Sign in with Facebook
Will Byrnes's Reviews > A Drink Before the War
A Drink Before the War (Kenzie & Gennaro, #1)
by
Dennis Lehane - from Boston Magazine
A noir touch, complete with nifty madcap dialogue and a dark sense of humor makes this a fun detective tale. It begins when two politicians come to PI Patrick Kenzie and employ him and partner Angela Gennaro to retrieve some documents purloined by a cleaning woman. What follows is a large scale gang-war between two of the most notorious lowlifes in Boston, two who share a surprising connection. Depravity, turf, shame, revenge all figure in this dark tale of embarrassing pleasures and public corruption. The PIs are the target of multiple murder attempts, with the usual result, damage but not of a terminal nature. A cast of supporting characters gives this tale a rich ambience, a black columnist, old-time cops, a too-well-armed psycho who happens to be on the side of the angels. Race in Boston is also given considerable attention. This is an excellent book in the tradition of Chandler. It made me eager to read more.
=============================EXTRA STUFF
Links to the author’s personal, Twitter and FB pages
Other books by Lehane I have read/reviewed
Kenzie and Gennaro
-----Darkness, Take My Hand
-----Sacred
-----Gone, Baby Gone
-----Prayers for Rain
-----Moonlight Mile
The Coughlin Series
-----The Given Day
-----Live by Night
-----World Gone By
Read, but not Reviewed
-----Mystic River - a masterpiece
-----Shutter Island - not
by
Dennis Lehane - from Boston Magazine
A noir touch, complete with nifty madcap dialogue and a dark sense of humor makes this a fun detective tale. It begins when two politicians come to PI Patrick Kenzie and employ him and partner Angela Gennaro to retrieve some documents purloined by a cleaning woman. What follows is a large scale gang-war between two of the most notorious lowlifes in Boston, two who share a surprising connection. Depravity, turf, shame, revenge all figure in this dark tale of embarrassing pleasures and public corruption. The PIs are the target of multiple murder attempts, with the usual result, damage but not of a terminal nature. A cast of supporting characters gives this tale a rich ambience, a black columnist, old-time cops, a too-well-armed psycho who happens to be on the side of the angels. Race in Boston is also given considerable attention. This is an excellent book in the tradition of Chandler. It made me eager to read more.
=============================EXTRA STUFF
Links to the author’s personal, Twitter and FB pages
Other books by Lehane I have read/reviewed
Kenzie and Gennaro
-----Darkness, Take My Hand
-----Sacred
-----Gone, Baby Gone
-----Prayers for Rain
-----Moonlight Mile
The Coughlin Series
-----The Given Day
-----Live by Night
-----World Gone By
Read, but not Reviewed
-----Mystic River - a masterpiece
-----Shutter Island - not
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
A Drink Before the War.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
Started Reading
May 1, 2005
–
Finished Reading
November 1, 2008
– Shelved
November 1, 2008
– Shelved as:
mystery-and-spy-fiction
May 24, 2013
– Shelved as:
lehane
June 9, 2018
– Shelved as:
fiction
Comments Showing 1-16 of 16 (16 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Cathy
(new)
Feb 08, 2013 12:50PM
Just what I need, another series to add to. But I want to read this, much sooner than later.
reply
|
flag
It is a lovely series. You will definitely enjoy.
Will wrote: "It is a lovely series. You will definitely enjoy."Will: Not rough and tumble? Lovely? Oh, my, not used to lovely but will certainly begin at the beginning.
I've been reading some heavy stuff lately. Heavy and long. Maybe when I finish the 900+ page opus I'm on I'll be ready for this as, what my GR friend Mary calls, a "palette cleanser." Thanks, Will.
The rivals here are definitely not a team.
Susanne wrote: "Great review Will!"Thanks, Susanne
Rita wrote: "There are just too many great authors out there. I'm probably one of the few people who have never read Dennis LeHane. I own a bunch of his books but have never read them. Someday?"Hopefully
Thank you for the review, Will! Terrific first half of this book (4-star), but what a disappointment in the last half (2-star), and the ending was awful (1-star). The subsequent books were far, far better, with Gone, Baby, Gone a true masterpiece.My Review in full
Lehane is one of my favorite- it's nice when they know the same streets & suburbs as you do - good work
William wrote: "Thank you for the review, Will! Terrific first half of this book (4-star), but what a disappointment in the last half (2-star), and the ending was awful (1-star). The subsequent books were far, far..."Thank you, William
Fred wrote: "Lehane is one of my favorite- it's nice when they know the same streets & suburbs as you do - good work"It really is fun to recognize the real in fictional tales.
This one sounds good. I'm adding it to my TBR. Another great review Will.
Sounds interesting. Do you read the old pulpy Robert B. Parker stuff, too?
