Author: Dennis Lehane (Page 2 of 2)

BOOK REVIEW: A Drink Before the War (Kenzie Gennaro #1) by Dennis Lehane

September 10, 2015 / Chelsea / 0 Comments

A Drink Before the War (Kenzie & Gennaro #1)
by Dennis Lehane
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro are tough private investigators who know the blue-collar neighbourhoods and ghettos of Boston's Dorchester section as only natives can. Working out of an old church belfry, Kenzie and Gennaro take on a seemingly simple assignment for a prominent politician: to uncover the whereabouts of Jenna Angeline, a black cleaning woman who has allegedly stolen confidential Statehouse documents. But finding Jenna proves easy compared to staying alive. The investigation escalates, implicating members of Jenna's family and rival gang leaders, while uncovering extortion, assassination and child prostitution extending from bombed-out ghetto streets to the highest levels of state government. With slick, hip dialogue and a lyrical narrative pocked by explosions of violence, A Drink Before the War confronts a city in which institutionalized bigotry and corruption are often the norm, and the true nature of 'racial incidents' is rarely clear. Dennis Lehane's remarkable debut is at once a pulsating crime thriller and a mirror of our world, one in which the worst human horrors are found closest to home, and the most vicious obscenities are committed in the name of love.

Once that ugliness has been forced into you, it becomes part of your blood, dilutes it, races through your heart and back out again, staining everything as it goes. The ugliness never goes away, never comes out, no matter what you do. Anyone who thinks otherwise is naive.

There have been so many books I’ve read and fallen in love with, lately. I’d love to say I’m just that good at picking out books and taking extraordinary leaps to try new and exciting genres and different authors…but that’s rarely the case. Yes, I have gotten so picky nowadays that I don’t generally find many stinkers…but I don’t usually take many risks. But I guess that’s what I can count on one of my best friends and co-bloggers for-In the last year, I can attribute about, hmm, 80% of my favorite/absolute favorites to an adventurous alien named Anna. She takes risks I never would have had the guts to go through with, ie I Hunt Killers, This is Not a Test, Pines, etc. As you can see, she is my proverbial guinea pig, if you will.
I looked at the grenades. Didn’t have a clue what to do with them. I had the feeling that if I left the house, they’d roll off the bed, take out the entire building. I picked them up, gingerly, and put them in the fridge. Anyone broke in to steal my beer, they’d know I meant business.

My point in saying all this, if you haven’t guessed, is that she has helped me find some amazing books that I never would have tried. And with this gift, I have began to really expand my horizons, to really open my eyes wider to greater, grander stories. Do you realize how nice it is, how very very nice, to not be pigeon-holed to one genre? I LITERALLY go through moods and mercurial spurts for months on end where I don’t know what the fuck I’ll be in the mood to read. Meaning, it could be three months of fantasy, and then, inexplicably, all of a sudden I just HAVE to try a contemporary, or a dystopian (when done right, still my favorite), or a paranormal or whatever I feel like, really. I never have a clue, month-to-month, day-to-day, what I will want to read. That’s why, when in the mood, I hurry to devour the very genre I’m obsessed with because I have no clue-literally none-when I will be in the mood for it again.

Vanity and dishonesty may be vices, but they’re also the first forms of protection I ever knew.

As it is-I’m obsessed with tortured boys and thrillers right now. It kind of goes hand in hand that I’m so obsessed with this genre, though. What’s not to love about peril, mystery, and young men who are ambiguous in character and tortured within? Whoops. Did I say that out loud….Yes, okay, I’m a sick little weirdo-get over it! You know this, if you read any of my reviews. I love flawed characters that long for a better life, for the girl they can’t have, etc. etc. I don’t know, call me crazy, but I just can’t seem to get enough of these types of books.
I’d been a punching bag for my father for eighteen years, and I’d never hit back. I kept believing, kept telling myself, it’ll change; he’ll get better. It’s hard to close the door on optimistic expectations when you love someone.

I guess, even if just briefly, I need to talk about the book and it’s characters right? Patrick…boy have I heard a lot about this Patrick ;). He and Angie, his partner….okay. Never mind. ~~I don’t know how to do this!!~~

I ran my hands through my hair, felt the grit and oil from the last day, smelled the trash and waste on my fingers. At that moment, I truly hated the world and everything in it.

They get cases. They investigate crimes. They turn the people in when they find them (to their clients). Patrick has been in love with Angie since the third grade. Angie is married to an asshole. Patrick doesn’t like the asshole….so he puts him in his place, every now and then, in sensible ways with sensible objects….sensibly.

L.A. burns, and so many other cities smolder, waiting for the hose that will flood gasoline over the coals, and we listen to politicians who fuel our hate and our narrow views and tell us it’s simply a matter of getting back to basics while they sit in their beachfront properties and listen to the surf so they won’t have to hear the screams of the drowning.

