 "I guess I'm the exception..." | 2008-08-30 |
| - Reviewed By miamimin |
| "Darkness, Take My Hand" puzzles me to some extent. Frankly, I thought it was a very slow read, even past mid-point. Guess Lehane's not the author for me. I almost put it aside at one point, but decided to keep on plugging and indeed it got interesting about 2/3 of the way through. I must be the only reader who actually wants to put a Lehane novel down! I'm not giving up, though. |
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| "Disappointed with this second read" | 2008-06-01 |
| - Reviewed By bevbsn |
| I really loved A Drink Before the War, but was very disappointed in this one. In fact, it was so depressing, I lost interest and never finished it. It's ok when things go bad once and awhile, but constantly, is too depressing a read to hold my interest. I was really looking forward to reading all of Dennis Lehane's books, because I do like his writing style. |
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 "A Must-Read IF you have a strong stomach" | 2008-05-17 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2N8KZ8J2DMQVV |
| This is an incredibly engrossing story. Be warned though--the violence is horrific. The murder descriptions are VERY disturbing but I never felt they were gratuitous. This is a fascinating story of friendship and family but it also shows the violence that both the most-twisted among us and ordinary citizens are capable of. Sometimes they are one and the same. |
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| "Hannibal Lecter meets Stephen King's "IT"" | 2008-04-02 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1VG0K8BQDDJH9 |
Hannibal Lecter meets Stephen King's "IT"
Another dynamic detective novel from Dennis Lehane starring Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. A tight, well written page turner that continues the Boston saga of the mean streets of blue-collar Dorchester. Old secrets explode as evil envelops everyone.
Kenzie and Gennaro face their toughest case yet as a trio of sadists murder at will notifying their intended victims with their surreptitiously taken photographs through the mails. As the story draws to a dramatic close, Angela is shot while Kenzie deals with the evil leader of the sadistic killers.
Character development was superb. Mr. Lehane does a very good job of fleshing out all the characters. The reader is kept in suspense as to who the leader of the killers is until the final chapters. All in all a terrific read.
Some very graphic violence and rough language but all germane to the plot. No gratuitous sex.
Outstanding, must read if you are into the detective genre. Good for the beach or that long plane ride. Dennis Lehane is a master storyteller.
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| "Loved it!" | 2008-03-21 |
| - Reviewed By User: A4AB1BOBX86M |
| I read this book for a book club not knowing anything about the author before. Then upon finishing realized he was the author of Mystic River and Gone, Baby, Gone. I absolutely love his writing style when I'm in the mood for an excellent murder mystery to lose myself in. Much better than James Patterson and I have been reading him for years... |
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| "Loved it!! So much better than his first one!" | 2008-01-19 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3U4HYYVW02O0I |
| This book was so much better than his first book. Don't get me wrong, I really liked A Drink Before the War, but this one is so much better. THis is where Lehane really hits his stride as a writer. I guarantee that after you get 50 pages in, your nights of going to bed early (or doing anything during the day) will be over until you finish. |
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| "A strong second novel in the Kenzie/Genaro mystery thriller series!" | 2008-01-05 |
| - Reviewed By tamara_nichols |
In the second novel of the Patrick Kenzie/Angie Genaro series, the PI pair are drawn into a vicious web of violence, murder and vengeance. As in the best noir tradition, nothing is what it seems to be except the predictable sociopaths.
Kenzie and Genaro are drawn into a conspiracy which leads them to delve into Boston mob circles. We find that Genaro is in fact the scion of one of the big mob families, which she uses to her advantage in solving the mystery and intimidating the bad guys.
This is a hard-boiled detective novel in the noir convention. Lehane creates a passionate connection between the main characters that despite being unfulfilled transcends their relationships with others. This connection creates a magnetic pull on the reader. Lehane uses lovely poetic language, as presaged by the title, which convincingly depicts this world of shadows in the Boston crime scene. A little less violent than the first novel plus the series is maturing in both writing and story. |
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| "An epic in 500 pages" | 2007-05-25 |
| - Reviewed By User: ATXMIZXC1IHNU |
Dennis Lehane's A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR was the book that pulled me into mystery fiction as a reader. I loved Kenzie and Gennaro's blue-collar personas, the snappy dialogue, the vivid imagery, the deep secondary characters, and the deft balance of humor. It amazed me that mystery fiction could be so deep and touching, and I immediately bought the next book in the series, DARKNESS, TAKE MY HAND.
DRINK convinced me to read more mystery fiction, but DARKNESS convinced me that I wanted to write it for a living.
This book has everything DRINK has and then some: Memorable and sympathetic characters, crisp dialogue, excellent visuals, humor, the mafia, a serial killer, and best of all, a story that reached back all the way into Kenzie's and Gennaro's childhoods and rounded out the proceedings with an epic feel. Not to mention the climactic finalé that reverberated through each one of the remaining books in the series. The suspense is thick, the action is whiplash, and the emotion is real and poignant. It has literally become the template upon which I've crafted many of my story ideas.
My only complaint is that, with the ending in view, I guessed who the killer was. That took a bit of punch out of it, but the story quickly jumped past that and launched into the phenomenal climax.
Lehane would revisit some of the same themes from DARKNESS in his breakout novel, MYSTIC RIVER, themes which actually began in much more diluted form in DRINK. In my opinion, however, the success of MYSTIC started here with DARKNESS, showing that Lehane had the stuff to move his audiences and keep them in tension at the same time. He's since started moving away from the mystery format, which is a shame, because the world needs more quality epics like this one. Before you pick up MYSTIC RIVER, buy DARKNESS and see for yourself where it all began. |
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 "If you enjoyed "A Drink Before the War", than you will absolutely love this book." | 2007-02-26 |
| - Reviewed By User: A19O80VYV3XFJ8 |
The second book in the Patrick Kenzie series opens with Patrick taking inventory of the violence and destruction that has just re-shaped his life after the case in "Darkness" is closed. Lehane uses this foreshadow technique with confidence because he knows the story will live up to the emotional and physical devastation Patrick is feeling in the very first chapter.
After the first chapter, the book takes you on a tense journey through a nightmare of undesirable characters immune to personal suffering. The mood is dark and the violence intense. As usual, Lehane keeps the tension tight by combining multiple plot lines; keeping the reader constantly on edge and wary of every corner turned and every character encountered.
In "A Drink Before The War" Lehane introduced us to Patrick, Angie and Bubba, but in "Darkness" he breaths life into them. Amidst all of the human destruction that occurs during a case to stop a serial killer who brings his viciousness right into Patrick and Angie's life, Lehane fills out his main charters and makes them much more complex than in the first novel. Even Patrick's father becomes more dimensional and may even have had some redeemable traits (maybe).
Some themes emerge in "Darkness" that Lehane explores deeper in "Mystic River", but most of the book is an in your face mystery that concentrates on the rage and violence that can be summoned in all of us, and the effects it has if unleashed.
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| "Lehane at his best" | 2006-07-24 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2X91POGV80A37 |
| Darkness, Take My Hand by Dennis Lehane is one of the great unsung mystery novels of the late 20th century and should be on everyone's Best OF lists. The characters of Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro are great --in love, at war with one another, passionate and angry and real. The story of the shrink running from the Irish Mob BEGS to be a movie, and yet no one has ever taken a run at it. That is just a waste. I recently re-read this book and found that it reads just as great the second time around. |
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