*****
Background info: Dave - an investigator for the Sheriff's Department in New Iberia, Louisiana - has had a rough life.
Dave's mother deserted the family when he was a child and his father was killed in an oil rig explosion. As a young man Dave witnessed unspeakable horrors during the Vietnam War, after which he became a cop in New Orleans - a city rife with mobsters, gambling, prostitution, drugs, loan sharks, money laundering, extortion, murder, and so on.
In his job, Dave met criminals of all kinds, including: street thugs; mobsters; sociopaths; psychopaths.....and rich, entitled 'bluebloods' who would do anything for money and power. Dave rose through the police ranks to become a homicide detective and eventually left New Orleans for New Iberia - where he lives in a modest home adjacent to a bayou.
Dave's first wife Annie was murdered and his second wife Bootsie - with whom he adopted an El Salvadoran daughter named Alafair - died from lupus. These hardships exacerbated Dave's depression, nightmares, and alcoholism. Even when he's not drinking, Dave sees ghosts of Civil War soldiers who died near his home.
Dave's best friend is Clete Purcel, a fellow Vietnam vet who was Dave's partner in the New Orleans Police Department. The buddies, both of whom are smart and tough, call themselves the 'Bobsey Twins.'
Clete's inability to follow rules got him kicked off the police force, and he became a private investigator/bail bondsman. Clete works for gangsters; eats to excess; drinks too much; falls for the wrong women; and uses violence (and worse) against his enemies. Clete is close to Dave's family and would give his life for them.
*****
In "A Private Cathedral" Dave Robicheaux gets involved with two wealthy and influential families who are evil incarnate. The Balangie and Shondell dynasties - both of whom have vast criminal empires - have lived in southern Louisiana for hundreds of years.
The two clans have always been mortal enemies, and manage to co-exist in part by the medieval practice of exchanging young daughters for 'marriage'.....or sex.
Dave considers this archaic practice human trafficking and is incensed to learn that 17-year-old Isolde Balangie is being given to the patriarch of the Shondell family - the scuzzball Mark Shondell. The situation is further complicated by the fact that Mark Shondell's nephew Johnny Shondell - a talented young musician - has fallen in love with Isolde, who sings like an angel.
Dave can't abide Isolde being gifted to a dirtbag and the detective confronts all the major players in the deal: Isolde's stepfather and mother, Adonis and Penelope Balangie;
Mark Shondell;
And Isolde and Johnny themselves.
EVERYONE tells Dave that he doesn't understand and to mind his own business.
Nevertheless Dave inserts himself into the middle of the fray, drawing his best friend Clete Purcell into the imbroglio - and the Bobsey Twins have physical altercations with Adonis Balangie and Mark Shondell. It's bad to get on the wrong side of the Balangies or the Shondells at any time, but even worse now because Mark Shondell has literally made a deal with the devil.
Mark has a nefarious right-wing plan to ensure the triumph of the 'Nordic' race. To advance this goal Mark is in league with a cruel and vicious 'man' called Gideon Richetti.
Richetti looks like a snake, moves through time, tortures and kills people, and travels on a mystical slave ship that slips in and out of the dimension we inhabit.
To further his political scheme Mark Shondell has engineered the release of convict Marcel Laforchette from Angola prison, and hired him as a gardener.
Dave knows there MUST be an agenda here because Laforchette helped murder Mark's relative years ago, presumably at the behest of the Balangies. So why would Mark help this criminal?
Dave tries to live a good life and do right, but he's a troubled guy. Dave is plagued by memories of war; has alcoholic longings; and is profoundly lonely. In addition, Dave is rankled by environmental destruction; hates racists and misogynists; and loathes sinister people who enrich themselves at the expense of others. To top it off, Dave has to deal with demonic Richetti and his slave ship, which Dave wishes weren't real.
To find some comfort, Dave gets involved with Adonis Balangie's beautiful wife Penelope and his beautiful mistress Leslie Rosenberg.
Dave also tries to ease his soul by talking to Father Julian Hebert (pronounced a-bear).
Hebert is an eccentric priest who wears casual clothes; tells people to call him Julian; supports gay rights; and discourages people from enjoying dog-and-cockfights; drive-through daiquiri windows; cage fights; strip bars; porn theaters; and casinos. This righteousness irks the Balangies and Shondells and makes him unpopular with local bigots and peckerwoods.
Dave and Clete get into grave trouble with the Balangies and Shondells, as does Father Hebert, and all their lives are put into serious jeopardy. The book's climax, where all this comes to head, is hair-raising and compelling.
Author James Lee Burke is a master of descriptive writing and pens riveting word pictures of sun and sky; sunrises and sunsets;
Bayous and swamps;
Greaseballs and fashionistas; good deeds and bad deeds; crab burgers and fried catfish po'boys;
Whiskey drinks and sodas with crushed ice, cherries, and sliced oranges; and so on.
Burke is also a philosopher, with many thoughts about both history and current times.
I'm a big fan of Burke's 'Dave Robicheaux' series but I wish he'd take his plots in a different direction. In every book Dave faces up to at least one evil family and there's always an ill-conceived relationship with a woman, either by Dave or Clete. I'd like to see the Bobsey Twins do something different for a change.
Still, I enjoyed the book and recommend it to fans of the series.
Thanks to Netgalley, the author (James Lee Burke) and the publisher (Simon and Shuster) for a copy of the book.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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