 "More twists, turns, and thrills than the best roller coaster" | 2008-07-11 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1VG0K8BQDDJH9 |
More twists, turns, and thrills than the best roller coaster
Dennis Lehane always writes a good mystery. Sacred is one of his best. Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro are pushed to the limit in this exciting page turner. From Boston to Florida they prowl for the truth. Each time they think they have found it, it turns into another dead end. Hired by a very rich man to find his missing daughter, Patrick and Angela are thwarted at every turn to make sense out of this house of mirrors where truth is simply a wisp of smoke in the wind. Finally after much consternation, dead ends, confusion, quick physical violence, lies, and just plan frustration, the dynamic duo finally makes enough headway to finally figure out what the heck is going on. Still the ending is a twist, shaken and not stirred.
Some typical Lehane story violence but germane to the storyline. No gratuitous language or sex.
Heartily recommended. Good solid vacation beach read. Another Dennis Lehane winner.
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 "Good, not great" | 2008-06-04 |
| - Reviewed By c172rg |
The first Dennis LeHane book I ever read was "Shutter Island" which I absolutely LOVED. What an jolt that story was. I followed it up by reading "Mystic River" which was also very good. I was expecting that same type of story/writing with this one and it just wasn't the same.
I picked this up off a clearance rack for $1 not realizing it was the third in a series. Mr. LeHane does a good job of bringing you up to speed on the characters and I was able to enjoy the book even with skipping the first two. I enjoyed the settings of Boston and the Sarasota/Bradenton area so that added to the book in my opinion.
This book, while good, did not have the writing quality or the story "punch" that the other two books I read had. It was more along the lines of a James Patterson, quick read that was enjoyable but not outstanding. I still find myself several years later thinking about "Shutter Island" and I am sure this book will be forgotten within days. A really good beach read, but not much else. |
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| "Characters are what makes the books in this series interesting." | 2008-04-24 |
| - Reviewed By User: A11DZUNHEWLNWZ |
There are 5 books in this series of Dennis Lehane's with the charaters of Angie, Patrick and Bubba, the banter between these characters and the sarcasm of Patrick make this book along with the other four great reading, I had read the other 4 several years ago and could not find the 5th book in regular stores, luckily Amazon.com carried it and I was able to enjoy the characters once again.
The story is very interesting and has a different twist in the end, not what you expect. It is fast reading and I found it hard to put down.
Lehane is a great writer and all of his books have characters that come alive off of the pages of the book, I highly recommend all of his books for avid readers.
Great entertainment. |
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| "good reading" | 2008-01-13 |
| - Reviewed By User: A4KFM4L2GXONK |
good stuff
you get to escape for a while
patrick and angie are funny and you root for them
hope lehane keeps the series rolling
i love the shakespeare references |
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| "Loving the series--please write more, Lehane!" | 2008-01-05 |
| - Reviewed By tamara_nichols |
In the third book of the series, our intrepid detective pair, Genaro and Kenzie are finally available to explore their romantic connection. While on a missing persons case, Genaro and Kenzie spend time in urban Florida which exerts its influence on the case and their relationship. Instead of the frigid atmosphere of Boston, the sun heats up their relationship and the story.
But a moment of sun in a noir novel must still must form deep shadows. Ultimately the pair are confronted by violence, incest and conspiracy. With their pragmatic view of life and their sarcastic wit, Genaro and Kenzie are able to survive a homicidal family who tries to seduce them into betraying their values and one another.
Lehane has a knack for spicy, bizarre characters and endearing relationships. His prose is poetic, almost visionary. His plot construction is impeccable. A non-stop read! |
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| "Sacred" | 2007-09-04 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3LBVK0ZTER40N |
| This book was great. Not the best in the series. Darkness Take My Hand is the best, with this following. Lehane is a great writer. Makes you not want to put the book down. He really knows how to keep your attention. |
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| "You Need a "Bookcassette Adapter" To Listen" | 2007-06-26 |
| - Reviewed By zaheen |
In order to play these cassettes, please keep in mind that you need to use what the company (i.e., the producer Brilliance Corporation) calls "Bookcassette Adapter". You can purchase such an adapter on eBay (you can google it too with "Brilliance Corporation" but eBay will have better deal. You need this Bookcassette Adapter because, the company put three hours of listening on each tape -- twice the normal amount of time.
