'm glad she did.

    My husband and I went on a trip to New Orleans in 1995, (so pre-Katrina), and I loved it. To this day it was the best vacation we ever had and the very best food I ever ate. We went shortly after Mardi Gras and it was warm and beautiful. We visited the zoo and botanical gardens, had lunch on the banks of the Mississippi, rode a street car through the garden district and had dinner in the French Quarter.

    This book took me back there completely. Not to the touristy areas though-not at all.

    The writing here is top notch, and the characters are complicated-nothing is black and white. I developed a real feeling for Dave Robicheaux and I am looking forward to reading more of the series.

    I bought this audio with my hard earned cash through Audible, (but I won't be buying the second one from them! See below)

    **A note to Audible-What is up with the severely abridged version of the audio for book 2? It's only 3 hours long and many reviews are complaining about that. Looks like I'll be doing some actual reading on the second book. **
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    To enjoy a book, the characters have to be believable And, the situations have to be real enough that you can at least suspend disbelief. This book contains neither.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I was 'out of books' and a friend recommended an author I'd heard of but not read: James Lee Burke. How I missed out on him to this point is a mystery to me. Anyway, I just made it through 'Neon Rain' and it's first-rate. Lots of action, great writing and dialogue, an exotic locale (New Orleans), an ever-broadening plot and complicated relationships combine to make this a mystery/crime novel I couldn't put down. A New Orleans detective becomes involved in a murder case outside his jurisdiction, which leads into internal conflicts in his department, contact with some really nasty criminals, and even CIA involvement. It was published in 1987 and hearkens back to the time in American 'justice' when roughing up criminals and playing both sides was a little more common among the police than nowadays. Kind of interesting to read while hearing the TV in the background blaring about another settlement reached in Chicago for a group of guys who've been illegally jailed for over 20 years due to police misconduct. Different world.The damaged 'hero', Dave Robicheaux, is a great character who I assume will star in subsequent novels (Neon was the first in a series that now numbers over 20) and other participants in the action, although not as deeply developed, also have staying power. Anytime I 'discover' a novelist I like in a genre I follow with a deep catalog, I'm a happy man. I think I'm happy now....
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the involving thriller I was hoping for when I picked up Michael Connelly’s latest earlier this month. Well-drawn supporting characters that even a visually unimaginitive guy like me can see in his head, each with his or her own way of talking. A lead character who is able to maintain at least some supportive relationships with other people, despite his damaged psyche. No distracting, fetishized descriptions of police procedure, equipment, and jargon. Beautiful, descriptive passages that demonstrate an awareness of the world outside the characters’ heads: “Oak, cypress, and willow trees lined the two-lane road; the mist still clung like torn cotton to the half-submerged dead tree trunks back in the marsh; the canebrakes were thick and green, shining in the light, and the lily pads clustered along the bayou’s banks were bursting with flowers, audibly popping, their leaves covered with drops of quicksilver.”I’d read a relatively recent Burke thriller a few years ago and thought I’d start at the beginning of his famous Dave Robicheaux series. Burke’s portrayal of Robichaeaux plays it close to the chest: for the first hundred pages, I wasn’t sure I admired the guy. But by the end, his character is revealed and he becomes visible as a new twist on the archetype that started with Chandler: the man with a code. That he appears not even to realize that he has a code is beside the point. There are lines to cross that he will not cross, regardless of cost, and there are things he will not fail to do, though they may cost all he has.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I'll give this 3.5 stars. The writing is excellent. I'm intrigued by the character of Dave and plan to read more of this series. Still, it's a bit dark, and NOL is a crazy kind of town.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Dave is a detective in New Orleans with his partner. He meets Annie and explores the dark world of the weapons suppliers.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I can see why every crime fiction fan kept recommending I read James Lee Burke. He and Michael Connelly really do stand out as the gritty realists who craft a great novel.

