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Mystic River Dennis Lehane Books

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Mystic River Dennis Lehane Books

Live by Night is Dennis Lehane's newest, a historical novel set in the late twenties and early thirties. Joe Coughlin is the son of the number two man in the Boston PD but he fancies himself an outlaw. Not a gangster, an outlaw. He comes to see that he is, in fact, a gangster. Beginning with a series of crimes in Boston with a pair of Italian brothers, he ends up in the Charlestown State Prison after his conviction for complicity in a robbery that results in the death of several policemen. In Charlestown he meets a Boston crime boss to whom he pledges his loyalty in return for his protection there.

He gets out of prison early, thanks to the crime boss's mouthpiece, and he is sent to Tampa to manage the organization's rum-running business. He pines for a lost Boston love, a femme fatale/hooker who he believes to be dead. In Tampa he finds a new woman, a Cuban freedom fighter. She remains married to a ne'er-do-well back in Havana, so they live together while he builds up the business, taking it from a million a year to an eleven+ million a year operation.

When the boss seeks to replace Joe with his own moronic son, `Digger', the war is on. And the original flame from Boston may still be alive . . . and some of the sins of Joe's past may come back to haunt him . . .

The narrative is brisk. There is a great deal of suspense, as Lehane adds complication to complication in telling Joe's saga. The high points of the book lie in its descriptions and its historical details. Lehane nails the Prohibition-era ethos and he can describe, in fulsome detail, the challenges and techniques of the rum runner as well as key aspects of contemporary material culture--building materials, domestic architectural design, the appointments of a luxury hotel in the days before modern conveniences, and so on.

I found the historical material on Tampa particularly interesting. The book screams `movie', `movie,' though it will be very expensive to make if it is done with high production values. The story itself is fine. Though it covers a single generation it has a Godfather feel to it--a (probably) doomed protagonist, with several redeeming qualities but too many sins, too much past and just too many corrupt and greedy accomplices. Readers are likely to split on the novel's ending. Some will find it disappointing, while some will consider it inevitable, given all that has gone before.

This is a very ambitious novel, with much in it to admire. Lehane readers will not want to miss it. Those coming to Lehane for the first time may want to read Mystic River for a standout standalone or the wonderful Kenzie/Gennaro novels, my personal favorites. I preferred this novel to Lehane's historical novel, The Given Day, but everything that he is written is of very high quality.


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Mystic River Dennis Lehane Books Reviews

A well told story, in which you kind of actually like the characters, even though most of them are bad guys. One of the biggest thugs in the story has a pet cat that his nieces love to play with, and the ex con is a good family man and really cares about his neighbors. But the guy who got wrongfully killed was getting ready to become a really bad guy and you don't really care too much about him getting offed. All 3 of the main characters' wives are disturbing in different ways, as well. The cop is a pretty awesome guy, though. All in all a really exciting, well told story that messed with my sympathies a little bit but that is ok. Recommend it to anyone, it's just as great as the movie.
I enjoy Lehane's writing and this book hooked me by the end of the first page - nothing like having one's feet in concrete and to be on one's way out into the center of the bay on a one way trip to focus one's view on mortality. The only regret I had was that the story ended. I know Ybor City as there is a certain restaurant there [the Columbia] where I have gone for Cuban food for many years. Lehane captures a time and the context of life in this place and Florida, a place far too many people associate with little old ladies with blue rise in their hair and Disney World with a dash of South Beach tossed in to season. Tamp/St Pete is a different place than that and has a history which is a great background for the events in this novel. Lehane did a good job capturing this world although I am sure there are those who would disagree with me.

Others will no doubt write about plot specifics. I will not because I do not want to spoil the read for people who buy the book. I do agree with those who compare if to the Godfather book. There are some differences because Coughlin is obviously not Italian and his father is a cop. But Lahane develops a great story based on Coughlin's life starting as a petty criminal and going on from there.
I don't think Dennis Lehane has it in him to write a bad book, but of the six or seven I have read, "Live by Night" was the most disappointing. It may be that the subject matter does not have much appeal for me. "The Given Day" is just as bloody and violent but it's also inspiring. I guess I just find it hard to believe in Joe Coughlin. He seems like to good a guy to lead the life of a gangster and yet he does. There's cognitive dissonance to his character that I find hard to reconcile. Also, the plot is a little too disjointed. All the transitions were a little too abrupt - especially the last few pages.
It took me awhile to engage with the book - like way more than I am used to - but I have to say once I got into it, i was completely hooked. Bottom line is that I recommend it. However, I would encourage anyone new to Lehane to start with "The Given Day", "Mystic River", "Shutter Island", "Since We Fell", "The Drop" first. It has been many years but I enjoyed his private detective series too. Especially "Moonlight Mile".
I saw the movie that Clint Eastwood interpreted but after 15 years, I barely remembered the story. This was one of the most compelling books I've ever read. Not just the story but the writing. One of the few books in my life that I had trouble putting down. I found myself waking up in the middle of the night to read it. It was the first Dennis Lehane I've read and I found his prose to be romantic, dark, poetic, gritty, and touching. He let his characters breathe and painted broad emotions, from venomous violence to silent tenderness, with equal artistry. I can't wait to read my next Lehane book.
Live by Night is Dennis Lehane's newest, a historical novel set in the late twenties and early thirties. Joe Coughlin is the son of the number two man in the Boston PD but he fancies himself an outlaw. Not a gangster, an outlaw. He comes to see that he is, in fact, a gangster. Beginning with a series of crimes in Boston with a pair of Italian brothers, he ends up in the Charlestown State Prison after his conviction for complicity in a robbery that results in the death of several policemen. In Charlestown he meets a Boston crime boss to whom he pledges his loyalty in return for his protection there.

He gets out of prison early, thanks to the crime boss's mouthpiece, and he is sent to Tampa to manage the organization's rum-running business. He pines for a lost Boston love, a femme fatale/hooker who he believes to be dead. In Tampa he finds a new woman, a Cuban freedom fighter. She remains married to a ne'er-do-well back in Havana, so they live together while he builds up the business, taking it from a million a year to an eleven+ million a year operation.

When the boss seeks to replace Joe with his own moronic son, `Digger', the war is on. And the original flame from Boston may still be alive . . . and some of the sins of Joe's past may come back to haunt him . . .

The narrative is brisk. There is a great deal of suspense, as Lehane adds complication to complication in telling Joe's saga. The high points of the book lie in its descriptions and its historical details. Lehane nails the Prohibition-era ethos and he can describe, in fulsome detail, the challenges and techniques of the rum runner as well as key aspects of contemporary material culture--building materials, domestic architectural design, the appointments of a luxury hotel in the days before modern conveniences, and so on.

I found the historical material on Tampa particularly interesting. The book screams `movie', `movie,' though it will be very expensive to make if it is done with high production values. The story itself is fine. Though it covers a single generation it has a Godfather feel to it--a (probably) doomed protagonist, with several redeeming qualities but too many sins, too much past and just too many corrupt and greedy accomplices. Readers are likely to split on the novel's ending. Some will find it disappointing, while some will consider it inevitable, given all that has gone before.

This is a very ambitious novel, with much in it to admire. Lehane readers will not want to miss it. Those coming to Lehane for the first time may want to read Mystic River for a standout standalone or the wonderful Kenzie/Gennaro novels, my personal favorites. I preferred this novel to Lehane's historical novel, The Given Day, but everything that he is written is of very high quality.