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"On his way to visit an inmate at a Texas prison who has promised him information, Detective Dave Robicheaux stops off at an amusement park to watch a teenaged Elvis-like rock-and-roller from his hometown of New Iberia named Johnny Shondell playing to a crowd of swooming young girls. One of them is another New Iberia teenager named Isolde Balangie. The Shondell and Balangie families are longtime rivals in the New Iberia criminal underworld. Yet Johnny and Isolde are in love. And like Romeo and Juliet, Johnny and Isolde are being kept apart by their families. In fact, Isolde tells Robicheaux, her parents have given her to the Shondell patriarch to be used as a sex slave. Seeking to uncover why, Robicheaux gets too close to both Isolde's mother and her father's mistress. As retribution, the elder Balangie orders a mysterious assassin to go after Robicheaux and his longtime partner, Clete Purcell. Yet this is unlike any hitman Robicheaux has ever faced: he has the ability induce hallucinations and might be a time-traveling reptilian. A Private Cathedral is both vintage James Lee Burke and one of his most inventive works to date--mixing romance, violence, mythology and science-fiction to produce a thrilling story about the all-consuming, all-conquering power of love"--… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member norinrad10
How do you review a James Lee Burke book? Let alone one featuring the iconic Dave Robicheaux?
This latest, and rumored last, novel -A Private Cathedral - fits right into the cannon. To read Burke is to read poetry. No modern writer is as deft with the use of language as he.
The Cathedral harkens
Rumination, historical references, violence, alcoholism, and what it means to be a man in the modern age are all woven into a kick-ass crime novel that'll leave you wanting more and in awe over what the English language is capable of conveying.
This latest, and rumored last, novel -A Private Cathedral - fits right into the cannon. To read Burke is to read poetry. No modern writer is as deft with the use of language as he.
The Cathedral harkens
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back to earlier works like Confederates in the Mist, in which Burke interjects a little mystical realism into his hard-boiled thriller. Dave fights against the bad men while being haunted by a mysterious visage that may want to do him and his stalwart side-kick Clete harm. Or it may be more benevolent than anticipated. Rumination, historical references, violence, alcoholism, and what it means to be a man in the modern age are all woven into a kick-ass crime novel that'll leave you wanting more and in awe over what the English language is capable of conveying.
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LibraryThing member jetangen4571
private-investigators, assassins, Louisiana, supernatural, superstitions, evil, trafficking*****
Even darker than usual, but every bit as riveting. There is more magic and a prevailing sense of evil in a book that seems just a tad too intense this time with the bad guys far outnumbering the forces
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Simon and Schuster via NetGalley Thank you!
Even darker than usual, but every bit as riveting. There is more magic and a prevailing sense of evil in a book that seems just a tad too intense this time with the bad guys far outnumbering the forces
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for good. The publisher's blurb is an excellent hook and the writing kept me at this book until finished with only necessary interruptions. No spoilers allowed and I really am at a loss as to how to summarize without using them. Bottom line is that I will buy my own copy when it comes out in audio.I requested and received a free ebook copy from Simon and Schuster via NetGalley Thank you!
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LibraryThing member lostinalibrary
But everyone has a private cathedral that he earns, a special place to which he returns when the world is too much late and soon, and loss and despair come with the rising of the sun.
On the surface A Private Cathedral, the latest in the Dave Robicheaux series by James Lee Burke is a book about
Burke is considered one of the best mystery writers for good reason - the intense and beautiful, almost lyrical prose, the complex characters, the insights into the American psyche. And that is all here but, in this book Burke combines mystery with other genres. There is certainly a feel of noir with the extreme violence that entails here but, again, that is not all. I once read an article in America The Jesuit Review that talked about the God-Haunted characters and the war between good and evil in Burke's novels, and it has never been more clear than in this novel. Here, Burke makes it explicit crossing over into Southern gothic with its overwhelmingly dark, sinister atmosphere, irrational and horrifying thoughts and deeds, and terrifying and otherworldly characters. And his use of it creates one extremely powerful, even stunning story, one that is, no doubt, one of the best books I will read this year.
