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Swan Peak [Paperback]

James Lee Burke (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Publication Date: 25 Jun 2009

After the devastating events recounted in THE TIN ROOF BLOWDOWN, Dave Robicheaux and his ex-partner in Homicide, Clete Purcel, head for the mountains and trout streams of Montana for some much-needed healing.

However, while Montana might seem an unspoilt paradise peopled by men and women from an earlier, more innocent time in American history, Dave and Clete soon find that there are plenty of serpents in the garden too. The deaths of a couple of hikers suggest a perverted serial killer may be at work, while an escaped jailbird and his former tormentor are locked in a savage dance of revenge that is ultimately connected to the fortunes of a wealthy oil family hiding a terrible secret . . .

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Product details

  • Paperback: 512 pages
  • Publisher: Orion (25 Jun 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 075382602X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0753826027
  • Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 3.1 x 19.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 140,920 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

With its trademark mix of brutality and poetry, Swan Peak is a brilliant piece of work from an American master. (Peter Guttridge THE OBSERVER )

How does Burke do it? Following swiftly on from his brilliant The Tin Roof Blowdown, we find Dave Robicheaux and his ex-homicide partner Clete Purcel escaping hurricane-devastated New Orleans for the wild calm of Montana, only to find a twisted serial killer at work, and worse. 4 Stars (Henry Sutton THE MIRROR )

Hurricane Katrina is over, but the clean-up goes on: inthe latest instalment of Burke's crime series, Dave Robicheaux flees New Orleans only to be sucked into a perfect storm of murder, convicts and oil money. The frenetic plotting contrasts with moody descriptions of the Montana wilderness. (ESQUIRE )

His lyrical prose, his deep understanding of what makes people behave as they do, and his control of plot and pace are masterly. (Susanna Yager SUNDAY TELEGRAPH )

The last 30 pages had me gripped with tension. This, together with Burke's ability to place you vicariously in the haunting landscapes he describes with such love and passion, again confirms his position as one of the finest American writers. (Matthew Lewin THE GUARDIAN )

As a master of crime fiction, Burke needs no introduction ... With its relentlessley captivating narrative, Swan Peak immerses us in this corner of Montana, alive with colourful, dangerous characters. The sense of impending doom builds until the climatic ending. A thriller so good you will regret finishing it. (WATERSTONE'S BOOKS QUARTERLY )

Superious crime fiction (Michael Parkinson EVENING STANDARD ES MAGAZINE )

James Lee Burke... never fails to please. He offers a sweeping, repertorial perspective of how modern America works, while weaving a tightly plotted thriller around a fabulous array of characters. (Carla McKay DAILY MAIL ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description

The latest mesmerising Dave Robicheaux novel from one of American crime fiction's greats.
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Customer Reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
16 reviews
3.9 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
33 of 33 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Evil's Gravity 9 July 2008
By Mr. M. Alexander
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
James Lee Burke's latest novel, Swan Peak, is another chapter in the life of his troubled character Dave Robicheaux. It is set in the wilds of Montana rather than the lush lands of Louisiana. An early novel, Black Cherry Blues was similarly set against the Montana backdrop of mountains and grazing land.
This time Dave and his friend Cletus Purcell are ostensibly taking a well earned break from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina. At one point Dave reflects, in a beautifully constructed paragraph, of how the intersections in his life seem practically predetermined as is the attraction of iron filings for a magnet. There is a sense of evil in the first few pages as Clete is bullied by some unpleasant characters who move him off the territory of a rich landowner. It is surely a craft of very few authors to write so infectiously and to create such a sense of bad things to come as does James Lee Burke.
The story is set around the rich landowner and some gruesome killings in the same area. It has, rather like an airliner, a smooth and progressive glide slope to a climax rather than a landing. As a reader one is drawn and even captivated by each turn of the screw.
Woven into this story are some old and some new characters along with just a hint of romance. One or two descriptions of the Montana environment are reminiscent of early Lee Burke writing about Louisiana and I have to say I wish there were more of these.
Quite where Lee Burke gets his material from is a mystery but how he creates such an art from whatever the source is very impressive. It is, yet again, a great read and I'm glad to say the author still retains those qualities of writing that attracted me to the Robicheaux novels all those years ago.
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Magnificent... but Flawed (4.5 *stars) 13 Sep 2008
By G. J. Oxley TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover
This is the first Dave Robicheaux novel since `Black Cherry Blues' to take the deputy sheriff out of his home state of Louisiana (laid to waste after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita) and into the mid-west farmlands of Montana. Not coincidentally, these are also the two states that James Lee Burke calls his home. Here Robicheaux is enjoying a trip with his wife Molly and big buddy Cletus Purcell, where they're ranch house guests of Robicheux's friend Albert Hollister - a retired English professor and writer.

Virtually from page one - which depicts Purcell doing a spot of solo fishing - there's trouble. Two employees of Ridley Wellstone, an extremely rich Texan oil man who has relocated to Montana, inform Purcell he's on private land, insult him, break his fishing rod (a VERY bad idea) and chase him.

