What metaphors are used in Heaven's Prisoners by James Lee Burke?

Nearly every character in the novel drinks alcohol, most to excess. Alcohol is rarely presented in a social setting within the book, and instead forms the basic rationale behind most gatherings in the book—in other words characters in the novel get together in bars so they can get drunk. A metaphor for debauchery. For many, sex with a prostitute follows. Alcohol is Dave's particular demon and as a recovering alcoholic he thinks often about the burning allure of alcohol.