The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 12 September 2006
by Dennis Lehane
Three boys are wrestling in the street of a Boston neighborhood or suburb (Boston is never mentioned, and the neighborhood is fictional, but it seems a combination of Charlestown and nearby suburban towns). A car comes upon them, and one of the kids is abducted by men impersonating police offiers. The boy gets away four days later, but what has transpired affects the rest of his life, and later, when all three are adults, the memories of that day color fresh and dark events. There is a murder here, in this tightly knit community struggling with crime and the threats that come with gentrification. Dennis Lehane writes a wholly authentic portrait of working class neighborhoods in Boston. The story is vivid and incredibly taut and tense. This reader hails from that part of the country and can vouch for this authenticity. It is entirely compelling and haunting. The book is, ostensibly, a murder mystery, and one would not want to give away much of its exquisite detail. But Lehane here creates a multitude of believable characters he deftly intertwines in this bleak tale. Their lives are not simple or one-dimensional. There is rich emotion in the story which brings it (and the movie made from the novel) alive in ways that transcend its compartmentalization into the "mystery" genre. The book is highly recommended. Lehane hits few false notes, most particularly with his female characters, who occasionally act in perfectly mysterious or even mystical support of their men. Yet the overall emotional depth of this mystery makes it, most likely, one of the best a reader can find in that genre.