    I can't give this 5 stars, however, as it is this gritty reality, the sense of not being able to make a difference do leave you feeling like you shouldn't have bothered reading it. "He won, but not really." I suppose in time that is why this appeals to fans of the genre, because it isn't just about entertaining, and will probably be why I revisit my ratings for Connelly and Burke, realising I sold them short.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    3.5 * for the book itself. This first Robicheaux book did an excellent job evoking the early 1980s for me and I like the Louisiana setting (especially with Will Patton's accent). However I don't much like mysteries which feature police (or P.I.s) with troubled personal life and I dislike the way Robicheaux takes the law into his own hands…
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Excellent narration of a great novel. Will Patton is a natural for reading the Robicheaux novels. Burkes's silver-tongued pen does not disappoint. His prose and imagery makes him one of the best authors I've ever read. For me Patton took a bit to get used to but in the end, he IS Dave Robicheaux.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I was a bit disappointed with this one, I've read later ones in the series and found them much smoother in the storytelling, much less disjointed action. It was certainly a 100 mile an hour introduction to Dave Robicheaux, but seemed to lack some of the subtlety I had expected.
    Having said that it was probably a 2.5 star read, rounded up as I'm on holiday & feeling generous
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Dave Robicheaux is your quintessential hard-boiled detective, struggling with anger issues, inner demons and alcohol. When he's not out bashing bad guys, he is waxing poetically about the meaning of life and who makes the best beignets (PS: The answer is Cafe du Monde). The only thing that makes him different from other great tough guy detectives is that he speaks with a Cajun accent. Who doesn't love that?
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I'm quite torn about this book. I did not like the plot, finding it difficult to follow. However, Burke is a fabulous writer, with richly described characters and descriptions of the Deep South that make me want to visit!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Weshalb gibt es hier keine Neuauflage??? Und auch von seinen anderen Büchern nicht? Und weshalb werden seine Krimis seit 2003 nicht mehr ins Deutsche übersetzt? James Lee Burke ist wirklich eine Bereicherung für die Krimiszene und die zahlreichen Auszeichnungen für seine Werke sprechen für sich.
    Neonregen ist das erste Buch mit dem Protagonisten Dave Robicheaux, der als Polizist in New Orleans lebt und arbeitet. Wie viele Helden seiner Art hat er ein massives Alkoholproblem (wenn auch seit einigen Jahren trocken) und neigt zur Schwermut als Folge seines Vietnameinsatzes (das Buch ist aus dem Jahre 1987). Doch im Gegensatz zu Anderen versinkt er nicht nur in Schwermut, sondern hinterfragt und analysiert das, was um ihn herum vorgeht. Es sind schon fast philosophische Ausarbeitungen, an denen uns Robicheaux teilhaben lässt ('Um uns von unserer Vergangenheit zu befreien,..., behandeln wir sie wie eine verblassende Erinnerung. Gleichzeitig ist die Vergangenheit jedoch das Einzige, was uns eine gewisse Identität verleiht.'). Und trotz aller Erfahrungen glaubt er noch immer an das Gute, die Gerechtigkeit und die Wahrheit.
    Nicht ganz einfach im Süden der USA, wo Schwarze noch Nigger sind, Beziehungen das Wichtigste und Korruptheit auch der Polizei an der Tagesordnung. Als Robicheaux eine junge Schwarze tot im Fluss findet und diese ohne Obduktion als 'ertrunken' gemeldet wird, nimmt er eigene Ermittlungen auf. Er scheint in ein Wespennest gestochen zu haben, denn plötzlich findet er sich im Visier von Berufskillern und -schlägern, dem CIA, dem Schatzamt und selbst einige Kollegen scheinen sich gegen ihn zu wenden. Doch Robicheaux macht weiter...
    Das alles ist klasse geschrieben, aktuelle Probleme der damaligen Zeit sind überzeugend mit eingearbeitet, wie oben bereits erwähnt finden sich fast schon philosophische Diskurse und Action und Spannung kommen ebenfalls nicht zu kurz. Glaubwürdig wirkt auch die Darstellung des damaligen Südens, man merkt hier kennt sich einer aus. Ein Krimi wie er sein sollte - einfach richtig gut!!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book was written while I was a student at LSU but somehow I missed it along with the rest of the Dave Robicheaux series until now. What a shame! I listened to this incredibly narrated audiobook during my Thanksgiving drive home and back again. I could not have picked a better way to spend 8 hours and 22 minutes of my drive. Every one of my senses was evoked by James Lee Burke and I was temporarily transported to New Orleans and the Louisiana bayou country with the taste of its food, the sounds of its music, the smells of the French Quarter. I laughed. I was repulsed. I was impressed by the fantastic character development. Although the unabridged version of the second book in the series, Heaven's Prisoners, is not yet available, I purchased the paperback today and I look forward to continuing the journey with Robicheaux.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Neon Rain. James Lee Burke. 1987. This is the first Dave Robicheaux novel. It was great to read it, as it explains events that were mentioned in the later novels. He and Clete are not close like they are in the other novels, but Robicheaux has the same nightmares about Vietnam, the same Catholic world view and the same problems with alcohol, and the same sense of honor and justice that makes him determined to right wrongs he can. Very good
