James Lee Burke's Burning Angel was so-so. Usual cast of thousands—okay, that’s an exaggeration, but I still resent any book where I have to work to keep track of which lowlife character is which, except, of course, in Russian novels where you know from the start that keeping track of characters, all of whom have a minimum of three names, is part of the game.
Anyway, Burning Angel presented the usual number of organized crime members, shady characters, police officers and private investigators. On the plus side it also threw in dissipated members of old Southern families, offspring of blacks who been slaves for those families, and a healthy dose of miscegenation.
After Burning Angel though, I have to admit becoming impressed with how Burke makes history an active part of all his stories. In Burning Angel it's the emotional scars suffered by those who served in Vietman and the always-present and lingering effects of slavery. At one point Burke makes reference to the Faulkner quote: "The past is never dead. It's not even past." In fact, IMHO, that theme is as alive in Burke's Robicheaux novels as it is in those of Faulkner.
