Mr. Baylor is a wealthy man that lives in new Orleans before hurrican Katrina hit and destroyed most of New Orleans. He lives in one of the houses that did not get wrecked by the storm and that night he sleeps happily in his bed. That same night thugs are outside raiding other houses with crowbars and they are destroying what has not been already destroyed. As Otis Baylor watches this and remembers when the same gang raped his daughter in past years. He is upset and goes outside and opens fire at the men, showing that he is very strong minded and fearless. He is also a very smart man. He is able to get away with the murder of that man because he said he was defending his property. He uses his knowledge of law to get out of this tight situation that he got he got himself into.
Throughtout the novel there where various hints that were dropped for “Dave Robicheaux” the sheriff and detective of the novel. Throughout the book he has to go through the destroyed, gang filled, and violent streets to find those who raided the houses, raped Mr. Baylor’s daughter, and who high jacked a rescue boat. After the high jacking the got a hidden gangster fortune and left. As he goes threw the streets he has to talk to many people who give him little clues about where they think that the men are staying and where they are. He has to talk to many rough people like drug addicts, gangsters, and homeless people. As the whole city is a dump it is very hard to find physical evidence so he has to use witnesses to track down the men that did the crime.
“What kind of people put flower vases in every room in a house before a hurricane.” This is a passage earlier in the book when Mr. Otis is watching the gang members raid a house. I found this interesting because he seems very calm and he is almost criticizing the owners of the house which is kind of comical. “The bottles neck as is was airlocked under the cork, the splash it made as it was released again and pored over the ice.” I thought this passage was intriguing because it is amazing how much detail he put into the book. He went down to the smallest detail that is possible to describe the drink that he is having. It is fantastic writing and it caught my attention. “Sidney pushed him into the alley and kicked him so hard in the buttocks that Bertrand felt like glass had been shoved up his rectum.” I found this quote slightly humorous because when someone gets kicked in the butt I can think of some funny thoughts. Also the simile that is provided is also slightly comical. It is also a metaphor for Bertrand has to pick it up. The kick in the butt physically has an obvious meaning, but metaphorically it means that he has to smarten up.
Aaron Carr
