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    Crusader's Cross: A Dave Robicheaux Novel
    Crusader's Cross: A Dave Robicheaux Novel
    Crusader's Cross: A Dave Robicheaux Novel
    Audiobook (abridged)5 hours

    Crusader's Cross: A Dave Robicheaux Novel

    Written by James Lee Burke

    Narrated by Will Patton

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    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—images from Vietnam, the violent streets of New Orleans, and his own troubled youth. 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, Honoria, a disturbed and deeply alluring woman, Robicheaux is soon involved not only with the Chalons family but with the murderous energies of the New Orleans underworld. Also, he meets and finds himself drawn into a scandalous relationship with a remarkable Catholic nun.

    Brilliant, brooding, and filled with the author’s signature lyricism, Jim Burke’s latest novel is a darkly suspenseful work of literature.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateJul 12, 2005
    ISBN9780743551625
    Author

    James Lee Burke

    James Lee Burke is a New York Times bestselling author, two-time winner of the Edgar Award, and the recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts in Fiction. He has authored forty novels and two short story collections. He lives in Missoula, Montana.

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    Reviews for Crusader's Cross

    4/5

    263 ratings18 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Meh. I'm not really sure how to review this. I've followed the Dave Robicheaux novels forever (albeit not always in order). Usually I love them and would give it 5 stars without hesitation. This one certainly contained all the elements of the series: the flashbacks, the little glimpses of bayou life, the sometimes almost comical by-play between characters. I loved the way the title tied in this time too: Dave on a cross (Isn't he always?), a nun, and of course, with one of the murders.The characters didn't disappoint either. Dave was just as... well, Dave... as always, although towards the end of the book, he gets a little too "sunlight and fluffy bunnies" for my taste. But hey, character development happens. Besides, he's been bagged on enough, he's deserved a little sunlight. Clete is his usual over-the-top, psychotic, unrepentant self, and Helen is as sardonic as always. Dave's brother is in this one, and he struck me as an obsessive mook. Ida Durbin was probably my one sore point in the characters, because I simply didn't care. She was nothing but a memory and a phantom through most of the book, and she could have stayed that way for all I cared. The way Dave and his brother met her was funny, but that was about it. When she disappeared, I didn't care if she was dead or not. I continued to not care clear through to the final page. I didn't hate her, because to hate, you have to care. I didn't, at all. She was nothing but words on a page that I had to get through to get back to something I cared about.Even with that, I would give it 5 stars...But then I get to the murder mystery part. There I had an issue. Maybe it was because I read the first half of the book, then had to put it aside for a few months because life got in the way. Up to the point at which I found out who the killer was, it was really going well with plenty of twists and turns. I was really interested to find out who the killer was, and who's theory was right. Then I did find out... and went "Huh? Why?" I still feel like I missed some key point that would have clarified it all for me, yet I can't figure out how I could have missed anything that major if it was there. As such, from that angle, it barely chokes out 3 stars.So, I suppose I'll give it 4. As a part of the series, it fit in very nicely, and there was some very nice character development, and I certainly wouldn't suggest not reading it if you enjoy Mr. Robicheaux and his group. I mostly read these because I enjoy the characters anyway. It may be my own fault I feel like I don't know everything I should know, and because of that, I'll put it in my list of books to reread to see if I catch on the second time around.
    • 4/5
      Since we were on our way to Louisiana as a way to celebrate retirement I decided I should read some of the books by James Lee Burke that I had sitting on my shelf. Crusader’s Cross is #15 in the Dave Robicheaux series and takes place mostly in New Iberia but New Orleans and other places are also mentioned. It was a great way to remind me of how Burke describes the Louisiana countryside.When the book opens Dave is reminiscing about a summer he and his half-brother, Jimmie, spent a summer working on a seismograph crew along the Louisiana-Texas coastline. They worked 10 days on and 5 days off and they spent their off time on Galveston Island. They got to know a young prostitute named Ida and Jimmie fell hard for her. They planned to run off to Mexico together but before they could Ida disappeared. Dave always figured Ida’s pimp had her killed but Jimmie thought she was perhaps still alive. Dave had almost forgotten about Ida but an old college classmate made a dying confession to him about her and Dave felt he had to follow up on it. He has recently retired as a detective for the New Iberia Sheriff’s office. His wife, Bootsie, died and his daughter, Alafair, is away at college. In order to investigate the case about Ida he asks for his old job back and the sheriff agrees provided he help with a murder case that looks like it might the work of a serial killer. Both investigations seem to involve the wealthy Chalons family and Dave hardly seems to move without running across one of the Chalons. In the course of his investigations he meets and falls in love with a nun by the name of Molly Burke. Fans of the later Robicheaux books will recognize that Molly becomes his fourth wife. That romance provides one bright spot in a book that has lots of violence and corruption.I hope that I won’t experience the dark side of Louisiana on this trip; but I am pumped to experience the beauty and culture.
