Journal Entry 1 by carlissa from Miami, Florida USA on Monday, October 13, 2008

Synopsis

Critically acclaimed and bestselling crime writer James Lee Burke returns to Louisiana where his ever-popular hero, Dave Robicheaux, sleuths his way through a hotbed of sin and uncertainty.

For Dave Robicheaux, life in Louisiana is filled with haunting memories of the past. In Crusader's Cross, a deathbed confession from an old schoolmate resurrects a story of injustice, the murder of a young woman, and a time in Robicheaux's life he has tried to forget.

Her name may or may not have been Ida Durbin. It was back in the innocent days of the 1950s when Robicheaux and his brother, Jimmie, met her on a Galveston beach. She was pretty and Jimmie fell for her hard -- not knowing she was a prostitute on infamous Post Office Street, with ties to the mob. Then Ida was abducted and never seen again.

Now, decades later, Robicheaux is asking questions about Ida Durbin, and a couple of redneck deputy sheriffs make it clear that asking questions is a dangerous game. With a series of horrifying murders and the sudden appearance of Valentine Chalons and his sister, Robicheaux is soon involved with the murderous energies of the New Orleans underworld.

The Washington Post - Patrick Anderson

Throughout the novel, and all of Burke's writing, lyrical moments alternate with terrible violence. One wonders what impact this fierce juxtaposition has had on Burke's popularity.

Readers who love beautiful prose do not always enjoy violence, and those who relish violence may grow impatient with Burke's poetry. But if you believe, as he does, that beauty and horror go hand in hand in this life, he can touch you in ways few writers can.
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unabridged, 10 CDs, read by Will Patton
 

Journal Entry 2 by carlissa from Miami, Florida USA on Monday, August 31, 2009

I listened to a little bit of this and didn't care for it. I put in the 5th round of my CD audio bookbox. 

Journal Entry 3 by k00kaburra from San Jose, California USA on Monday, September 14, 2009

Doesn't sound much like my style of book.

This book enjoyed a brief visit in San Jose, CA before continuing its travels in carlissa's CD AudiobookBookbox! 

Journal Entry 4 by jlautner from San Luis Obispo, California USA on Wednesday, December 16, 2009

chose from the CD audio book box. Escape lit for travel! 

Journal Entry 5 by jlautner from San Luis Obispo, California USA on Thursday, March 04, 2010

I started listening to this quite some time ago, then I misplaced the remaining CDs and went for several weeks reading other books and listening to stories on xm radio, until I found the lost CDs and finally finished the book. Thus my listening was interrupted and I may not offer a fair impression here.

I think this is the third audio book I have heard that was read by Will Patton. Patton's distinctive southern drawl and style of speaking tell a tale of their own, sometimes meshing well with what he reads and sometimes, in my opinion, not. He brings a specific flavor to the story, rather like an actor in a play.

I don't particularly like his speaking style. I can't deny that he's very good at this work, that he clearly seems to get into the story and tells it as he himself believes it. Yet many times I feel like the emphasis is not where I would have put it had I read it from a page of a book. I develop reservations about the characters he represents and I wonder if I would feel differently without his voice in my ears. Because I have read a couple of other Dave Robicheaux novels I think I would.

The novel begins in the past: when they were teens, Robicheaux and his older brother Jimmy foolishly swim too far in an area where there are sharks. They are rescued by a young woman in a boat, a young woman they eventually come to know as Ida Durbin. Jimmy is especially taken with this young woman and intent on finding out more about her. He discovers that she is actually working in a whore house and he determines to rescue her, to run away with her. She goes along with the plan, but it is not to be. On the day they are to meet at the train station (perhaps it's a bus station; I don't recall) Jimmy arrives but she is not there. She is not anywhere, and the signs he does find suggest that she may have been abducted and even killed.

Through the years Jimmy pines for his lost love and searches for her from time to time. When they are both in their forties (I am guessing) some things happen that bring those times back and send Dave off to find out what really happened to Ida Durbin. And so hangs a long and elaborate tale, encompassing Robicheaux's slip-ups and obsessions and revealing his superior officer's unending faith in him. While searching for Ida, Dave is also searching for a serial killer who mutilates his female victims.

In this novel Dave meets Molly, a woman working as a nun - but not an ordained (if that is the term) nun, at some kind of community center. Their hearts and minds connect and interesting things happen. 

Journal Entry 6 by jlautner at San Luis Obispo, California USA on Monday, October 04, 2010

Released 1 yr ago (10/4/2010 UTC) at San Luis Obispo, California USA

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Adding to CD-Only Book Box (started by booklady331) 

Journal Entry 7 by booklady331 at Cape Coral, Florida USA on Saturday, January 22, 2011

Arrived home in my CD only bookbox. Taking this out of the box to listen to. I've read the reviews, so I am wondering if I will enjoy it, but thought I would give it a try.