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Content snapshot
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Violence
A lot
Murder, cartel violence, and the historical violence of Louisiana's racial past; some graphic scenes
Language
A lot
Very strong language throughout — Burke's Cajun and criminal characters are frank and profane
Sexual Content
Barely any
Mild sexual content
Substance Use
A lot
Heavy drinking; Dave's alcoholism is a defining character element
Emotional Intensity
A lot
The weight of the past — historical violence seeping into the present; a detective haunted in the most literal possible sense
What this book is about
Dave Robicheaux encounters the ghost of a Confederate general while investigating the murder of a young woman in the Louisiana bayou — a murder that may connect to a decades-old death that Dave witnessed as a boy. Meanwhile a Hollywood production has descended on New Iberia, bringing its own complications. James Lee Burke's sixth Robicheaux novel is one of his most atmospheric: the supernatural element is handled with careful ambiguity, the Louisiana landscape is rendered in Burke's most lyrical prose, and the violence — criminal, historical, racial — accumulates into something genuinely haunting.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
very strong language
graphic violence
sixth of the Robicheaux series
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