Purple Cane Road

A Dave Robicheaux Novel, Book 11

By: James Lee Burke

Narrated by: Nick Sullivan

Dave Robicheaux has spent his life confronting the age-old adage that the sins of the father pass on to the son. But what was his mother's legacy? Dead to him since his youth, Mae Guillory has been shuttered away in the deep recesses of Robicheaux's mind. He's lived with the fact that he would never really know what happened to the woman who left him to the devices of a whiskey-driven father. But deep down, Dave still feels the loss of his mother and knows that the infinite series of disappointments in her life could not have come to a good end.

While helping out an old friend, Dave is stunned when a pimp looks at him sideways and asks if he is the son of Mae Guillory, the whore a bunch of cops murdered 30 years ago. Her body was dumped in the bayou bordering Purple Cane Road, and the cops who left her there are still on the job.

Dave's search for his mother's killers leads him to the darker places in his past, and solving this case teaches him what it means to be his mother's son. Purple Cane Road has the dimensions of a classic - passion, murder, and nearly heartbreaking poignancy - wrapped in a wonderfully executed plot that surprises from start to finish.

©2000 James Lee Burke (P)2012 Simon & Schuster Audio

Best story since the first 2 or 3 in the series

Terrible choice for a narrator. I had to force myself to listen to the first couple of chapters before I could get used to his voice enough to even begin to picture Dave. I'm glad other reviewers commented on the quality of the story. It was worth pushing through instead of skipping forward to the next book because the story was indeed excellent. Much better than the last 4 or 5. I did look first to see who would be narrating the rest of the series. I would have abandoned Dave if narrator wasn't changing back. And I was delighted to see that even Will Patton soon returns to finish out the series. He is by far the best Dave.

ok story, bad narration.

The story was ok, the narration was horrid. I wish I had read this one and not listened.

Great Story - WRONG Narrator

How did the narrator detract from the book?

This narrator did not relate to the characters being read. AT.ALL. The narration is rushed and has none of the cadence or personality of the southern Louisiana dialect. It greatly distracted from one of the best stories in the series. My brain kept trying to disconnect from the reading.

Hard to put down a JLB book once you start.

Not quite as good a listen as Will Patton.
But he has almost become Robicheaux.

Nice story spoiled by poor narration ...

After enjoying the first block of novels in the series read by Mark Hammer ... this was a disappointment.

The pronunciations, the patterning, the loss of the characters voices really spoiled this book for me.

Loved the book and the reader

If Mark Hammer or Will Patton had narrated this, I'd probably not have written a review; they are great with Burke's Robicheaux series. I almost didn't get this one because of the negative reviews of Nick Sullivan's narration. However, I did and I was not disappointed, either by the story or by the narration. Sullivan's voice is deep and smooth and left me wanting more. I thought he did an excellent job, given that the accents that Burke's characters would naturally possess would pose a challenge to any reader. Personally, Nick Sullivan gets my five stars!

Catching-Up to The Purple Cane Road (2)

There are actually two Books, in this one book.

"Catching-Up to the Purple Cane Road"
"The Purple Cane Road"
I have been told, that listening to these
audiobooks too much is depressing.

Agree with previous review - wrong narrator

If you could sum up Purple Cane Road in three words, what would they be?

I love this series and this is the first one I have been annoyed by the narrator who fails to capture the richness of the language - both written and spoken. I am disappointed in the narration but never the author nor the story.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Dave, of course

Would you be willing to try another one of Nick Sullivan’s performances?

Not for this author - but may be good for someone else

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

That is impossible - but as with all Burke books, love the story

Narrator is all wrong

Would you try another book from James Lee Burke and/or Nick Sullivan?

I love James Lee Burke, his stories are great and the descriptions of his home territory paint beautiful pictures.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Purple Cane Road?

not finished yet, I'll keep listening, but I really considered skipping this one and going on to the next one in the series.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Nick Sullivan?

Will Patton or Mark Hammer were good, Nick Sullivan, I'm sure is a fine narrator, but he is not Dave Robicheaux, and the accent of the other characters was all wrong..more "island" than south Louisiana

Was Purple Cane Road worth the listening time?

tell ya later

horrible narration

the book was great, the narration was horrific. i hope nick sullivan does not narrate many books he does a great disservice to James Lee Burke