Thanks to Edelweiss+ and Simon & Shuster for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review
On the surface A Private Cathedral, the latest in the Dave Robicheaux series by James Lee Burke is a book about
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family feuds - in an attempt to save a teenaged girl, Dave and his best friend and longtime partner, Clete Purcel finds themselves in the middle of a bloody rivalry between two crime families going back hundreds of years. However, that is just the skeleton of the story and there is so, so much more here.Burke is considered one of the best mystery writers for good reason - the intense and beautiful, almost lyrical prose, the complex characters, the insights into the American psyche. And that is all here but, in this book Burke combines mystery with other genres. There is certainly a feel of noir with the extreme violence that entails here but, again, that is not all. I once read an article in America The Jesuit Review that talked about the God-Haunted characters and the war between good and evil in Burke's novels, and it has never been more clear than in this novel. Here, Burke makes it explicit crossing over into Southern gothic with its overwhelmingly dark, sinister atmosphere, irrational and horrifying thoughts and deeds, and terrifying and otherworldly characters. And his use of it creates one extremely powerful, even stunning story, one that is, no doubt, one of the best books I will read this year.
Thanks to Edelweiss+ and Simon & Shuster for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review
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LibraryThing member juju2cat
I love his writing. It completely immerses you in that unique culture. This book has all the feels and the introduction of the supernatural really works well. I can't believe I haven't read his other books but that mistake will be corrected soon as I read through the backlog of previous books.
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James Lee Burke is a master story teller. Show Less
LibraryThing member Beamis12
I tried, I really tried to talk myself out of giving this five stars. There is just so much violence happening in the states right now, and this being JLB, with Robicheaux and Clete, one knows there is going to be plenty. Still, I failed, had to give it five stars simply because, to borrow from a
His stories including this one are so multifaceted, so we'll written and his characters drawn so richly. Clete and Robicheaux have villians of their own internally to deal with, and in this outing they rise to the surface. The line between good and evil is so finely drawn, it is sometimes hard to tell the good guys from the bad. The veils between this world and another at lifted, a galleon appears in the fog and all bets are off. There very sanity now added to some heavy duty issues, seek to derail them in their quest to save two young people from feuding families. Can it be done and what will be the cost to their very souls?
I realize that this book will not appeal to all, but for me he is my number one favorite writer.
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song title, No one does it better.His stories including this one are so multifaceted, so we'll written and his characters drawn so richly. Clete and Robicheaux have villians of their own internally to deal with, and in this outing they rise to the surface. The line between good and evil is so finely drawn, it is sometimes hard to tell the good guys from the bad. The veils between this world and another at lifted, a galleon appears in the fog and all bets are off. There very sanity now added to some heavy duty issues, seek to derail them in their quest to save two young people from feuding families. Can it be done and what will be the cost to their very souls?
I realize that this book will not appeal to all, but for me he is my number one favorite writer.
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LibraryThing member Dokfintong
Dave's head is in a strange place
Dave is in a mental funk and tells us a grim story set in the past. He and Clete get involved, not exactly deliberately, with two awful local families – the Shondells and the Balangies. I didn't like the story of sex slavery, favors owed, and long feuds between
I received a review copy of "A Private Cathedral" by James Lee Burke from Simon & Schuster through NetGalley.com.
Dave is in a mental funk and tells us a grim story set in the past. He and Clete get involved, not exactly deliberately, with two awful local families – the Shondells and the Balangies. I didn't like the story of sex slavery, favors owed, and long feuds between
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despicable people, and didn't finish. The thing is, though, despite the 2020 copyright, I could swear I've read it before. I received a review copy of "A Private Cathedral" by James Lee Burke from Simon & Schuster through NetGalley.com.
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LibraryThing member brangwinn
I read Burke, not for the horrendous crimes and violence the “two Bobbsey Twins”, Robicheaux and Purcel keep encountering, but rather because of the entertaining writing. Two imperfect heroes, who go about fighting for the underdog, truth and justice in their unorthodox fashion. Although this
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one about human trafficking went a little overboard with the supernatural, it fits so well into the Louisiana Cajun culture, it was bearable. Like many great series authors, Burke has developed his characters over a long line of books, and this one is best read if you know the depth of Robicheaux and Purcel that has been developed as the number of books in the series grew. Show Less
LibraryThing member DPLyle
This is another great story from the master of crime fiction. Dave and Clete confront powerful and evil folks and one who just might not be real in a struggle of good vs evil that will quickly drag you into a very dark world. As always with this iconic series, the characters are wonderfully
DP Lyle, award-winning author, lecturer, story consultant
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rendered, the dialog spot on, and the writing poetic. Loved it.DP Lyle, award-winning author, lecturer, story consultant
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LibraryThing member gypsysmom
really looked forward to this newest book by James Lee Burke but I'm slightly disappointed by it. Burke is a talented writer but I felt he was recycling situations from other books. However, for someone new to Burke and his detective Dave Robicheaux they might rate it higher.
