Whatever you choose to do, whoever you choose to be, you’ll neither be completely virtuous or completely evil. The Tin Roof Blowndown explores the layered moral landscape of lawlessness. His actions are echoed by those of a man named Otis Baylor, who seemingly decided to take advantage of the ongoing chaos in order to avenge the rape of his daughter and Sidney Kovick, a man who doesn’t believe in law and order. But the notions of good and bad aren’t clear anymore. Robicheaux’s a recovering alcoholic and somewhat of a square in a brutal world, so keeping promises and oaths is very important for him. Dave Robicheaux decided to stay in flooded territory in order to get Eddy and Bertrand Melancon off the street, which would make him the good guy. In that particular setting, a person’s values and morals are the only rampart between order and chaos. The pandemonium caused in Louisiana by hurricane Katrina caused a failure of local social systems: cops ran away to higher ground, hospitals were flooded and destroyed.

It explores themes of survival and lawlessness, which are integral to the Western genre. The Tin Roof Blowdown is a genre-bending novel with elements of noir, Southern Gothic and (most important) Western.

Events that will threaten Robicheaux and the people he loves. The Melancon brothers are thieves and rapists, but they have picked the wrong number at scumbag lottery and set in motion events bigger than themselves. Set in the midst of hurricane Katrina, Burke’s iconic detective is investigating the shooting of two lowlifes who the local authorities were after. The Tin Roof Blowdown is the sixteenth novel in James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux series. I’ve read Burke’s The Tin Roof Blowdown because it was a hurricane Katrina novel first, but it ended up shining a new light on the Caravaggio of crime fiction for me. Little did I know, it takes patience and maturity to appreciate the most intricate paintings. James Lee Burke’s luscious and introspective fiction is another acquired taste I did not particularly indulge either until I discovered the joys of True Detective.

Personally, I’ve developed a taste for liquor, Leonard Cohen and European football when grey hair first landed on my chin. There are some things you need to reach a certain age to appreciate. * Follow me on: Facebook - Twitter - Instagram *

The tin roof blowdown james lee burke