One of Lehane's earlier works, this story shows the depths of his writing skills. Suspenseful and clever, this book is not just hard to put down. It's hard to let go of the characters long after the story has ended.
"I Love The Protagonists..."
2009-08-28
- Reviewed By User: A35866E6J4KOCC
...and I love the storyline and the antagonists, but I hate the title. The title had me thinking about foreign wars which this book is not about. Private Detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro (not his secretary) are a wonderful team. This is my first Lehane book but not the first pairing of Kenzie & Gennaro. I am anxious to start on book one and follow this sleuthing duo.
"A Drink Before the War" is the first of Lehane's Kenzie/Gennaro detective stories. It's interesting and involving - especially in the set up of the main characters. Lehane is able to give insight into both without bogging down the story - interestingly, it all relates with each other, which makes the storyline more involving. The book deals heavily with race relations, but in an honest way - you can tell he is writing "real" characters, instead of preaching his point through them in an unrealistic way. A good read - definitely recommended.
I have read all of Dennis Lehane's books and unlike most people, I find his non-series books to be far superior to the Kenzie/Gennaro novels.
Rereading this book I was struck by the preachiness of the dialogue when it came to discussing racism and how the book just seemed to be trying initially for some humour between the two main characters then tried for drama but didn't really cut it with either.
I think the problem is that these kind of books have been done so often where you have the main character(s) and their psychotic friend (in this case, Bubba).
"Agreat First Effort"
2009-03-11
- Reviewed By User: A2YS6CR5BZFC6
A hint of things to come. Compelling story. Great characters. Boston smart.
"best mystery writer ever"
2009-03-04
- Reviewed By User: A1YYA3T9FY6QU2
I happen to own a first-edition hardcover of this novel. It is a rare book indeed and one of the jewels of my book collection. Lehane is simply the best crime writer out there. Each sentence he writes is a pleasure to read. And he's a helluva story teller too. I wish he would write more novels featuring these two characters, but from what I've been reading in the papers I fear he wont. They will be missed. But I will cherish the handfull of books he did write about them.
If you are a mystery fan any lehane book is a must have. Buy them all.
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"Great Characters, Great Book"
"Shows a bit of promise"