Book Review: A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR, by Dennis Lehane

Dennis Lehane
A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR
Harcourt Brace & Company, 1994
267 pages
Crime / Private Eye

A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR is Dennis Lehane's debut novel, and the first featuring P.I.s Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro.

Boston. Mid-1990s. When the cleaning lady at the State House goes missing on the same day as some sensitive documents, three politicians simply put one and one together. They figure the best chance at finding the woman and getting back what had been taken would be if they hired Kenzie and Gennaro for the job. Bringing in P.I.s keeps the police out of it, and unwanted attention is the last thing they want, or need. Not to mention, Kenzie's deceased father is something of a legend, a Hero firefighter who saved two kids from a burning high rise.

Problem is, no one told Kenzie or Gennaro exactly what the documents were. When they find the missing maid, technically their job is done. An easy payday. Unfortunately, Kenzie also wants answers. He smells a fish. The politicians remind him a lot of his father, and maybe that is why isn't satisfied with just doing the job he was hired to do. He wants to dig,and find answers to the new string of questions that keep coming to mind.

When it turns out the documents are actually gut-wrenching, compromising photographs, the focus of the entire case shifts. As Kenzie and Gennaro find them selves in danger at every turn. It isn't just the politicians after the "documents." There are two, major, rival gangs interested in obtaining the information. Bodies start piling up.

With an amazing cast of characters, from detectives, and journalists, to reliable crooks, and state resources, the taut thriller is an amazing read. While years ago I'd read Mystic River, and Shutter Island, I am mad that it has taken me this long to get back into Lehane's books. You know what though? I'm here now. And I am enjoying the reads!

Phillip Tomasso
Author of the Severed Empire Series
and The Vaccination Trilogy

Book Review: WORLD GONE BY, by Dennis Lehane

Dennis Lehane
WORLD GONE BY
William Morrow, 2016
320 pages
Crime

I am reading this series, the Coughlin Series, so out of order. I started with LIVE BY NIGHT (Book 2) because I wanted to read it before seeing the movie (starring Ben Affleck, which, by the way, I enjoyed both). And rather than go back and read Book 1, THE GIVEN DAY, I decided I'd read Book 3, WORLD GONE BY. My reason being, THE GIVEN DAY deals with Joe Coughlin's father, and Books 2 and 3 deal with Joe. Anywho . . .

WORLD GONE BY takes place roughly ten years after LIVE BY NIGHT (Click HERE to see my review of LIVE BY NIGHT). Joe Coughlin has his hands full. He is still down south, in Tampa, doing his best to run an honest business, but out there is a bullet with his name on it, there is a rat in the organization, and Joe--he's seeing ghosts!

In WORLD GONE BY it all comes down to someone owing you a favor. Joe never goes soft. He has just never been about the killing. He never considered himself a gangster, just an outlaw. But along the way, did all of that change?

Not nearly as complex as LIVE BY NIGHT, but still an amazing crime novel, WORLD GONE BY seems like the perfect end to an amazing trilogy.

Phillip Tomasso
Author of the Severed Empire Series
and The Vaccination Trilogy

Book Review: LIVE BY NIGHT, by Dennis Lehane

Dennis Lehane
LIVE BY NIGHT
William Morrow, 2012
402 pages
Crime / Fiction

I first discovered Dennis Lehane when I stumbled upon a paperback copy of Mystic River. I knew then I loved this writer. And although I then read several more titles, for some odd reason I drifted away from his books. No blame placed on the author whatsoever!

LIVE BY NIGHT has kind of a Departed, or Scarface feel to it. It was layered with an array of characters, three different settings, and constantly twisting plots! The story takes place during prohibition. And even those of us who are considered history-challenged know what happened when booze was outlawed?!? Speakeasies, moonshine, and gangsters sprang up everywhere!

Despite being the son of a Boston police captain, Joe Coughlin, has become an outlaw. He starts out small-time with the Bartolos brothers, Dion and Paolo. Given bad information they decide to hold-up a card game. Little did they know it was Albert White's game. Albert White was bad news. One of the big bad names in Boston. Once Coughlin realizes the error, he also realizes it is too late to stop what is already in motion.

When things get hot in town, and Coughlin knows it is best to back-off some, he commits to once last heist. A bank job. Only problem is, people are onto the game. Cops are tipped off. Nothing goes as planned. Coughlin does time in prison. Attempts are made on his life. He has a chance to turn things around, and takes it, placing himself in the hands of Albert White's enemy, Maso Pescatore.

Tasked with running the operation in Florida, Coughlin begins a new life, improving on his old way of life. He turns the swampy mass of Tampa into a thriving rum-running business for Pescatore. His rise to the top creates a host of enemies. There is no sleep for the man on top when there is always someone scheming to knock you down, or take you out.

Prohibition won't last forever, and as the end of a dry-reign is in sight, Coughlin clearly sees the writing on the wall. What is going to happen to his empire, to his family, to him?

At the movies not long ago, they showed a trailer for an upcoming Ben Affleck film, LIVE BY NIGHT. I knew that was a more recent Lehane novel, and immediately picked myself up a copy. I had to read it. My interest in Lehane has been restored. I devoured the novel in a few nights. it was absolutely absorbing. (Be advised, LIVE BY NIGHT is actually Book 2 in Lehane's Coughlin series).

Phillip Tomasso
Author of the Severed Empire Series, 
and The Vaccination Trilogy