This story is set in
As that sentence I quoted says, Robicheaux's wife, his second, has died. He is also not working for the New Iberia Sheriff's Department and his daughter Alafair is away at college. So Dave really is at loose ends. A prisoner, Marcel La Forchette, in the Huntsville jail in Texas has asked to see him and he goes. The night before he is to see Marcel he goes to a concert on the waterfront where he sees Johnny Shondell, a young singer from New Iberia, perform. As he is watching Johnny a young girl comes up to him and introduces herself as Isolde Balangie. The Shondells and the Balangies have been enemies for four hundred years but Johnny and Isolde are in love. Despite this Isolde is supposed to be delivered to Johnny's uncle Mark for some sort of twisted deal between the two families. LaForchette also has some information about the Balangies; he says he was a driver for the Balangie family when they had someone killed. So Robicheaux calls in his friend Clete Purcell and they go to talk to the Balangies about Isolde. And from there they get pulled into a web of murder and sexual abuse involving both the Shondells and the Balangies. When Robicheaux gets involved with Isolde's mother and then her father's mistress Balangie hires a hitman to kill Clete and Dave. The hitman is some type of supernatural being who has been alive for centuries and who appears with a ghost ship. It's pretty far out and not quite my cup of tea.
This story is set in
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1999 or 2000 as Dave says in Chapter Three "I was living the life of a widower back then, in the days before 9/11, a recluse trying to hide from my most destructive addictions." I can't tell exactly where in the chronology of the Robicheaux books this one fits but I would guess between Jolie Blon's Bounce (which I read but don't really remember) and Last Car to Elysian Fields (which I haven't read).As that sentence I quoted says, Robicheaux's wife, his second, has died. He is also not working for the New Iberia Sheriff's Department and his daughter Alafair is away at college. So Dave really is at loose ends. A prisoner, Marcel La Forchette, in the Huntsville jail in Texas has asked to see him and he goes. The night before he is to see Marcel he goes to a concert on the waterfront where he sees Johnny Shondell, a young singer from New Iberia, perform. As he is watching Johnny a young girl comes up to him and introduces herself as Isolde Balangie. The Shondells and the Balangies have been enemies for four hundred years but Johnny and Isolde are in love. Despite this Isolde is supposed to be delivered to Johnny's uncle Mark for some sort of twisted deal between the two families. LaForchette also has some information about the Balangies; he says he was a driver for the Balangie family when they had someone killed. So Robicheaux calls in his friend Clete Purcell and they go to talk to the Balangies about Isolde. And from there they get pulled into a web of murder and sexual abuse involving both the Shondells and the Balangies. When Robicheaux gets involved with Isolde's mother and then her father's mistress Balangie hires a hitman to kill Clete and Dave. The hitman is some type of supernatural being who has been alive for centuries and who appears with a ghost ship. It's pretty far out and not quite my cup of tea.
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LibraryThing member jldarden
I am usually a fan of this series and enjoy Dave and Clete. This one however dipped too much into the supernatural. For that I can read a Charlie Parker novel. Not recommended unless you’re a completist.
LibraryThing member SamSattler
James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux books have always seemed darker and more violent to me than most of the other popular detective series of the day. Considering what Dave Robicheaux and his blood brother Clete Purcel have endured over the first twenty-two books of the series, they are lucky to
As the novel opens, Dave Robicheaux is a lonely man living with several cats and Tripod, his pet raccoon. The twice-married Robicheaux has by now been twice-widowed, and he is still grieving the loss of both women. Alafair, his daughter, is in school a long way from New Iberia, Louisiana, and Robicheaux misses her terribly, too. He’s lost his badge, and is waiting on investigators to decide if deserves to get it back (not that that much slows a man like Dave Robicheaux down). And now, things are going to get much, much worse for the “Bobbsey Twins,” Dave Robicheaux and Cletus Purcel.
There are two major crime families in the New Iberia area, the Shondells and the Balangies, and they hate each other’s guts. However, in order to avoid a bloodbath, it’s important that the two families figure out a way to keep the balance of power from being tipped too heavily in favor of one or the other of them. When Isolde Balangie, the teen-aged step-daughter of the Balangie kingpin, tells Dave one day that she is being delivered to Mark Shondell, head of the Shondell family, he understands that some kind of deal has been struck between the two families. But it all smells too much like human-trafficking for Dave to ignore what he’s been told and what he already knows about Mark Shondell.
