The Tin Roof Blowdown by James Lee Burke

If Goldilocks had entered our house on a particular day in early August this holiday summer she would have found all six bears out (probably at the bear beach). If she had lain on our beds she would have found herself lying beside a non-new book left there by its absent occupant and current reader.



Junior Teenage Bear was reading THE HOST by Stephanie Meier (pub 2008).

Senior Teenage Bear was reading THE UNFORTUNATES by Laurie Graham (pub 2002),

Mother Bear was reading PIGS IN HEAVEN by Barbara Kingsolver (pub 1993).

Father Bear was reading BORKMAN'S POINT by Hakan Nesser (pub 1994 Sweden, 2006 England).

Grandmother Bear was reading THE COLOUR by ROSE TREMAIN (pub 2003).



Grandfather Bear was reading THE TIN ROOF BLOWDOWN pub.2007

by James Lee Burke,

This latest story by James Lee Burke describes Hurricane Katrina's impact on New Orleans followed by Hurricane Rita's on Texas/ Louisiana. There are vivid scenes of violence and squalor as the characters wade through floodwater and crimes too horrible to dwell on. There is beauty too always near in the tropical colour, sound and mood.

Detective David Robicheaux, fights his own instincts as well as criminals, trying to keep his self-respect alongside his strong wife and tough, adopted daughter. His loyalty to his violent friend Clete continually adds distractions to his workload, both public and private, in clearing up the mess of crime in the chaos made by the violence of the hurricanes and the looters. Through Robicheaux, Burke has plenty to say about political neglect and the conflict of factions in this part of the USA.
In the end though Robicheaux's public and private agendas coalesce through his friend Clete as they often did in the other books. If you have never read Burke's books before you have a great treat coming to you: strong on location in Louisiana (and Montana with his character Billy Bob Holland). Colour, crime, quirky characters and relationships give his books a grip on you that may not let you go. You will be in danger of returning often to New Iberia.

My grateful thanks go to Father Bear (above, reading an Icelandic author) who first introduced me to current American writers such as James Lee Burke (reviewed above), Elmore Leonard and James Ellroy. Would anyone like to send me a review of a book by one of these writers?

Please note the double value you get from this website: not just Goldilocks and the Three Bears. In my version there are SIX bears.

Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian, 1970, Harper-Collins and 19 more books in the series

The first book of a marvellous series of 20 historical novels based on British records of actual events involving the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. Excellently described elsewhere, these books are ones that I often return to. They are full of incident, character, the social and intellectual attitudes of the times on land as well as sea, and using the language of the times. O'Brian's wide-ranging research into the sciences of the time particularly Botany and into the practice of Medicine when 'bleeding' was still considered a treatment, and into the historical settings of the time in Australia, Mauritius, Chile and Peru, France, Spain as well as England bring a great feeling of confidence in the content and delight in its variety throughout the series of books. O'Brian was brought to a wider audience by the film starring Russell Crowe, which used content from three books of the series and the title of the first book.

I remember years ago, around 1996 perhaps, waiting to read the next of the series as soon as it was published. These would have been: The Commodore, The Yellow Admiral, The Hundred Days, and finally Blue at the Mizzen. O'Brian died in January, 2000 aged 85.

The esoteric terminology of all the paraphernalia of ships with sails is also present but you may, if you wish, be as impatient with it as one of the main characters, Stephen Maturin, the surgeon, as there is so much more to relish. Master and Commander Jack Aubrey is an action man who also plays the violin,

No Great Mischief by Alastair McLeod

A family of MacDonalds leaves the Highlands in 1779 lead by Calum MacDonald headed for Cape Breton. Their descendants spread across Eastern Canada. In the 1980s one of the red-haired clan loses his parents in a remarkable episode when they are returning home across frozen water at night. He is brought up by his grandparents. The story brings out the reputation of a hardy set of redheads capable of handling the rough life of the former wilderness mastered by their ancestors. The writer refers to the rebellion of the Scots in 1745 led by 'Bonnie Prince Charlie' and their eventual defeat at Culloden in 1746 where a Lieutenant Wolfe was a participant on the side of the English.

In 1759, General Wolfe captured Quebec from the French in a famous victory and at one point sent in the Highlanders from his army with the comment that it would be 'no great mischief if they were to fall' - see title of book!

This is a story of people's pride both in their heritage and in the future of their new country which they helped grow to independence. Highly recommended, nine out of ten.

The Russia House by John Le Carré, c 1989, Hodder and Stoughton

This is an enjoyable read even if you don't have much interest in the Cold War and how the ice melted in great power relations through perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness) in the Russia of President Gorbachev. This is because the book is largely dialogue: a kind of courtroom questioning. Whether Barley, the charming Englishman, is being grilled about his integrity by representatives of American military or exchanging remarks with the beautiful Katya, there is a search for information, and the revelation of character going on through the dialogue all the time. If you think of how you talked to someone you fancied in the intial stages of your relationship you are on the right lines. If you remember how alert you became when you heard him or her mention another name that you thought might be a rival, you will have the basic idea. You want to find out more but not reveal your jealousy.

In Moscow, Leningrad, London or on an island off the coast near Boston in USA, and at a publishing exhibition, a party, in a one-to-one conversation, there is excitement in whether the spy-hunters will pick through to the truth under the plausible. And behind it all is an intriguing love story,

War and Peace, Book III, by Leo Tolstoy (Reader - Beware of Spoilers)

So, as you probably guessed that Andrew and Natasha's wedlock does not happen. Natasha is able to nurse the wounded Andrew on a journey out of Moscow and he forgives her for her escapade with Anatole Kaguine but dies in her arms, of course. Peter Bezukov goes through a period of depression, at one time consumed by a plan to personally shoot Napoleon, but rediscovers his good nature while surviving as a prisoner of the French on their retreat from Moscow.
Kutuzov, the old Marshall, after Borodino, manages to avoid another battlefield confrontation with the French as he believes that the invading army will waste itself without the need for another battle. The Tsar too is urged to depend on smaller skirmishes to finally remove the invaders. Nicolas leaves his regiment on the death of his father in order to restore order to the family's affairs by developing his lands in a profitable way with Maria and her fortune beside him.
Peter marries Natasha and scenes of domestic family life return to the story. The final section of the book, the Epilogue, sees Tolstoy put forward his view that individuals cannot manage chaotic events which change history (change established cultural patterns?). Such events are the product of numerous forces at work in people's lives.