詹姆斯•李•伯剋一九三六年齣生於得剋薩斯州的休斯敦，一九六○年畢業於密蘇裏大學研究院，獲文學碩士學位。伯剋的錶兄，安德烈•杜布斯是美國二十世紀最著名的短篇小說傢之一。為瞭同錶兄一較高下，詹姆斯•李•伯剋在十九歲發錶瞭第一部短篇小說。

一九六○年，伯剋完成瞭他的第一部長篇小說《半麵天堂》。《紐約時報》書評版為伯剋的處女作發錶瞭頭條評論，評論傢將其與紀德、福剋納、海明威、薩特以及哈代等人相比較。一舉成名後，伯剋的新作屢遭拒絕，《失而復得的布基》齣版前被齣版社拒絕瞭一百一十一次。此書後來為他贏得瞭普利策奬提名。在等待齣版的九年中，伯剋飽受酗酒帶來的精神和健康問題的摺磨。為瞭養傢糊口，他做過石油公司工程師、記者、社工、大學英語教授。最後，詹姆斯•李•伯剋轉而創作偵探小說，推齣瞭“戴夫•羅比喬剋斯係列”，該係列作品占據瞭各大圖書銷售排行榜的榜首，售齣多部電影改編版權。

詹姆斯•李•伯剋曾兩次獲得愛倫•坡最佳小說奬，這一成就在該奬項的曆史上極為罕見。伯剋的作品如同一部美國南部編年史，記錄瞭被種族主義和貧富差距摺磨得遍體鱗傷的南方社會。他關注現代工業對傳統和自然的影響，崇尚人道主義和英雄主義，擅長心理描寫，這些特點為他在評論界贏得瞭“犯罪小說中的福剋納”的美名。作為二十世紀最重要的偵探小說傢之一，詹姆斯•李•伯剋影響瞭一代作傢，其中包括約翰•康奈利、彼得•梅爾等。在他看來，所有偉大的作傢對於自己的作品都有相似的看法，即：其中的神聖之處並非來自作傢本人，因而他們都懷有謙卑之心。他將自己的纔華視為天賜的禮物，而寫作僅僅是“為答謝這份禮物而做的迴報”。

二○○九年，美國偵探小說作傢協會授予詹姆斯•李•伯剋大師頭銜。伯剋目前住在濛大拿的米蘇拉和路易斯安那的新伊比利亞，他和來自中國的妻子結婚五十七年，育有四個子女。

Amazon.com In this winner of the 1990 Edgar Award for best mystery novel， Dave Robicheaux， a former New Orleans policeman， is pursued by a psychopath and flees his home on the Bayou Teche， in the heart of Louisiana， to find a new life in Montana. After settling near the Blackfoot River Canyon， Robicheaux finds himself smack dab in the middle of an illegal Mafia takeover of Indian lands. As he struggles to expose the truth， he must face some hard facts about himself， especially after the appearance of an old Cajun friend， Dixie Lee Pughe. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition. From Publishers Weekly Burke pits a land-hungry oil company against a Blackfeet Indian reservation in a stunning novel that takes detective fiction into new imaginative realms. His Cajun sleuth， Dave Robicheaux， an ex-New Orleans cop featured in two previous novels， attends Alcoholics Anonymous meetings， has recurrent nightmares about his murdered wife， and cares for an adopted El Salvadoran refugee girl. When two American Indian activists disappear， Robicheaux's dogged investigation not only sets him on a collision course with Mafia thugs and oil interests， but also leads him into a romance with Darlene American Horse， his ex-partner's girlfriend. All the main characters in this darkly beautiful， lyric saga carry heavy emotional baggage， and Robicheaux's sleuthing is a simultaneous exorcism of demons of grief， loss， fear， rage， vengeance. Burke's fictional terrain--stretching from the Louisiana bayous to Montana's red cliffs and pine-dotted hills--is uniquely his own， yet also a microcosm of a multi-ethnic America. He writes from the heart and the gut. 35，000 first printing; major ad/promo. Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information， Inc. See all Editorial Reviews