Tight noir. Approaches the corny. ( )

This book, first in the Kenzie and Gennaro series written by Dennis Lehane, is a book that will leave you frantically turning pages. Lehane is a master of suspense, and this comes out in this first book of the series. I will have to read more to see if that still holds The book is set on the rough streets of Boston. The novel was written in 2003, so was contemporary to that date. The book is fast-paced with razor-sharp dialogue, and very graphic descriptions of what could be called the worst crime scenes you'll ever come across. Terror is reigning in the streets of Boston when Patrick Kenzie is called to a Senator's house to take on a commission which he is told involves finding some stolen "documents". The retainer promised when these documents are found is substantial enough to get him to accept this offer. Little does he know that he is drawing himself and his partner into a no-holds barred turf war between two black gangs, and into the bedrooms of some powerful people who have many secrets to keep hidden. The book is violent and graphic and Patrick and Angie find themselves fighting for their lives at every corner. Lehane does not shy away from gang violence on a monumental scale, or pornography and child endangerment at its most depraved. I enjoyed the book, and really liked the characters. Angie and Patrick are bad-asses, and some of their friends are not people that anyone would want to have terrorizing them. Even the cops are likeable--rough and ready, and not afraid to go to whatever lengths required to stop the violence on their streets. I look forward to reading the second in the series, especially as I will be better prepared for the shocks, the absolutely terrifying bad guys, and look forward to seeing how the good guys win out in the end. Battered, bruised and shaken, but still willing to keep going after the seemingly endless selection of horrifying people that fill the pages of this series of books. ( )

Didn't realize Lehane had a detective series. Great read and sense of place. Not sure if it was his first novel but the large paragraph tirades were there as well as a couple of over the top characters like Bubba, Phil, and Socia. It certainly made me want to read more. his last Kenzie book was 2010. Wonder if he'll write another. ( )

A cabal of powerful Boston politicians is willing to pay Kenzie and Gennaro big money for a seemingly small job: to find a missing cleaning woman who stole some secret documents. As Kenzie and Gennaro learn, however, this crime is no ordinary theft. It’s about justice, about right and wrong. But in Boston, finding the truth isn’t just a dirty business….it’s deadly. ( )

Very good page turner .... strikes me as a modern version of a Raymond Chandler story, which in my mind is a good thing. ( )