JOLIE BLON'S BOUNCE

Listening to Mark Hammer reading Burke's twelfth novel about Cajun cop Dave Robicheaux, it's easy to imagine you're on the shore of Bayou Teche, hearing a weathered cop tell of past adventures. The story is powerful, poignant, and spellbinding as Hammer relates Robicheaux's investigation of a series of rape-murders, his attempt to prove the innocence of a young blues singer with a drug habit, and his encounter with a man called "Legion," who may or may not be the biblical Prince of Evil. The author provides a brief introduction to the novel, which flows into the melody of Harry Choates's 1946 Cajun hit "Jolie Blonde." With a deliberate pace, Hammer pulls us in, capturing Robicheaux's spiritual exhaustion yet compelling us to hang on his every word. S.E.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 02]