Greg's Book Journal

A listing of the books read by me since the beginning of 2005 and my thoughts on them.

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

DARKNESS, TAKE MY HAND by Dennis Lehane


FROM THE PUBLISHER:

Lehane's stunning thriller sees the return of tough-talking, hard-playing Boston private detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. The detectives are enjoying Indian summer in their office in an old church belfry in Dorchester - the blue-collar, racially and ethnically diverse but troubled part of Boston where they grew up - when they are called to their next case. Dr. Diandra Warren, a prominent psychiatrist, believes she has inadvertently angered a powerful member of the Boston Irish Mafia and asks Patrick and Angie to protect her vulnerable son from retribution. Can the detectives shield him from the thug who is not only right-hand man to the head of the Irish Mafia but who grew up with Patrick and Angie? Can Dr. Warren's ex-husband, the most powerful district attorney in the Boston area, help to protect his estranged son? As the detectives are drawn deeper into the case, bodies begin piling up around them. The clues begin to point unaccountably to an unlikely suspect - a serial killer who has been in prison for twenty years of a life sentence. Patrick and Angie must find out if he has indeed inexplicably resurfaced and what, if anything, his connection is to the people from their neighborhood.

RATING:

Second in Lehane's Kenzie/Gennaro series, a multi-layered mystery that goes far above & beyond the initial premise of the book. Exceptionally well-written, disturbing & hard to put down. Another example of why Lehane is a master in his field.