Rating: 
Summary: The best way to start the Robicheaux series.
Review: "The Neon Rain" is the first book in the series, but this is the book to start with. I had actually seen the movie first, and liked it so much that I decided to give the book a try. As is normally the case, the book is even better. Burke has done a great job in creating a realistic hero in Dave Robicheaux. Rather than your typical perfect, mistake-free protagonist, Robicheaux is clearly flawed but you want to root for him. The heart of the Vietnam vet, retired homicide detective, and recovering alcoholic comes through particularly well because of Burke's exceptional first-person writing style. This is truly a work of art, and it sets the tone well for the rest of the series.
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Summary: Lyrical evocation of Southern Louisiana
Review: I grew up in Mr. Burke's Lousiana and know the cities he writes about. This book was like a visit home. This is a murder mystery novel for those, like myself, who usually don't read murder mystery novels. This book is about the inward struggles with the dark side of humanity as well as the public issues that we face. Mr Burke puts his reluctant hero in the middle of a murder and captures the esscence of Cajun culture.
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Summary: Takes you right down to the bayou, Podna!
Review: I have finally found a new character to be completely facinated with. I read this book because of the movie and was surprised to find that the movie was a fairly faithful representation of the novel (much moreso than "The Lost World" and other movies). Dave Robichaux is a facinating character and you really get a feel for his world. James Lee Burke pulls no punches as he drags his hero through the depths of the sleezy underworld of the lower Louisiana Parishes. This book is facinating fast read and I couldn't put it down. I have to pull out the Visa and buy the rest of the Dave Robicheaux books. I suggest you do the same
Rating: 
Summary: 5 stars until the end
Review: I really like the dave robicheaux novels. A truly flawed character without a doubt, but one who is easy to sympathize with. This novel did not disappoint, and having been to the area, gives an accurate picture of bayou life. I loved it until the end, and without giving away the ending, Dave was much to gracious than what would be true to my picture of his character.
Rating:
Summary: Worth Reading Twice
Review: I've read most of Burke's Dave Robicheaux series, and enjoyed them quite a bit. Heaven's Prisoners is one of the two best, the other being In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead. Mist is Burke at his most exotic--Dave's on an acid trip for a substantial part of the book; Heaven's Prisoners is Burke at his darkest. I'm unwilling to go into the plot; in fact I strongly urge you not to read further reviews as there are substantial spoilers in many of them that will ruin the experience for you. Suffice it to say there's plenty of action, plenty of suspense. Of course, most any thriller or action novel today promises that; where Burke is unusual is in his ability to handle language. He writes like he's in love with language, and it's a pleasure to read him. Mickey Spillane once said about himself that he didn't write novels, he wrote books; Burke definitely writes novels, and extremely literate ones at that. He's one of a generation of novelists, along with Michael Connelly, James Hall, and Dennis Lehane, who have inherited the mantle of Raymond Chandler and wear it with pride; in Burke's case, he seems also to draw inspiration from William Faulkner. Robicheaux's a complex man, tortured by his own inadequacies and yet immensely strong simultaneously, and he's a prisoner of the dark, decaying Southern environment he was raised in. If you prefer simple action, plots, and characters like Mike Hammer or Robert Parker's Spenser, you'll surely think Burke is overwritten. But for a real literate treat, with an electric story, fantastic dialogue and descriptions, and characters you'll want to revisit, read Heaven's Prisoners. I almost never reread a fiction book, except by accident--there's just too much new stuff out there; but I deliberately read this one again, and enjoyed it just as much the second time.
Rating:
Summary: Worth Reading Twice
Review: I've read most of Burke's Dave Robicheaux series, and enjoyed them quite a bit. Heaven's Prisoners is one of the two best, the other being In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead. Mist is Burke at his most exotic--Dave's on an acid trip for a substantial part of the book; Heaven's Prisoners is Burke at his darkest. I'm unwilling to go into the plot; in fact I strongly urge you not to read further reviews as there are substantial spoilers in many of them that will ruin the experience for you. Suffice it to say there's plenty of action, plenty of suspense. Of course, most any thriller or action novel today promises that; where Burke is unusual is in his ability to handle language. He writes like he's in love with language, and it's a pleasure to read him. Mickey Spillane once said about himself that he didn't write novels, he wrote books; Burke definitely writes novels, and extremely literate ones at that. He's one of a generation of novelists, along with Michael Connelly, James Hall, and Dennis Lehane, who have inherited the mantle of Raymond Chandler and wear it with pride; in Burke's case, he seems also to draw inspiration from William Faulkner. Robicheaux's a complex man, tortured by his own inadequacies and yet immensely strong simultaneously, and he's a prisoner of the dark, decaying Southern environment he was raised in. If you prefer simple action, plots, and characters like Mike Hammer or Robert Parker's Spenser, you'll surely think Burke is overwritten. But for a real literate treat, with an electric story, fantastic dialogue and descriptions, and characters you'll want to revisit, read Heaven's Prisoners. I almost never reread a fiction book, except by accident--there's just too much new stuff out there; but I deliberately read this one again, and enjoyed it just as much the second time.