In this story, they are hired by real top-of-the-class types who have lost some documents after the maid up and left with them. What was supposed to be a simple case turns out to be deeper, scarier, more deathly than they ever could have imagined. And it is only opening them up to what I’m sure will be a very exciting series.
My gun is, as Angie would say, “not a fuck-around thing.” It’s a .44 magnum automatic-an “automag,” they call it gleefully in Soldier of Fortune and like publications-and I didn’t purchase it out of penis envy or Eastwood envy or because I wanted to own the goddamned biggest gun on the block. I bought it for one simple reason: I’m a lousy shot.

Bahaha this is all I thought about-

I wish I had gotten more time to read this because I know I ruined many parts because I was so tired. I would pick up the book, totally excited, and then only get 10% done when I would start to nod off-seriously, my puppy is psycho. And I’m not so stupid as to think this book was boring-it wasn’t. I would just be getting somewhere, something happening, and then BAM-my eyes started to close. Ugh. ARGHHH! So aggravating. So, a 3.5, I think, is fair. I can’t say for sure it wouldn’t have been higher or lower…but, from what I read, I liked that I felt deeply…and everyone knows I go based on feelings. I got good vibes from this one.
I looked at Angie again. I wasn’t worried about her; I was considering what would happen to my business if my partner shot the dicks off a barful of people in Lansington. I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t think we’d be able to keep that office in the church.

All in all a wonderful addition to add to my list of ever-growing Anna wins. I only hope the series continues to grow on me. I hear great things about this wonderful cast of complex and flawed characters, making me excited to dig deeper into their world. I’m 10% into book two, and I already have a 5 star sitting pretty and ready to go…I figure it couldn’t get any lower, right?? RIGHT?! Sigh. Guess I’ll see!
Angie once said, “Maybe that’s what love is-counting the bandages until someone says, ‘Enough.'”

Maybe so.

****************

Didn’t even read the blurb.

Don’t need to because Anna said….Patrick.

BOOK REVIEW – Darkness, Take My Hand (Kenzie & Gennaro #2) by Dennis Lehane

September 9, 2015 / Anna

Darkness, Take My Hand (Kenzie & Gennaro #2)
by Dennis Lehane
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
The master of the new "noir," Dennis Lehane magnificently evokes the dignity and savagery of working-class Boston in this terrifying tale of darkness and redemption.

Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro's latest client is a prominent Boston psychiatrist running scared from a vengeful Irish mob. The private investigators know something about cold-blooded retribution. Born and bred on the mean streets of blue-collar Dorchester, they've seen the darkness that lives in the hearts of the unfortunate. But an evil for which even they are unprepared is about to strike as secrets long-dormant erupt, setting off a chain of violent murders that will stain everything--including the truth.

Tell me, what are all-time favorites made of? Perhaps we all have a different definition for them, but mine? I read so much that a great, even amazing book can get sidelined if it doesn’t leave a mark on me. On the contrary, a flawed one can earn its stripes if the emotions it makes me feel are unforgettable.

I’d say that if there were one lesson to be learnt from this experience, is that Darkness, Take My Hand will linger. Oh, yes, it will.

➊ a fucked-up male lead I grew to adore and for whom I care so much it hurts : multi-layered, morally ambiguous, sarcastic, wounded, loyal – he’s everything I want in my favorite characters. EVERYTHING.

➋ a kickass heroine I want to hug, because, really, Angie, you rock.

➌ a frightening and captivating suspense in an investigation where nobody is innocent and everyone can be guilty…. See, I’m not easily frightened. A clown, a doll and I’m hiding under the blankets, but a serial-killer? Nope. Darkness, Take My Hand, though? It was chilling.

Just a thing : DON’T FUCK WITH MY FEARS. Like, really – there was an expected twist that scared me to death.

➍ Secondary characters I’m not supposed to like but… I do anyway, because of reasons, I guess.

Yeah, I saw this gif and I thought… Oh, Bubba. You psycho. How in the world can I like you? *hides in shame*

➎ a writing whose ability to express both depth and sarcasm blew me away.

➏ a ending that made my jaw drop on the floor… But unfortunately I guessed who the mastermind was around 50%. It didn’t prevent me from enjoying the book, not really, but it did annihilate a great part of the intended shock factor, and for a moment there I thought that it would cost it its fifth star.

But the fact is, Darkness, Take My Hand deserves its 5 stars nonetheless, because of the impact this book had on me. Here I am, staring at the wall, disturbed in my own core feelings, and I know that I would never forget this book.

See you, friends. I’m going to hug myself now.

BOOK REVIEW – A Drink Before the War (Kenzie & Gennaro #1) by Dennis Lehane

August 31, 2015 / Anna

A Drink Before the War (Kenzie & Gennaro #1)
by Dennis Lehane
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro know their home, rough neighborhoods of South Boston. Their first PI job seems simple - find Jenna, a black cleaner, and confidential state documents she stole. Extortion, assassination, and child prostitution extend from the ghetto to the government. The worst atrocities are closest to home, and committed in the name of love.