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Gets pretty violent but classic Burke.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Dave Robicheaux is a lieutenant on the New Orleans P.D.He observes the body of a young black woman while he is fishing. He tries to get the local authorities to investigate but they aren't interested in looking into the details of a young black woman's death many years ago. Things were like this in Louisiana years ago.However, Dave's stirring up the pot has made one gang member concerned and he puts a hit on Dave's life. This gang member is into the distribution of drugs and dealing with prostitution.Dave comes into contact with a young agent from the bureau of alcohol and narcotics. The gang capture Dave and force feed him liquor then put him behind the wheel of his car and stage an accident. The young agent dies and it looks like Dave has fallen off the wagon.James Lee Burke writes in a lyrical manner and sets the tone for Dave's defense of the poor and defenseless. Clete Purcel also shows glimpses of his future friendship to Dave and his loyalty.This is a wonderful novel and start to a new mystery series.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    My, how masculine. What's the fun in talking to someone when you can punch them? Why just leave when you can set the place on fire?Dave Robicheaux is a hard-boiled cop in New Orleans - if he were in Miami he could tag along with Don Johnson. I guess I'm 20 years late to the party. While it was interesting to hear about the city as it was, this is a gritty story with an unlikable hero. Of course, the first woman he meets falls over herself to be with him (despite the shooting, molestation, and overall culture of violence). Now that I've read some kicking female writers, this stuff is just absurd.Anyway. James Lee Burke does have a way with descriptions, and I've heard so much in praise of his New Orleans I'll probably give him another shot
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Grimey. Captures life in the seventies New Orleans quite well, complete with the corruption and racial contempt. At times this doens't match the occasionally flowery language.Dave Robicheaux is a black Leutenant in the New orleans police. He mostly enjoys his joba dn is realistic enough to know since his first wife left him, that it is a demanding calling. He's also been ry for the last few years. Just about all the cliche's in one hit for a policeman. During a rare weekend off fishing, he discovers a body floating in the weeds - a young formerly pretty black girl. The local force quickly chalk it up as another druggie drowning, but Dave digs a little deeper and stirs up the interest of the local arms dealers. Despite his friends and relations (brother) with the mob contacts, these characters have little compunction about casual violence and use almost any means to keep their dirty game going. Dave isn't impressed, and sets out to single handedly clean up New Orleans. Fortunetly his Capatin is a decent guy who stands by him. I never really enagaged with this. New Orleans is always a somewhat exotic location and there are a lot of assumptions about local culture that just don't transfer to this side of the pond. The grimy atmosphere remenisicent of Marlow doesn't help either. Some longer tracts of descriptive langaugae -whilst being good for enlightning the mood, don't help the plot along, and I frequently forgot who was betraying whom and why, let aone what the invented motives of the bad guys were supposed to be. There was some involvment with US foreign policy in the South Americas at the time, but that's not just ancient history but foreign history and to me, so I didn't follow what was happening. Dave is hardly charasmatic (cf Reacher to whom he's often compared), but the supporting cast were even worse, the girlfriend particularly unbelivable.I guess this is one for the locals. If you were around at the time, and or knwo the coity and it's history then this was probably (assuming hte author got his facts more or less straight) and interestingrea with local colour (much like Stuart McBride). It I'm not and so - like Elmore Leonard - I'll pass on this series.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Well written, fairly interesting characters and nice atmosphere. The story didn't totally make sense to me and it was full of gratuitous violence. As in; every couple pages has some breathless description of some horrific event in pornographic detail, much of it having nothing to do with the story, but simply a flashback or story one of the characters heard from a friend, etc.

    I haven't read anything else by him, but he's obviously talented and the writing quality and characters kept me fairly entertained. He has a great eye for detail and setting a scene.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It's the first title in the Dave Robicheaux series and I really loved the viscous, evocative imagery, the realistically portrayed characters and, the uncertainty as to how the whole of the situation and the characters' fates will be dispositioned until the very end. The narrator sounds a wee bit too long in the tooth to be the protag; On the other hand, his character delineation and cadence of the text is masterful. The only thing about the novel that may trouble some is that the violence, while it emerges from the narrative and chokes you like a silk garrote, is also truly graphic and horrific in a Dali-esque way. It entrances and repels at the same time.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Davve Robicheaux is a New Orleans homicide cop. When he fishes a dead prostitute out of a near by bayou, he determines to find out who killed her and why, despite the fact no one else seems to care.Lots of atmosphere, very much true to New Orleans and its environs, Dave is gritty and not quite straight much like his city. He’s determined and stubborn and willing to do what he thinks needs to be done, even if it isn’t legal.This was an audio version of the book, and I especially liked the narrator. He ddin’t overdo the accent, as so many people do for southern stories.