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THE GLASS RAINBOW
by James Lee Burke
Simon & Schuster, July 2010
433 pages
$25.99
ISBN: 1439128294


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Dave Robicheaux, a deputy sheriff for Iberia Parish, Louisiana, has just returned from a trip to Montana, only to find a grievous crime spree in front of him, one involving the rape and mutilation of seven local women. Although many of the victims resided outside his area of responsibility, Dave finds himself pulled into the case because of the plight of two of the victims. Unlike the other five, these were people who had led good lives. In particular, Dave is moved by the senseless death of Bernadette Latiolais who had overcome tremendous poverty to make something of her life.

But THE GLASS RAINBOW doesn't really focus on the investigation of these murders. Instead, a large part of the narrative is devoted to two threads: Dave's adopted daughter Alafair's serious relationship with Kermit Abelard, the author of historical novels and the son of a powerful robber baron; and the ongoing self-destructive behavior of his best friend and former partner, Clete Purcel. Alafair is working on a book of her own, and Kermit and his oily friend, Robert Weingart, are helping her find a publisher. Weingart is an ex-con and best-selling author. Needless to say, Dave has no use for any of these people, which leads to huge conflict with Alafair, who feels that Dave is trying to control her life. Weingard in particular is a reprehensible character, closely followed by Kermit's father.

The Clete Purcel situation is really the main plot thread of the book. Clete is an alcoholic and borderline sociopath. He almost kills another evil local, Herman Stanga; and Dave tries to help him avoid incarceration. When Stanga is murdered, Clete is the obvious suspect. He also becomes involved with a nearby parish sheriff, Emma Poche; of course, that doesn't end well either.

Although I wanted to like THE GLASS RAINBOW, I found the book quite unsatisfying. Its pages are peopled with a large number of unlikable characters, which at times included several of the main characters. Both Alafair and Clete are quite inconsistent. On the one hand, Alafair finds Dave to be overwhelmingly controlling and irrational about her relationship choices; on the other, she touts him as about the finest man on the planet. That portrayal seemed very forced. Clete and Dave have a long-standing and unbreakable bond with one another; but there were many instances where one or the other of them pushed the relationship to its limits. Clete is depicted as a man with many demons, one who could easily kill a man if he felt the situation required it. Yet, he is also painted as a kind of "noble savage," a man whose loyalty and caring for his friend redeems all of his bad behavior.

Ultimately, what made the book one that I didn't much like was the character of Dave. Throughout the book, he is operating under non-stop rage. There is no warmth anywhere in the book, other than in a few passages dealing with the unfortunate victim, Bernadette. Dave's wife, Molly, is barely mentioned; the scenes between them seem perfunctory and lacking in affection.

I'm sure that the dedicated fans of James Lee Burke will love THE GLASS RAINBOW. There's no denying that Burke writes beautifully; but for me the book was fatally flawed, mostly because of the heavy-handed characterization. I found it to be a real downer.

§ Formerly a training development manager for a large company, Maddy is now retired and continues to enable the addiction of crime fiction fans as owner of the online discussion group, 4 Mystery Addicts(4MA), while avidly reading in every possible free moment herself.

Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, August 2010

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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