    • 3/5
      Maybe I need to read a few more in the Robicheaux series to appreciate this detective's personality. I do like the setting (New Orleans and southward),but got annoyed by the constant references to the climate of the region (usually silent lightning over the gulf alternating with some rain the night before). The character was maddening in the way his dialogue with others seemed artificially short. Finally, there were some interesting plot twists but a lot that was predicable.
    • 4/5
      Crusader's Cross by James Lee Burke-It was back in the innocent days of the 50's when Robicheaux and his brother, Jimmie, met Ida Durbin on a Galveston beach storm, not knowing she was a prostitute with ties to the mob, she was abducted and never seen again, Jimmie fell for her hard. Now, decades later Dave is asking questions about Ida and is soon involved with the Chalon's family but with the murderous energies of the New Orleans underworld.
    • 1/5
      Wow. I have been trying to find some new authors in this genre and Amazon suggested Burke so I gave him a try. He is so caught up in the excruciating detail of describing eucalyptus trees, meandering nonsensical diatribe, and pretentiously inserting the word 'antebellum' at every turn he never actually gets around to telling a legitimate story. There is supposedly a serial killer on the loose and also a 40 year old who-cares cold case murder being solved, but you wouldn't know it for all the distractions.This book is too long on mind numbing filler and way too short on plot development. Skip it.
    • 5/5
      This was the easiest (in terms of flow) novel i mhave read of JLB to date, yet involves itself as deeply in that imagry and intriging portraiture that paints the reader's involvement in rural lousiana. It is a one sitting novel, which can b e done by me only if I do nother else and do not have to abide my health and conditions. clete and david find the proper relationship with each other here, and molly becomes dave's third wife. he does seem to pick storng women that can live with his dementia.
    • 3/5
      Another good installment with Dave, although the ending was a little predictable. Good stuff about alcoholism. Dave (Burke?) tends to express the false alternative that degenerate individuals have either a sociological or theological source, when criminal personalities stem from the potentialities of our civilization and our species.
    • 4/5
      In the summer of 1958, Dave Robicheaux and his brother Jimmy are swimming in Galveston Bay when sharks appeared nearby. A young woman, Ida Durbin, sees their situation from the beach and rescues them, forever leaving her imprint on their lives.Jimmy, in particular, becomes infatuated with Ida. When he learns that she has been working in a house of prostitution, he attempts to rescue her. Just when Jimmy and Ida were ready to run away to Mexico, Ida disappears.Years later, Dave learns from a dieing friend that Ida was snatched by two policeman who were on the take. They were paid off by the owner of the house of prostitution.Shortly after learning this, Dave is assaulted. He thinks it is because someone didn't want him knowing about Ida. Sheriff Helen Soileau wants Dave to look into the Baton Rouge killer. He is killing women in Baron Rouge but his last victim was from New Iberia who might have been a victim of opportunity. While Dave is looking for the killer, he also has the chance to look into Ida's disappearance.There is a continuing dispute between Dave and Val Chalons. Val is a TV personality and when his sister is murdered, a set of Dave's prints were found in her home. Val makes this public as well as publicizing the fact that Dave has just married a Catholic Nun. This escalates the conflict to one of a physical nature where Dave puts Val in the hospital and almost loses his job. However, after a periof of desk duty, he's back on the trail. He becomes the Crusader, looking for the killer.James Lee Burke is simply one of the best mystery writers in America. He is one of only three people who have won the Edgar Award for Best Mystery Novel of the Year, two times. "Crusader's Cross" continues his history of excellence. The plot is interesting, Dave is one of the most famous characters in mystery writing and his friend Clete is one in a million. Don't miss this story.
    • 4/5
      I love anything by James Lee Burke.
    • 4/5
      In the fourteenth Dave Robicheaux novel, a face from the past that has haunted Dave since he was 20 re-emerges. Dave and his brother Jimmie had long since thought Ida Durbin was dead. But when some odd events start occurring, Ida's death becomes more and more suspect, and all signs lead back to the wealthy Chalons family.Meanwhile, someone is on the loose killing women in Baton Rouge. The Baton Rouge serial killer hits close to home when he kills a young woman Dave interviewed and then dumps one of his victims in New Iberia Perish.Dave, Clete, Helen, and Molly, Dave's new love interest, all find themselves wrapped up in murder and mayhem as Dave tries to unravel all the mysteries.Once again, James Lee Burke has created a poetic masterpiece. While Crusader's Cross probably doesn't rank among my favorite Robicheaux novels, it's still among the elite in the world of crime fiction. Burke is known for his exquisite setting development and how accurately it reflects the Louisiana Bayou. His development also mimics the slow, easy pace of the Deep South. Crusader's Cross stays true to this form.Valentine Chalons is a repulsive antagonist coming from an extremely dysfunctional, wealthy, southern family. Lou Cale/Coin is equally repulsive. Yet, I still feel sorry for them when Dave "loses it" and sinks to their levels. Dave Robicheaux is one of the most unique characters in crime fiction in the sense that you don't always cheer him on. He has such realistic human qualities, and those qualities include a side that isn't always lovable or endearing. Robicheaux is constantly battling evil and sometimes that evil just drags him right down with it. Helen does her best to