Rating:
Summary: Robicheaux's best
Review: If I could do it all again, I'd almost be tempted to read this book and not read any more of the Dave Robicheaux series, due to the incredible similarity of plots. In almost every novel, the trouble starts because Robicheaux finds something in a body of water, whether that be a bayou, a lake, an ocean, a pond, et cetera. Then all these interested parties start hounding Robicheaux because of what he's uncovered. However, this book remains the best in the series.In this entry, Robicheaux and his wife Annie witness a small single-engine plane crash into the water while they are out on their boat, and Robicheaux rescues the only survivor: a young girl of about toddler age. Soon after, he finds himself being hounded by INS representatives, a DEA agent, and some very unpleasant people who are interested in keeping the crash a secret. This book finds Robicheaux at his most hard-boiled, the plot is very much character driven, and it makes for an intriguing story all around. I would highly recommend this book, but only this book of the Dave Robicheaux series.
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Summary: Terrific writing,wonderful characters
Review: James lee Burke is one of thosed underrated masters of prose,forever delegated to second rung because of his genre. Heavens prisoners, the second in this series,is,in many ways, the best. Dave Robicheux, the alcoholic new Orleans cop,is out fishing when a single engine plane crashes into the lake,and everything changes.Mr. Burke's descriptions of alcoholic despair and rage are perhaps the finest,and least sentimental I have read. The violence is brutal and freakish in its intensity[as violence is],the dialogue is so well written that i feel for these characters,and want to read more. Though much Longer then Neon rain, the first entry,Mr. Burkes seems to hold the intensity through the narrative. From the lousiana locales to histroical comments on Cajuns, from Cletus Purcell{his sort of sidekick]to the suprising[at least for me] ending, Mr. Burke solidifes himself as one superb writer.And, fortunately, the series goes on ...
Rating:
Summary: Lyrical evocation of Southern Louisiana
Review: Readers expecting a standard detective novel will be amazed at the literary quality of Burke's characters and landscape. Even those who know nothing about Southern Louisiana or Cajun culture will feel that they have been there. The story is tautly constructed but the dialogue and descriptive passages are some of the best in the world of today's writers. Burke's use of colloquial names like the "four-corners" rather than the "crossroads" makes an individual place very real. It is very frustrating to Burke/Robicheaux fans that the movie, well cast, beautifully photographed, and with the same atmosphere as the book was caught up in Hollywood studio politics and when finally released after a lengthy delay received no advertizing or other promotion. Alec Baldwin's portrayal of Robicheaux gives all Burke readers a mental image to carry as they read all the other seven books about this complex literary character. James Lee Burke has also written a number of! books NOT about the Cajun detective and they are all worth a read and a re-read.
Rating:
Summary: Black as Swamp Water
Review: That James Lee Burke is one of the most talented writers of modern fiction cannot be denied. Few superlatives would exaggerate the power of his lyrical prose; the lucid images his words conjure. Burke's southern Louisiana bayous are no mere backdrops in which a mystery is dropped, but such forceful allegory that character and plot sometimes must play a secondary role to his poetry. But therein lies the problem - Burke's mood and moodiness, as reflected in the character of Dave Robicheaux, can eventually wear down even the most ardent Burke fan. Nowhere is this sense of despair and desperation more apparent than in "Heaven's Prisoners", the second in the Robicheaux series. Ostensibly a thriller/mystery involving a suspicious plane crash and Robicheaux's unofficial investigation of the forces behind it, this is really the tale of Robicheaux's (and Burke's, one would assume) internal struggles with alcoholism, guilt, self-doubt, and eventual revenge. In the Louisiana of "Heaven's Prisoners", it seems to rain only slightly less than in "Blade Runner", providing the perfect settings for the author's rather bleak outlook on culture, love, and the inequities of life in general. Bleeding heart liberalism is always lurking surreptitiously between the lines of Burke's fiction, though in this one, the cause of Burke's despair is less apparent. In summary, "Heaven's Prisoners" is an effort typical of Burke's superb literary skills, though not his finest. If the reader is looking for redemption as a reward of following Burke's meandering journey of self-pity and doubt, I fear that, like our hero Robicheaux, in the end will come up short.
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