My latest read was “A Stained White Radiance” by James Lee Burke. This is the fifth book in the Dave Robicheaux series. This novel’s focus is a troubled local family in New Iberia that Robicheaux has known since he was a child. It has an intricate narrative that intertwines Burke’s longstanding themes including the quest for power, the pursuit of revenge, the complexities of organized crime, and the haunting memories of Vietnam.
The story is very dark. Burke’s prose is strong and his ability to put you in the setting is compelling. Unlike a typical detective novel, the plot does have a heavy reliance on coincidence for development. Like the earlier novels, Robicheaux continues to take risks that stretch the bounds of believability. That makes me like the stories a little less. I do expect to continue with the series.
A Stained White Radiance
James Lee Burke
Oil speculator Weldon Sonnier is the patriarch of a troubled family intimately bound to the CIA, the Mob, and the Klan. Now, the murder of a cop and a bizarre assassination attempt pull Detective Dave Robicheaux into the Sonniers’ hellish world of madness, murder, and incest. But Robicheaux has devils of his own—and they may just destroy the tormented investigator and the two people he holds most dear.
Released April 2, 1992
305 pages