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Dave Robicheaux has always been a man haunted by his past, and never more so than in PEGASUS DESCENDING. More than 20 years after the event, he is still experiencing strong guilt about not preventing the murder of a good friend, Dallas Klein, who was mowed down by mob types. Dave witnessed the event, but was unable to do anything about it because he was completely drunk at the time. When Klein's daughter shows up almost at his doorstep, the guilt comes back in full force. Trish Klein appears to be a chip off the old block; she's passing stolen hundred dollar bills and has strong connections to some of the local gambling joints. Surprisingly, she establishes an even stronger connection with Dave's best friend Clete Purcel who, against all odds, seems to have fallen completely in love with the much younger Trish. Trish is just a side note for the main case that Robicheaux is investigating, the suicide of a young woman named Yvonne Darbonne. Although Yvonne seemed to have a good head on her shoulders, she was associating with a fast crowd. Her autopsy shows indications of a gang rape. And although she was not known to be a drinker or drug user, her system also shows evidence of both. The more Dave digs into things, the closer he comes to indicting some of the more powerful movers and shakers in the area and putting himself and his loved ones in danger. And sometimes the source of that danger is Dave himself. These aren't the only cases that Dave is working on. There's the murder of a young man with connections, likely by a surly young black man who has more redeeming characteristics than almost anyone else that Dave interacts with, in spite of his declivity toward evil. Even the case of the hit-and-run death of a homeless man is not so clear-cut as it first seems. It's tempting when trying to describe Burke's books to fall back on a thesaurus of adjectives for exceptional, evocative and lyrical. Suffice it to say that Burke is probably the master of descriptive writing. At various points in the book, the reader is forced to sit back and relish the way that he puts words on the page. Whether he is describing a setting or the motivations of one of the characters, his prose sings. But never fear, if that sounds too heavy Burke also includes humorous elements that help lighten up the darkness. In this book, it's the appearance of a klutzy FBI agent named Betsy Mossbacher, straight from Chugwater, Wyoming, who befuddles Dave with her frankness and annoys the heck out of his boss, on whose carpet she tracks her cow-patty defiled boots. Dave Robicheaux is the epitome of the flawed hero, ever fighting his own demons while championing those who aren't able to fight for themselves. His failures and his successes for himself and for others plus the sheer magnificence of Burke's writing are what make this series one of the most loved by mystery readers. It's rare to find an author who is able to deliver the complete package in the way that Burke does -- realistic characters who grow and change from book to book, well-crafted dialogue, complex plots that are believable and play out logically and settings that are lushly drawn. And PEGASUS DESCENDING is James Lee Burke at his best, which means pure joy for fans of this series.
Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, August 2006
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