From there the action kicks off as Robicheaux and Purcell become entangled in events at Wellstone's mansion - which he shares with his badly burnt brother Lesley and Lesley's wife Jamie Sue - and the search for a serial killer.

In a parallel plot, 6ft 5in prison guard Troyce Nix violently sodomises country singer Jimmy Dale Greenwood, a prisoner in his care, and pushes this gentle guy into attacking him with a homemade shiv. Nix is badly injured but recovers after a short spell in hospital. He then pursues his attacker, accompanied by a lady friend he picks-up along the way. His pursuit of Greenwood becomes inextricably linked with the Robicheaux/Wellstone story, and there's a crossover of characters into both plotlines that Burke controls brilliantly.

`Swan Peak' is the seventeenth novel in the series and displays all the strengths and weaknesses of the best of the books.

The strengths?... Read more ›
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Middling 2 Oct 2008
By Timothy De Ferrars
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Dave Robicheaux and Clete Purcell are their usual selves in James Lee Burke's latest novel, but they seem spread too thin against the landscape of Montana: I look forward to their return to the claustrophobic and humid parish of New Iberia.
Swann Peak is Burke's most uneven novel for some time. The characters are as vivid and morally ambivalent as always, but much as I wanted the plot twists to be sublime, they were too often ridiculous.
I'm left with the impression perhaps of a tired author who is drawing breath after the remarkable Tin Roof Blowdown; and certainly of an author who is capable of much better.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Too much yet not enough - 3.5 stars really 21 May 2011
By Michael Watson TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover
I took a breather from Dave Robicheaux after Hurricane Katrina wiped out his homeland, returning now a year or two after this was published. He's moved to Montana, albeit on holiday, a completely different environment from New Orleans and all that went on there.

For me this doesn't work too well. Yes, the author writes evocatively, his settings are brilliant but his two main characters seem to be out of kilter from what we have come to expect.

Maybe it's the mountain air but I think I prefer Robicheax and Purcell to be doing their thing in the old country. Hopefull, next time round, they will.

It's a good story, the connection between the brutal murder of two college students, two supposed mega rich and eccentic brothers, then add in some really strange characters almost as a seondary story as a prison guard hunts down a Country singer, it all takes a bit of sorting out. Needless to say, it does all come together but there is so much going on that our main men are almost sidelined; which is basically my point. Robicheaux and Purcell do not feature so prominently and, as in the previous books, it is these two who make James Lee Burke's books so fascinating.

I wish Amazon would amend their scoring system because 3 stars is too low but 4 is too high for this one.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars a good Audio Book
a good transaction and another hit from James Lee Burke..
You will not be disappointed with this item and it deserves the 5 star rating.
Published 2 months ago by VICTOR
3.0 out of 5 stars SWAN SONG...no more please
A few spoilers below!

Blurb........Detective Dave Robicheaux returns in another adventure. Only this time, he travels from New Iberia Parish to the wilds of Montana. Read more
Published 7 months ago by col2910
4.0 out of 5 stars A hero who makes great picnics!
Dave Robicheaux and his friend (and ex-colleague) are on vacation in Montana when some murders occur and Dave is assigned temporarily to the local Sheriff's staff. Read more
Published on 6 Mar 2011 by Wynne Kelly
3.0 out of 5 stars Time to go Robicheaux.
I'm such a fan of Burke's Robicheaux books that a year ago I re-read the first 16 in the order they'd been published (mixed with other books in between) and was struck that he'd... Read more
Published on 12 Jan 2011 by I. Bryant
4.0 out of 5 stars An experimental vacation outside Louisiana
JLB's heroes, Dave Robicheaux and Clete Purcell, go to Montana for a change. The change of scenery is not a positive step but the plot is the usual satisfying melange of rich, mean... Read more
Published on 29 Aug 2010 by Dave Robicheaux
3.0 out of 5 stars Won't You Come Home, James Lee Burke
"Swan Peak" is 17th in James Lee Burke's police procedural/thriller, very satisfactorily noir series, starring Dave Robicheaux, former drunk, former New Orleans cop, now a... Read more
Published on 14 Jun 2010 by Stephanie DePue
5.0 out of 5 stars James Lee Burke at his best
James Lee Burke just keeps getting better. If you have not tried his work yet, go to the first book in the Dave Robicheaux series (Neon Rain) and try and read them all in order.
Published on 1 Sep 2009 by Mark Carne
5.0 out of 5 stars Improving like fine wine...
Following the superb Tin Roof Blowdown, set in Katrina-hit New Orlans, Swan Peak takes Robicheaux and Clete on a well-earned vacation. Read more
Published on 27 July 2009 by James N. Beatson
4.0 out of 5 stars A different landscape
I would probably give any James Lee Burke novel a minimum of 4 stars because he is such a skilled writer. Read more
Published on 26 July 2009 by D. P. Mankin
3.0 out of 5 stars Latest Dave Robicheaux review
I have read all the previous DR novels. This one lacks the atmosphere and local colour of the New Orleans based ones.
Published on 16 Mar 2009 by Mr. Gary J. Barrett
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