Product Description <br/>Detective Dave Robicheaux is facing the most painful and dangerous case of his career. A troubled young woman breezes into his hometown of New Iberia, Louisiana. She happens to be the daughter of Robicheaux's onetime best friend -- a friend he witnessed gunned down in a bank robbery, a tragedy that forever changed Robicheaux's life.<br/> In "Pegasus Descending, " James Lee Burke again explores psyches as much as evidence, and tries to make sense of human behavior as well as of his characters' crimes. Richly atmospheric, frightening in its sudden violence, and replete with the sort of puzzles only the best crime fiction creates, Burke's latest novel is an unforgettable roller coaster of passion, surprise, and regret.<br/> The twists begin when Trish Klein -- the only offspring of Robicheaux's Vietnam-era buddy -- starts passing marked hundred-dollar bills in local casinos. Is she a good kid gone bad? A victim's child seeking revenge? A promiscuous beauty seducing everyone good within her grasp? And how does her behavior relate to the apparent suicide of another "good" girl, an ace student named Yvonne Darbonne, who apparently participated in a college frat orgy before her death?<br/> Can Robicheaux make his peace with the demons that have haunted him since his friend's murder so many years ago? Can he figure out how a local mobster fits into all the schemes and deaths? Can Robicheaux's life be whole again when it has been shattered by so much tragedy?<br/> Once again, Burke proves why he is the virtual poet laureate of southern Louisiana, and why his novels, especially those featuring Dave Robicheaux, stand as brilliant literature and entertainment for our time.<br/> From Publishers Weekly <br/>Drawing on classical antecedents, bestseller Burke peoples his 15th Dave Robicheaux novel (after 2004's<br/>Crusader's Cross) with his usual assortment of near mythic characters, demonstrating how our everyday lives are beset with age-old, universal dilemmas. New Iberia, La., detective Dave Robicheaux, for whom redemption has become a lifelong pursuit, suits up once again to tilt against villains both real and in his own troubled psyche. Twenty-five years earlier, the young alcohol-soaked cop witnessed his friend and fellow Vietnam vet, Dallas Klein, executed by a group of cold-blooded thugs. He was unable to intercede because he was plastered. Now, a young grifter who may be the victim's daughter, Trish Klein, has appeared in New Iberia, passing counterfeit money and baiting Whitey Bruxal, the aging mobster responsible for Dallas's death. Meanwhile, Dave investigates the apparent suicide of pretty young co-ed Yvonne Darbonne. Are the two cases linked? Dave thinks so, and he enlists longtime loose-cannon sidekick Clete Purcel to prove it. With peerless naturalistic descriptions and lush, metaphysical imagery, Burke creates another challenging morality play for his flawed, everyman hero.<br/>(July)<br/>Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.<br/> Review <br/>"Burke can touch you in ways few writers can."<br/> -- "The Washington Post""America's best novelist." <br/> -- "The Denver Post"<br/> About the Author <br/>James Lee Burke is a<br/>New York Times bestselling author, two-time winner of the Edgar Award, and the recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship for Creative Arts in Fiction. A legend of the mystery genre, he's authored thirty-two novels and two short story collections including<br/>Robicheaux,<br/>Light of the World, <br/>Creole Belle,<br/>Swan Peak,<br/>The Tin Roof Blowdown, and<br/>Feast Day of Fools. He lives in Misoula, Montana.<br/><br/>Will Patton's numerous film credits include<br/> Remember the Titans,<br/>The Punisher,<br/>The Mothman Prophesies,<br/>Armageddon, and<br/>The Spitfire Grill. He starred in the TNT miniseries<br/>Into the West and on the CBS series<br/>The Agency, and won Obie Awards in the theater for his performances in<br/>Fool for Love and<br/>What Did He See.<br/> From AudioFile <br/>Louisiana Sheriff's Deputy Dave Robicheau