keep Dave out of the slime, but sometimes even that isn't enough. In Crusader's Cross, Helen gives Dave his shield back only to have to park him on desk duty almost immediately afterward.Clete is Clete. There is no comparison to Clete, a walking contradiction. He's as devoted a friend as any fictional character will find, but as usual the lengths he'll go to prove that devotion are often frightening.Dave is on wife number four with Molly. I worry for her safety. His previous wives haven't had such a good go of things! But, Molly fits Dave's type. She's a rebel; she's down-to-earth; and she's a scrapper.The dynamics of the characters as well as the relationships between them is pure gold and pure Burke. I listened to this book on audio, and I'm afraid it's going to be my last Dave Robicheaux audio book. Will Patton was the reader, and while I truly enjoy Patton's work in films, I did not enjoy his reading of Dave Robicheaux. I know the major factor is because I've mentally established Mark Hammer's voice as Dave Robicheaux's voice. However, I do have some particular details in addition to my preference for Hammer. Patton was very dramatic, and this novel is told from the perspective of Robicheaux who would never, in my interpretation, be dramatic. And he certainly wouldn't have a breathlessly dramatic sound. Even though Burke's descriptions are often breath-taking for the reader, it's common place for Dave; he lives in it every day. In addition, the man who corrects his adopted daughter on her speech would not say "da" in place of "the" or use a hard "t" sound on a th consonant blend. As with all Dave Robicheaux novels, there were many French-derived names present. Patton didn't seem to pronounce them as fluidly as Hammer always did. The accents, the stresses, the pronunciations just flowed in Hammer's readings and Patton has a more jerky style when he stresses certain syllables in those French pronunciations. It sounds almost like he's having difficulty pronouncing them.Then there's the role of Clete Purcell. Never in a million years would I have imagined Clete to sound the way Patton read his role. There simply are not words. However, I do believe he missed a significant amount of the sarcasm that is essential to Clete's character. I didn't laugh anywhere near as much with Clete as when I've read a book myself or listened to Hammer's reading. I know that it isn't fair to compare the two readers; each is his own person with his own style. And I've heard many people who loved Patton's reading. But I've created an image of Robicheaux in my mind, my imagination, and Hammer nailed that image (pun intended - ha!). This reading simply didn't measure up to the perfection of Hammer as Robicheaux.
    • 4/5
      This is one or the more recent Dave Robicheaux stories. The more I read him the more I like him. Now I look forward to the author's descriptions of the surroundings. I have seen a Florida swamp and some of the plants he describes. He also makes New Iberia a place with his descriptions of the buildings and their stories.This involves a serial killer and a story out of Dave's past (there are a lot of those). The ending was tied up very neatly answering all of the questions in the book. That is not typical for Robicheaux.My favorite line in the book is "Our moral failure lies in the frailty of our vision and not in our hearts". For me a big part of the Robicheaux books is watching Dave walk the tightrope of life seeking his guidance from an inner moral compass that is not always pointing true north. In other words he is trying but he is human.I think that along with the surroundings is what makes these books better than just a whodunit. I have about five others in the series and I look forward to reading another one soon.
    • 5/5
      Dave Robicheaux investigates the "death" of a woman from 30 years ago; the investigation upsets a couple local sheriffs and Valentine Chalons; and there are ties with the New Orleans underworld.
    • 2/5
      Rated: R
      This book unfolds in one of my favorite places in the United States. Life is different down in Acadiana. This book illustrates the color of life that exists there.
    • 3/5
      Detective Dave Robicheaux retraces his youth when he and his brother became friendly with a prostitute, whose name crops up in acquaintance's death-bed confession. Real Texas, Louisiana and Missouri locations and believable characters inhabit this tale of misplaced family honour in the Bayou.
    • 4/5
      Another complex entry in the Dave Robicheaux series. Dave works to solve 2 seemingly unrelated cased. As usually, Dave must face his dark side as he uncovers the darker history of the local aristocracy. The more he digs into the past, the more he puts himself and those he loves at risk.
    • 3/5
      James Lee Burke is one of the best, but I think his more recent books just rehash the plots of some of the other ones. Crusader's Cross felt like I had read it all before: Dave Robicheaux acts holier than thou, Clete Purcell beats someone up, a shoot out in a hunting cabin on stilts, colorful mob characters, a drunk/insane lady hits on Dave, a serial killer, Dave's wife is kidnapped, the three-legged dog . . . . It's like all the components are on the computer and a program rearranges them, picks new names, and prints it out. Maybe Roald Dahl was right -- these books are all written by the Great Automatic Grammatizator!
    • 4/5
      My first DL Burke novel/Dave Robicheaux story. Well written and readable. Very descriptive on the world of southern Louisiana where I worked for 3 months once upon a time. Distinct enough from other detective creations but not over the top. I'll certainly read another.
    • 5/5
      Okay, normally I wouldn't give a James Lee Burke mystery the top rating. Sure, they are enjoyable as brain candy, but really they are not high literature. This book, however, had me giggling from start to finish because (1) I used to live in Louisiana and (2) I know the group that he is (loosely) using as a basis for the self-help agency. I only wish that I had bought this earlier and in hardback.