Since We Fell

Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane

Fiction - Suspense/Thriller

2017

Finished on February 26, 2024

Rating: 5/5 (Excellent!)

Publisher's Blurb:

Since We Fell follows Rachel Childs, a former journalist who, after an on-air mental breakdown, now lives as a virtual shut-in. In all other respects, however, she enjoys an ideal life with an ideal husband. Until a chance encounter on a rainy afternoon causes that ideal life to fray. As does Rachel’s marriage. As does Rachel herself. Sucked into a conspiracy thick with deception, violence, and possibly madness, Rachel must find the strength within herself to conquer unimaginable fears and mind-altering truths. 

By turns heart-breaking, suspenseful, romantic, and sophisticated, Since We Fell is a novel of profound psychological insight and tension. It is Dennis Lehane at his very best.

Phew! I almost missed out on a great thriller. I've had Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane on my shelves since April 2017! I was working at Barnes & Noble in Lincoln, Nebraska when I brought the ARC home, only to pack it up with the rest of my books, move it to Oregon, unpack it and place it on a shelf where it remained untouched until this month. I don't know why I ignored it for seven years, but had I read the buyer's sell sheet when I first got the ARC, I would have immediately begun reading the book. (I was about to share part of that sell sheet to entice you to read Lehane's page-turner, but this is one to go into cold.)

A word of warning, though. After reading over 50 pages, I considered calling it quits, not really caring about the main character and her quest to find her father. I'm not sure what pushed me to read further, but I did, and truthfully it still took another 100 pages before I was completely sucked into this riveting story, but by that point, I knew I was in for something great. I set the book aside and turned out my reading light, but woke up a few hours later, realizing that I had been trying to solve a part of the mystery in my sleep. I even had an ah-ha moment from my nocturnal sleuthing when I knew that I had figured out the motivation behind one of the characters' actions. In spite of the late hour, I turned my light back on, flipped back through the book to confirm my assumptions, then read for another hour! I know I'm being obtuse, but this is the kind of book that could be completely ruined by the revelation of spoilers. Don't read any reviews if you aren't certain that they're spoiler-free. The twists and turns in the final chapters kept me engrossed and marveling at Lehane's imagination. And, yes, I would love to see this book made into a movie. The intensity of at least a half dozen scenes would be so satisfying to watch on a big screen. Dreamworks optioned the rights, but don't get too excited. That was back in 2015.

I typically knock off half a point if I struggle with the beginning of a book, but the remainder of this one was so entertaining that I'm going with a full 5-star rating. Highly recommend!

Small Mercies

 

Small Mercies by Dennis Lehane

Fiction - Mystery/Crime

2023

Finished on January 27, 2024

Rating: 4.5/5 (Very Good)

Publisher's Blurb:

The acclaimed New York Times bestselling writer returns with a masterpiece to rival Mystic River —an all-consuming tale of revenge, family love, festering hate, and insidious power, set against one of the most tumultuous episodes in Boston’s history.

In the summer of 1974 a heatwave blankets Boston and Mary Pat Fennessy is trying to stay one step ahead of the bill collectors. Mary Pat has lived her entire life in the housing projects of “Southie,” the Irish American enclave that stubbornly adheres to old tradition and stands proudly apart.

One night Mary Pat’s teenage daughter Jules stays out late and doesn’t come home. That same evening, a young Black man is found dead, struck by a subway train under mysterious circumstances. The two events seem unconnected. But Mary Pat, propelled by a desperate search for her missing daughter, begins turning over stones best left untouched—asking questions that bother Marty Butler, chieftain of the Irish mob, and the men who work for him, men who don’t take kindly to any threat to their business.

Set against the hot, tumultuous months when the city’s desegregation of its public schools exploded in violence, Small Mercies is a superb thriller, a brutal depiction of criminality and power, and an unflinching portrait of the dark heart of American racism. It is a mesmerizing and wrenching work that only Dennis Lehane could write.

Years ago, I was a huge fan of Dennis Lehane, reading the entire Kenzie-Gennaro series, which I loved, although the final installment (Moonlight Mile) was a disappointment. I don't think I read Mystic River, but I loved the movie. And Shutter Island (book and movie) is outstanding. But it's been a long time since I've picked up any of Lehane's works. I went into Small Mercies cold, not even reading the publisher's blurb on the book jacket. This stand-alone would make a great movie, and I found myself picturing a few of the cast members from The Sopranos. The book is gritty, and Mary Pat is a kick-ass Southie whom I wouldn't want to cross! The racist attitudes and ugly language are especially hard to read, and sadly, so much of Lehane's commentary is still a part of this country's ills. And yet, while difficult to read, I couldn't stop. The pacing is tight, and I could feel my blood pressure creeping up as Mary Pat dealt with her demons, both visible and invisible. The issue of busing is more of a backdrop than a central theme, but Lehane gives us a lot to think about with regard to racism, and the novel would be an excellent choice for a book group discussion. Highly recommend.

