I love JLB, and any book by him is better than 98% of the crime/mystery genre. Dave Robicheaux is one of the greatest fictional characters ever created. Okay, having said that, this book started off very well, became hard to believe (and I am not too attached to believable if the plot is tight) about 1/2 way through in terms of the characters, and then became fairly ridiculous at the end. It pains me to say it. Don't want to give up too much, the book is still an enjoyable summer read. I just wish the activities and behavior of the boys had been more age appropriate, and that the end had been less preachy, less reliant on wholesale violence, and more lyrical.