The plot is complex and the action is robust. Burke creates rich, intricate characters and treats them with immense compassion. He writes prose passages that are as compelling as those of any other writer working in America today.

James Lee Burke is the author of nineteen novels, including eleven featuring detective Dave Robicheaux. Burke grew up on the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana, where he now lives with his wife Pearl and spends several months of the year in Montana.

With the shards of his broken life, Cajun detective Dave Robicheaux has rejoined the police force in New Iberia. His partner is dead, shot during the bloody escape attempt of a death-row inmate, which severely injured Robicheaux and revived the spirit of his tortured, violent past.