Moonlight Mile

Jenclair wins a copy of this book!
Congratulations!

Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane
Mystery/Thriller
2010 William Morrow
Finished 11/10/10
Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)
FTC Disclosure: Acquired from Shelf Awareness

I am just living to be lying by your side
But I'm just about a moonlight mile on
down the road
~ Mick Jagger/Keith Richards, "Moonlight Mile"

Angie wasn’t just my partner. She wasn’t just my best friend. And she wasn’t just my lover. She was all those things, sure, but she was far more. Ever since we made love the other night, it had begun to dawn on me that what lay between us—what in all probability had lain between us since we were children—wasn’t just special; it was sacred.

Angie was where most of me began and all of me ended.

Without her—without knowing where she was or how she was—I wasn’t merely half my usual self; I was a cipher. (from Sacred)


They’re back!!!!

It was eight years ago that I first fell in love with Kenzie and Gennaro. Immediately after finishing A Drink Before the War, I dove right into the subsequent sequels with little time between each. Darkness, Take My Hand; Sacred; Gone, Baby, Gone; and Prayers for Rain (the latter of which I believe is Lehane’s best work in this series) kept me entertained and I was heartbroken as I read the final pages, having learned that Lehane had decided to end the series.

I think Spade and Marlowe remain icons because they didn’t wear out their welcome. Would Chandler be Chandler if he'd written 18 Marlowe books? I don’t know, but I wonder. Maybe Chandler could have sustained the level of quality, but the issue is more whether I can. And I have my doubts about that. The only artsy, metaphysical aspect of my approach to writing is that I can only write about characters when they come knocking on the door and tell me to. Patrick and Angie stopped knocking after Prayers for Rain. If they come knocking again, I’ll open the door and welcome them in with open arms because, well, they paid for my house and I’m exceedingly grateful. But if they don’t, then I'll be content to let them live happily ever after without my dropping another case-from-hell in their laps. They deserve that. (Lehane, from The Drood Review interview in 2002)

Well, I guess he missed his wise-cracking characters (or they missed him!) just as much as his fans did, and I was thrilled to snag an ARC of Moonlight Mile from Shelf Awareness earlier this fall. Unfortunately, I didn’t find the book to be nearly as lyrical or suspenseful as previous books in this series. I only marked one passage, and only because Gabby sounds a little bit like our granddaughter. Nonetheless, it was fun to catch up with Patrick, Angie and Bubba, and now I’m tempted to go back and re-read the entire series.

On life’s burdens:

We came out of the dark of the tunnel into the late afternoon traffic as the girls sang and clapped their hands to the beat. Traffic was light, because it was Christmas Eve and most people had either not gone to work or had left early. The sky was purple tin. A few flakes of snow fell, but not enough to accumulate. My daughter squealed again and both Bubba and I winced. It’s not an attractive sound, that. It’s high-pitched and it enters your ear canals like hot glass. No matter how much I love my daughter, I will never love her squealing.

Or maybe I will.

Maybe I do.

Driving south on 93, I realized, once and for all, that I love the things that chafe. The things that fill me with stress so total I can’t remember when a block of it didn’t rest on top of my heart. I love what, if broken, can’t be repaired. What, if lost, can’t be replaced.

I love my burdens…

I’m a deeply flawed man who loves a deeply flawed woman and we gave birth to a beautiful child who, I fear, may never stop talking. Or squealing. My best friend is a borderline psychotic who has more sins on his ledger than whole street gangs and some governments. And yet…

Oh, yeah. Here’s the publisher’s blurb:

Amanda McCready was four years old when she vanished from a Boson apartment in 1997. Desperate pleas for help from the child’s aunt led savvy, tough-nosed investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro to take on the case. The pair risked everything to find the young girl—only to have Kenzie orchestrate her return to a neglectful mother and a broken home.

Now Amanda is sixteen—and gone again. A stellar student, brilliant but aloof, she seemed destined to escape her upbringing. Yet Amanda’s aunt is once more knocking at Kenzie’s door, fearing the worst for the little girl who has blossomed into a striking bright young woman who hasn’t been seen in two weeks.

Haunted by the past, Kenzie and Gennaro revisit the case that troubled them the most, following a twelve-year trail of secrets and lies down the darkest alleys of Boston’s gritty, blue-collar streets. Assuring themselves that this time will be different, they vow to make good on their promise to find Amanda and see that she is safe. But their determination to do the right thing holds dark implications Kenzie and Gennaro aren’t prepared for… consequences that could cost them not only Amanda’s life, but their own.

I’ll be curious to hear how others like this final installment in the Kenzie-Gennaro series. Leave me a comment, if you’re interested in my ARC. I’ll draw a name on December 13th.