In a Romeo and Juliet kind of twist, Isolde Balangie soon disappears along with Mark Shondell’s nephew Johnny. Dave knows that can’t be part of the families’ masterplan, so he wants to find them before anyone else does. Not only won’t that be easy, it will result in Dave and Clete having to run and hide from what appears to be a time-traveling hitman from the bowels of hell, a “man” who travels on a ghost ship, can induce traumatizing hallucinations, and strike directly at the weak spots of his prey. Oh…and he doesn’t have a nose, does have beady little eyes, and from the color of his skin may just be more reptile than human.
So, yes, A Private Cathedral requires a huge leap of suspended disbelief by the reader if it is to be taken seriously. But I don’t read Dave Robicheaux novels just for the plot; I read them to get inside Dave’s head - and sometimes inside Clete’s - in order to understand better what makes him tick. They are both “White Knights” despite their personal habits and their willingness to bend the law however much it takes to make sure that the good guys win in the end. They are both alcoholics, but only Dave seems to ever be on the wagon. They are both scarred by their mutual experiences in Vietnam. They are both Cajuns who believe in spirits, ghosts, and visions in a way that others will never understand. And, somehow, they are now two old men covered in battle scars from the past who have survived way longer than either ever expected to survive.
They are both rather brilliant, introspective men, although Clete hides it better than Dave. Dave describes Clete as “a closet bibliophile” who has “stored hundreds of paperback books he bought in secondhand stores and yard sales, most of them about American history and the War Between the States.” He reads and re-reads them. Dave, on the other hand, often speaks like a man with both a classical education and an education in the classics. He can’t hide his true character the way that Clete hides his own.
What worries me a little about A Private Cathedral is what seems to be a personal message from Dave to his admiring audience of readers. On the novel’s last page, Dave says:
“I didn’t want to hear any more of the story. I had already put aside the unhappiness of the past and no longer wanted to probe the shadows of the heart or the evil that men do. It was time to lay down my sword and shield and study war no more.”
It remains to be seen whether or not Dave is talking only about the Balangies and the Shondells or not. After all, James Lee Burke is 83 years old now, and one day we will have read the final chapter in the story of the Bobbsey Twins. And, honestly, Dave and Clete haven’t been acting their ages for a long time - Vietnam veterans must all be at least 70 years old now, and our heroes have hardly lost a step - but then again, neither has Burke. They are all still indestructible in the long run.
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still be standing, much less breathing. I have been reading the Robicheaux books as each of them is published all the way back to the third book in the series, Black Cherry Blues, so I thought I knew pretty much what to expect from A Private Cathedral when it comes to violence, mysticism, visions, and the like. Boy, was I wrong, because A Private Cathedral reaches a whole new level of darkness and evil brutality.As the novel opens, Dave Robicheaux is a lonely man living with several cats and Tripod, his pet raccoon. The twice-married Robicheaux has by now been twice-widowed, and he is still grieving the loss of both women. Alafair, his daughter, is in school a long way from New Iberia, Louisiana, and Robicheaux misses her terribly, too. He’s lost his badge, and is waiting on investigators to decide if deserves to get it back (not that that much slows a man like Dave Robicheaux down). And now, things are going to get much, much worse for the “Bobbsey Twins,” Dave Robicheaux and Cletus Purcel.
There are two major crime families in the New Iberia area, the Shondells and the Balangies, and they hate each other’s guts. However, in order to avoid a bloodbath, it’s important that the two families figure out a way to keep the balance of power from being tipped too heavily in favor of one or the other of them. When Isolde Balangie, the teen-aged step-daughter of the Balangie kingpin, tells Dave one day that she is being delivered to Mark Shondell, head of the Shondell family, he understands that some kind of deal has been struck between the two families. But it all smells too much like human-trafficking for Dave to ignore what he’s been told and what he already knows about Mark Shondell.
In a Romeo and Juliet kind of twist, Isolde Balangie soon disappears along with Mark Shondell’s nephew Johnny. Dave knows that can’t be part of the families’ masterplan, so he wants to find them before anyone else does. Not only won’t that be easy, it will result in Dave and Clete having to run and hide from what appears to be a time-traveling hitman from the bowels of hell, a “man” who travels on a ghost ship, can induce traumatizing hallucinations, and strike directly at the weak spots of his prey. Oh…and he doesn’t have a nose, does have beady little eyes, and from the color of his skin may just be more reptile than human.
