"Prayers For Rain"

Dennis Lehane has written another winner in "Prayers For Rain" which may be my favorite so far in his Patrick Kenzie/Anegla Gennaro series. In this book he really fleshes out the character of Kenzie's friend, Bubba Rogowski as we learn more of why he is the way he is and who he is.

Kenzie and Gennaro have gone their separate ways but when Kenzie and his friend Bubba become involved in helping a young woman named Karen Nichols, she makes a lasting impression on Kenzie. When he forgets to call her back after receiving a phone call message from her then later hears she's committed suicide, his antenna go up and he sets out on a trail to find out why because it is so unlike the young woman he met. The path leads him back into the arms of Gennaro as well as attracting the attention of a lethal killer. The writing is stupendous and the twists and turns in this case kept me guessing to the very end.

pazt

"Moonlight Mile" revisited

So, I just finished re-reading "Moonlight Mile" after reading what I thought were all the previous books in this series by Dennis Lehane. However, it appears I missed "Prayers for Rain" so it's time to go "back to the drawing board" and find this one.

Moonlight Mile made a lot more sense after reading the first ones in this series and, if the ending is any indication, it appears Patrick is going to hang up his private detective badge to lead a more sedentary life with his wife and daughter. Since I don't see any more books upcoming in this series, I have to conclude it's actually true! I'm disappointed but the book and the ending didn't disappoint. If it's going to end, this is as good a way as any.

There's a great scene on Pages 212-213 of the hardback copy when a woman "goes off" on Angie when she's questioning her about a runaway girl and that tirade ends with ..."Then one day she finds a lump in her breast. And it's not okay anymore, but nobody gives a shit, honey, because you made your fucking bed. So do us all a favor and fucking die." The paragraph that follows that tirade ends with "You asked a simple question lately or made an innocuous aside. We no longer understood how we'd gotten here. We couldn't grasp what had happened to us. We woke up one day and all the street signs had been stolen, all the navigation systems had shorted out. The car had no gas, the living room had no furniture, the imprint in the bed beside us had been smoothed over."

Ever feel that way in today's world -- like we've lost our ability to navigate this world? Peace,

pazt

Gone Baby Gone

Dennis Lehane's "Gone Baby Gone" is the next mystery in his Patrick Kenzie/Angela Gennaro series that I've been reading in order and it's another winner in my opinion.

Private Investigators, Kenzie and Gennaro, have been picking and choosing cases recently so, when they're approached to find a missing girl that not even the special missing children's police unit has been able to locate, they're reluctant to take on the case. However, the missing girl's aunt is persuasive and persistent so when the head of the missing children's squad agrees to allow them to work with the unit, they accept the case -- with reservations. This is another well developed Lehane mystery and just when I thought I had the plot figured out, a new twist would come along to totally surprise me and take the case in a new direction. If you like a good mystery and haven't read Lehane's novels, I suggest you pick one up and give it a try.

pazt

"Darkness, Take My Hand"

Dennis Lehane's second novel in the Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro series is "Darkness, Take My Hand." Kenzie and Gennaro are recovering from physical and emotional wounds when they are asked to help out a psychiatrist whose college age son's life has been threatened. They are recommended to her by a mutual friend who teaches criminology at the university her son attends. What appears to be a straightforward case is anything but. Before the case reaches its surprising conclusion they risk losing those near and dear to them as well as their own lives. Lehane has created another gripping novel that kept me reading late into the night -- again!

I'm off to the library to look for the third book in this series, "Sacred."

pazt