Audiobook14 hours
Jolie Blon's Bounce
Written by James Lee Burke
Narrated by Mark Hammer
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
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About this audiobook
Dave Robicheaux is back in this powerful New York Times bestseller that takes him into the underbelly of New Iberia’s mafia to solve the brutal murder of two teenage girls.
When a beautiful teenage girl is killed, New Iberia police detective Dave Robicheaux senses that the most likely suspect, Tee Bobby Hulin, is not the actual killer. Though a drug addict and general neer-do-well, Hulin just doesn’t fit the profile for this kind of crime. He’s a Cajun blues singer (one of his songs is titled “Jolie Blon’s Bounce”), and he’s been raised by his grandmother Ladice Hulin, a proud and strong-willed black woman.
But when there’s another, similar murder—this victim a drugged-out prostitute who happens to be the daughter of one of the local mafia bigwigs—the cries for an arrest become too loud to ignore. The mafia figure, however, prefers to take matters in his own hand and sets out to find—and punish—the killer himself. Once again, Tee Bobby Hulin seems the most likely suspect.
Added to the mix of characters on the good guy side of the balance sheet is Clete Purcel, a long-time buddy of Robicheaux’s and a confirmed boozer and womanizer. Coming to New Iberia for a visit, Clete is quickly drawn into the struggle between the various forces of evil in the town: Jimmy Dean Styles, a black man intent on maintaining his empire of corruption; Joe Zeroski, a trailer-park mafioso with palatial aspirations—and of course Legion Guidrey, the devil incarnate.
When a beautiful teenage girl is killed, New Iberia police detective Dave Robicheaux senses that the most likely suspect, Tee Bobby Hulin, is not the actual killer. Though a drug addict and general neer-do-well, Hulin just doesn’t fit the profile for this kind of crime. He’s a Cajun blues singer (one of his songs is titled “Jolie Blon’s Bounce”), and he’s been raised by his grandmother Ladice Hulin, a proud and strong-willed black woman.
But when there’s another, similar murder—this victim a drugged-out prostitute who happens to be the daughter of one of the local mafia bigwigs—the cries for an arrest become too loud to ignore. The mafia figure, however, prefers to take matters in his own hand and sets out to find—and punish—the killer himself. Once again, Tee Bobby Hulin seems the most likely suspect.
Added to the mix of characters on the good guy side of the balance sheet is Clete Purcel, a long-time buddy of Robicheaux’s and a confirmed boozer and womanizer. Coming to New Iberia for a visit, Clete is quickly drawn into the struggle between the various forces of evil in the town: Jimmy Dean Styles, a black man intent on maintaining his empire of corruption; Joe Zeroski, a trailer-park mafioso with palatial aspirations—and of course Legion Guidrey, the devil incarnate.
Author
James Lee Burke
James Lee Burke is a New York Times bestselling author, two-time winner of the Edgar Award, and the recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts in Fiction. He has authored forty novels and two short story collections. He lives in Missoula, Montana.