Dark and addictive, A Drink Before the War is probably one of the best thrillers I’ve ever read, and I can’t wait to get my hands on the other books in the series.

With none of the stereotypical crap I’ve learnt to dread, the characterization constitutes the greatest achievement of A Drink Before the War. Indeed I’m so tired of the one-dimensional archetypes which are often served to us on a silver platter. None of that here, but more nuances : none of them can be described in one word, and that’s for the best, trust me.

▨ Patrick : what a sarcastic little shit (of course I love him) : His nonconformist and dark humor had me giggling at every page, balancing perfectly the darkness lurking at every turn. Smart-ass an arrogant but strangely endearing, he isn’t perfect but faces his flaws with a lucidity I adored. Wandering through his cutting inner comments was simply fantastic. He’s conflicted, scarred, and so, so loyal to his partner, Angie. Oh, and he’s badass with a gun.

Let me 2 seconds to smile weakly okay? Sigh. I loved the guy.

▨ Angie : Despite the difficulties she faces in her marriage (her husband is a violent asshole, so yes, that’s an understatement) by no means can she be defined by them. Don’t you know persons who are strong in every aspect of their lives except when it comes to their love relationships? I do. Trapped in her memories of better times and her love for her husband, Angie, as kickass as she is, struggles to escape from this situation and yes, it was heartbreaking. I found that the way Lehane pictured domestic abuse was sadly realistic and can I say? The moment she acted on it was fucking GLORIOUS.

The friendship between the two of them gave me so many heart-warming feels (of course I ship them, duh).

As for the secondary characters, I grandly appreciated that none of them was one-dimensional. Really, a wonderful characterization in my opinion.

(Oh, and there’s a panda.)

“Once that ugliness has been forced into you, it becomes part of your blood, dilutes it, race through your heart and back out again, staining everything as it goes. The ugliness never goes away, never comes out, no matter what you do. Anyone who thinks otherwise is naive. All you can hope to do is control it, to force it all into one tight ball in one tight place and keep it there, a constant weight.”

Patrick and Angie’s investigation leads to the depiction of a dark and realistic world, whose undercurrent of hopelessness reminded me of Dos Passos at some points.

Racism. Hypocrisy. Politician corruption. Prostitution. Just name it. Between justice and self-preservation, what will you choose?

Every issue is dealt with without never simplifying it into snap judgments. So much depth and shades. Patrick is neither knight in shining armor nor selfish asshole, but his behavior embraces everything in between, and if it can be uncomfortable, it stays really believable and realistic.

You should know that the issues dealt with are pretty heavy, and more than once I felt like Lehane took my heart and squeezed it forcefully : all in all, this book isn’t for the faint of heart, and it seemed important to notice it to possible readers. Violence is everywhere, sometimes lurking, sometimes graphic.

But in the end, I thought that A Drink Before the War asked the right questions and showed how much our opinions can be biased by our prejudices. Do we all see life through double standards, depending on the subject in question? Are we sure that we’d realize it if that was the case? For example, I had a discussion with people about the way some music lyrics can appear to condone sexual violence and violence against women in general. Everybody could quote some hip-hop song and … that was it. When I quoted Alt-J, an Indi-rock band for their (repeatedly) violent songs nobody agreed and people told me that the group wrote pieces of art and nothing else (Fitzpleasure, for example, is based on a gang-rape scene from Last Exit to Brooklyn). I’m sorry but no. If you don’t want your lyrics being interpreted as glorifying abuse like these :

She may contain the urge to run away
But hold her down with soggy clothes and breezeblocks
Germolene, disinfect the scene
My love, my love, love, love
But please don’t go, I love you so, my lovely

or these :

She bruises, coughs, she splutters pistol shots
Hold her down with soggy clothes and breezeblocks
She’s morphine, queen of my vaccine
My love, my love, love, love, la, la, la, la

(“Breezeblocks”)

… You take the time to publish a public statement to condemn it AT THE VERY LEAST, because I’m not private to your mind and I don’t have a clue if you’re glorifying or denouncing that kind of behavior as it is. Sorry, I digress, but all of that is to say that without even realizing it, people assumed that this catchy song written by a rock band was a piece of art and that the only problematic songs were from hip-hop. I don’t agree and find it hypocritical, for crying out loud. The world isn’t a simple place, and Lehane shows it perfectly.

As for the writing, what can I say except that it was addictive? Indeed after a rather slow beginning, the story picked up and became a real page-turner for me. Moreover, as I said earlier, I absolutely adored the sarcastic tone of the book.

Concerning the settings, I thought that they were splendidly described : rarely authors manage to bring a city to life as Lehane does with Boston here – making it almost as if the city itself was a character. Each neighborhood, each slice of life appear tainted with too much distrust and hopelessness – even when it comes to ‘rich’ ones, which ambience is less claustrophobic but just as dark.

► Next one, please?