So, yes, A Private Cathedral requires a huge leap of suspended disbelief by the reader if it is to be taken seriously. But I don’t read Dave Robicheaux novels just for the plot; I read them to get inside Dave’s head - and sometimes inside Clete’s - in order to understand better what makes him tick. They are both “White Knights” despite their personal habits and their willingness to bend the law however much it takes to make sure that the good guys win in the end. They are both alcoholics, but only Dave seems to ever be on the wagon. They are both scarred by their mutual experiences in Vietnam. They are both Cajuns who believe in spirits, ghosts, and visions in a way that others will never understand. And, somehow, they are now two old men covered in battle scars from the past who have survived way longer than either ever expected to survive.
They are both rather brilliant, introspective men, although Clete hides it better than Dave. Dave describes Clete as “a closet bibliophile” who has “stored hundreds of paperback books he bought in secondhand stores and yard sales, most of them about American history and the War Between the States.” He reads and re-reads them. Dave, on the other hand, often speaks like a man with both a classical education and an education in the classics. He can’t hide his true character the way that Clete hides his own.
What worries me a little about A Private Cathedral is what seems to be a personal message from Dave to his admiring audience of readers. On the novel’s last page, Dave says:
“I didn’t want to hear any more of the story. I had already put aside the unhappiness of the past and no longer wanted to probe the shadows of the heart or the evil that men do. It was time to lay down my sword and shield and study war no more.”
It remains to be seen whether or not Dave is talking only about the Balangies and the Shondells or not. After all, James Lee Burke is 83 years old now, and one day we will have read the final chapter in the story of the Bobbsey Twins. And, honestly, Dave and Clete haven’t been acting their ages for a long time - Vietnam veterans must all be at least 70 years old now, and our heroes have hardly lost a step - but then again, neither has Burke. They are all still indestructible in the long run.
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LibraryThing member waldhaus1
A story of a fight against evil that evokes some evil in the champions. An echo of the secret sharer and apocalypse now.
Vivid pictures of life in southern Louisiana are drawn. The story is a recollection of an earlier era ending with a contemporary focus on evil.
Vivid pictures of life in southern Louisiana are drawn. The story is a recollection of an earlier era ending with a contemporary focus on evil.
LibraryThing member JBreedlove
Probably JLB's last Robicheaux book. It was classic sense of place in southern Louisiana trying to close out the series. It was a mishmash of bad guys with one of them beeing an historic badass looking for redemption. Still writes well butte story line was just too much. Dave R. is still battling
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demons which should have been put to rest books ago. Show Less
LibraryThing member jepeters333
The Shondell and Balangie families are longtime enemies in the New Iberia criminal underworld and show each other no mercy. Yet their youngest heirs, Johnny Shondell and Isolde Balangie, rock and roll-musician teenagers with magical voices, have fallen in love and run away after Isolde was given as
As he seeks to uncover why, Detective Dave Robicheaux gets too close to both Isolde’s mother and the mistress of her father, a venomous New Orleans mafioso whose jealousy has no bounds. In retribution, he hires a mysterious assassin to go after Robicheaux and his longtime partner, Clete Purcel. This hitman is unlike any the “Bobbsey Twins from Homicide” have ever faced. He has the ability to induce horrifying hallucinations and travels on a menacing ghost ship that materializes without warning. In order to defeat him and rescue Johnny and Isolde, Robicheaux will have to overcome the demons that have tormented him throughout his adult life—alcoholism, specters from combat in Vietnam, and painful memories of women to whom he opened his heart only to see killed.
A Private Cathedral, James Lee Burke’s fortieth book, is his most powerful tale, one that will captivate readers—mixing crime, romance, mythology, horror, and science fiction to produce a thrilling story about the all-consuming, all-conquering power of love.
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a sex slave to Johnny’s uncle.As he seeks to uncover why, Detective Dave Robicheaux gets too close to both Isolde’s mother and the mistress of her father, a venomous New Orleans mafioso whose jealousy has no bounds. In retribution, he hires a mysterious assassin to go after Robicheaux and his longtime partner, Clete Purcel. This hitman is unlike any the “Bobbsey Twins from Homicide” have ever faced. He has the ability to induce horrifying hallucinations and travels on a menacing ghost ship that materializes without warning. In order to defeat him and rescue Johnny and Isolde, Robicheaux will have to overcome the demons that have tormented him throughout his adult life—alcoholism, specters from combat in Vietnam, and painful memories of women to whom he opened his heart only to see killed.
A Private Cathedral, James Lee Burke’s fortieth book, is his most powerful tale, one that will captivate readers—mixing crime, romance, mythology, horror, and science fiction to produce a thrilling story about the all-consuming, all-conquering power of love.
Show Less