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Reviews for Jolie Blon's Bounce
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
36 ratings11 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is my symbolic entry for all the Dave R novels. Pulp fiction with a heart, a lovely turn of phrase, and an appallingly endearing anti-hero. When I should be reading some trenchant political biography, I often sneak off instead into the World of Dave. That's as confessional as I will ever be in an on-line forum.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fantastic book up until the end. A little bit of air letting out of the balloon but otherwise a quick and fun read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I love visiting New Iberia and the Lake Pontrachain areas, and all i have to do is ead Burke. David Robincheaux and Clete, his buddy,k really seem to be the same person. Burke hasn't been able to differentiate each from the other as MacDonald does with McGee and Meyer. Burke can create peersonalities, however, and i continue to wonder whyhe does change out Cletes for someone maybe a little more sophisicated (sophistication is not often shown in these Burke books, and when it is, it is sardonically lampooned). Plot is good, twisting and continuouis and i cannot lay the book down, but the continual presence of Clete keep the Robencheaux series on a four-star level.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One of Burke's better Robicheaux novels (They are all at the very least good). Another almost other-worldy bad guy crosses paths with Dave as he tries to solve a couple of brutal murders. Full of the sights and sounds of southern Louisiana w sharp insights on its human denizens and their culture. Some of the situations and characters developed a little fast and throwing in the mystery vet and death by lightning of Legion stretched it a bit. Still a very good book.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A horrendous murder shocks even the depths of the bayou country as Dave Robicheaux fights his own demons while trying to find the killer of teen Amanda Boudreau. Other killings come into murky view, complicating the search. Quirky, dark characters abound -- somehow they're as scary as Carl Hiassen's Florida denizens are bizaare.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I've been a fan of the Dave Robicheaux books for a long, long time now, and this is one of Burke's best. Burke's not afraid to explore evil; even his heroes have darkness and violence in them that bubbles to the surface more often than I expect. But that violence is usually there for a reason: VietNam flashbacks, deep poverty, victimization, racism. In this book though, there's a man called Legion, and like the Biblical demon of that name, he's pure evil. I may have nightmares about him for a few days.I'd like to tell you that everything works out in the end of this book, but that's not always Burke's way. He's realistic about the deeply entrenched racism and poverty that hold sway in Louisiana, and he's not always optimistic that something that deep can ever be overcome. There was a quote early on in this book that stuck in my head, and I'm having a hard time coming to terms with it: I came to learn early on that no venal or meretricious enterprise existed without a community's consent.I'll be chewing on that for a while, I think.If you can stomach hardboiled mysteries with a tortured hero who makes mistakes, I definitely recommend Burke's books. He's a marvelous writer, and Louisiana is as much a character in these stories as Dave or Clete Purcel or Batist. He's been called the Faulkner of detective fiction, and I understand why; the comparisons are evident both in his themes and in the quality of his storytelling. But these are not books for the faint of heart. Be prepared.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I think Burke is one of our finest writers.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5So I got through this, but it took forever. There is not one likeable or good person in this book. The language in which it was written is so harsh. The life in this area is brutal and awful things happen all the time. It was really a grinding and extremely violent story. Legion was just awful, but in a visceral way. He brutalized and humiliated everyone around him. Not just the black women that worked under his authority on a plantation, but everyone around him. He was in his 70s but he trounced everyone who tried to cross him. Guns under restaurant tables, truncheons and saps ? he was prepared. It was awful. And even the ?good guys? were kind of awful. Dave is an alcoholic who resorts to violence whenever policy couldn?t work. His buddy, and ex cop, Clete is equally awful. Then there were a bunch of other people who were just brutal and had no class and lived hand to mouth. I can?t explain it. It was depressing.Turned out that while Tee Bobby didn?t do the actual deed, he stood by while someone else killed one woman. The other was killed by a traveling bible salesman, but he wasn?t convicted. I was expecting Legion to have a huge revenge scheme do away with his ass, but no. Dave and the mysterious drifter who claims he was the medic that saved Dave?s life in Vietnam, chase Legion into a swamp and he is struck by lightning. Damn ? ripped off! I wanted greater satisfaction. I wanted him to pay. He was a gross, degenerate and cruel man. He should have paid more than just getting struck by lightning.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was my first read in this series; apparently this is book 12. It stood alone as far as I can tell, and I enjoyed the voice of the Louisiana setting. Listening to it on audio brought the flavor of the south right to me, some of the good ol' boy mentality of many of the characters was appalling. The narrator did a fabulous job bringing the characters to life.The story is around rape and murder. Someone is accused, but Dave Robicheaux, the main character, isn't sure they've got the right guy. The more he digs, the more tangled things become.I enjoyed it, but the end did have a bit of deux ex machina to wrap things up. A little too quick after the big set-up of the whole story. It seemed a bit forced as if Burke just wanted to be done with the story.It held my attention.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Two women are raped and murdered; a singer is accused and was present but didn't do it; another character, Legion, is so evil he could be Satan.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Best one of the series so far. I loved it