james lee burkes second robicheaux novel takes the detective out of new orleans and into the bayou as he seeks a quieter lifevietnam vet dave robicheaux has turned in his detectives badge is winning his battle against booze and has left new orleans with his wife for the tranquil beauty of louisianas bayous but a plane crash on the gulf brings a young girl into his lifeand with her comes a netherworld of murder deception and homegrown crime suddenly robicheaux is confronting bubba rocque a brutal hood hes known since childhood rocques hungry cajun wife and a federal agent with more guts than sense in a backwater world where a swagger and a gun go further than the law robicheaux and those he loves are caught on a tide of violence far bigger than them all