Part of Dave Robicheaux, book 16
First published 2008
Hurricane Katrina has transformed New Orleans into a lawless wasteland. Detective Dave Robicheaux navigates the flooded streets where looters roam freely and violence explodes without warning. Four criminals have stolen a rescue boat from a drug-addicted former priest during the storm's peak. They used the chaos to steal a gangster's secret cash stash. The city Robicheaux knows and loves lies in ruins around him. Normal police work means nothing when society itself has collapsed. He must track the thieves through a landscape where survival trumps law and order has vanished completely. The detective faces a choice between following proper procedure and creating his own form of justice. In this drowned city where revenge flows as easily as the floodwater, Robicheaux alone can penetrate the broken core of New Orleans to restore some measure of right and wrong.
Genres: fiction, mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: anti-hero, moral-ambiguity, vigilante-justice
Setting: New Orleans
Period: 21st-century
528 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Pocket Books
Content warnings: violence