Since the story is recorded separately on the right and left tracks of stereo tape, you must give your tapeplayer's headphones the ability to isolate each speaker through the use of the Bookcassette Adapter.
The Bookcassette Adapter gives you balance control on your headphones and is so easy to use: Plug it into the stereo jack of your personal tapeplayer and then plug your headphones into the other side. The Bookcassette Adapter Works ONLY on Stereo Tapeplayers.
If you plan on listening to Bookcassette audio books on a stereo system where you can adjust the sound between the left and right speakers separately, such as a rack system with separate left and right speaker controls or a car stereo with a left and right balance dial, you will be able to listen to Bookcassette audio books without a problem. If you plan on listening to these audio books on a portable cassette player that does not have this capability, such as a Walkman with headphones, you will require an adapter.
As I said, it would be cheaper to buy it on the Internet, especially on eBay, instead of directly from the company (Brilliance Corporation) at 1-800-697-6797
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 "It's like striking out after hitting a home run..." | 2007-05-26 |
| - Reviewed By User: ATXMIZXC1IHNU |
...kind of embarrassing and you know you can do better.
I liked A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR. I loved DARKNESS, TAKE MY HAND. Only two books into a five-book series, I was blown away and excited to see what came next. What would the third hold? Could it top the epic heights of DARKNESS? With these questions in mind, I bought the last three titles in the series, settled in to read SACRED, and waited for it to pick up where DARKNESS left off.
The result? I was left hanging.
SACRED is without a doubt the weakest story in the Kenzie-Gennaro quintology. The plot is uninspired and uninteresting; I finished the book only because it was Dennis Lehane, my new fave writer. The father who hires Patrick and Angie isn't all that compelling; the daughter who he wants them to investigate is bland. The secondary characters as a whole have no more depth than the paper upon which this story was printed. And to top it all off, the ending was unbelievable and too convenient. I got the impression Lehane didn't knock himself out on this one, just using it as filler to get to the best book in the series, GONE, BABY, GONE.
Aside from my disappointment, there were the usual things I enjoyed, such as the humor, the snappy dialogue, the stunning imagery, and some of the action was fun to read. But the plot was just too weak to prop up the book as a whole. A major disappointment.
Read the first two books in the series, A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR and DARKNESS, TAKE MY HAND. This will show you how drastically Lehane improved between novels. Bypass SACRED and jump to the last two titles, PRAYERS FOR RAIN and GONE, BABY, GONE, in that order. In that way, you'll get the true segué from DARKNESS before you go out with the biggest bang of all. |
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| "Conventional" | 2007-05-20 |
| - Reviewed By User: A19O80VYV3XFJ8 |
The third installment in the Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro series is a fast and enjoyable read, but is the weakest of the first three books. This does not mean that fans of this series will not enjoy it because they will. There is something comforting in visiting old friends again even if the book does not match the intensity of the previous books.
Sacred opens after Patrick and Angie have taken a hiatus for a few months to recover from the brutality and devastation of events in Darkness Take My Hand (so far the best in the series). Against their will, they are drawn back to work to find the missing daughter of a wealthy dying business man.
Once again Lehane tries to weave multiple plot lines together to keep the reader guessing as to the true nature of their assignment. However, in Sacred the interconnecting action does not feel as genuine as in the other books. Plot drives the stories instead of theme and character development, with the end result being a very conventional novel. Not what I expected.
There is no further development of the main characters in the series, bar the growth of Patrick and Angie's relationship. If a reader has not read the previous books, the characters would seem very one-dimensional. In fact, the most interesting character is an old black woman on an airplane who only makes her presence for about four pages.
There seems to be a theme of trust within family and friends buried somewhere but it does not resonate like the themes of corruption and violence which were developed in the other books. Still a big fan of the series and I will continue to follow Patrick and Angie's adventures in "Gone, Baby, Gone". Let's hope Lehane can return to his old form.
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| "Dennis Lehane fan" | 2007-01-11 |
| - Reviewed By suzyblay |
| I have thoroughly enjoyed everything Mr. Lehanne has written. My only disappointment is that Ben Affleck chose to make a film of I think the last (so far) book in the series rather than the first. |
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