Deja Vu if you've read his other books
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I have read all 20 or so (except a couple of his early novels) in the last few months and was excited to get this latest book. However on reading it I was overcome with a feeling of deja vu. Two of the stories are virtually identical to each other (lone old academic takes on thugs) and others (the one about the abusive step-mother) are almost straight lifts from other novels. The one about Johnny Ace is OK but we've been there before too. Likewise the one about throwing the nun out of the airplane; I have read it before, almost word for word in a Dave Robicheaux novel. Has the mighty James Lee gone senile? Does he have a new editor who hasn't read his other work? I'm frankly staggered at how much rehashed old work there is in this collection. Someone should be shot. Approach with caution.
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Rich Characters and Plots Amid Timeless Tales of Good Versus Evil
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James Lee Burke has a knack for evoking the Old Testament, especially the part about an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Naturally, that approach can also lead to out-of-control escalations that have to be dealt with as well. These stories capture those themes especially well.
Most novelists don't like to write short stories. Why? It takes almost as much time and effort to work out the plot and character development as it does for an entire novel. They want to save up their ideas for places where there can be a larger payoff. Only the truly gifted writers can afford to share short stories.
This collection is totally of fiction that's already been published over the last 16 years, so Mr. Burke is frugally supplying us with what we would have a hard time finding on his own . . . without additional writing effort on his part. That's okay with me. I hadn't read any of these stories before and enjoyed them all.
Jesus Out to Sea is well chosen as the title story for the collection. The story reminds me of the best parts of his recent novel, The Tin Roof Blowdown, where the candid scenes of submerged New Orleans after Katrina breached the levees will haunt anyone who reads them.
Strangely, Winter Light was chosen as the book's opening story despite it being the weakest story in the collection. The theme is about the moral and physical challenges of standing up to the mob. A Season of Regret explores a similar theme and is a much more rewarding story.
The next story, the Village, is by comparison a masterpiece . . . capturing the worst tendencies of the 20th century in a few brief, but powerful, words.
The Night Johnny Ace Died has so much plot and character development in it, you'll find yourself not believing that this is short story rather than a novella.
Water People is classic James Lee Burke in which characters are haunted by the past in ways that harmfully affect the present.
Texas City, 1947 shows the challenges that are thrown the way of youngsters when the adults make mistakes or have bad luck. It's the first in a series of wonderful stories with children as narrators including The Molester, The Burning of the Flag, and When Bugsy Siegel Was a Friend of Mine that explore the bully-bullied conflicts of youth.
Mist is a magnificent story that takes a woman's perspective and digs deep into the challenges of recovering from being targeted by those who want to misuse you.
Most of the stories are based in the rich Louisiana heritage of the Dave Robicheaux novels dating back to World War II. You'll feel even more of the atmosphere of those days when you read Robicheaux novels in the future after enjoying these delightful, spare stories.
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