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Fantastic. Lehane is a crime writer situated on the shelf amongst the greats, with such control and sharp craft that I'm still wondering now, many days after I've finished the book, if he may be the greatest living crime writer. Shades of Ellroy, Elmore Leonard and Cormac McCarthy are in this Prohibition Era gangster mini-epic. Lehane's gift is that his books really MOVE, like the hydraulic launch of a roller coaster -- never once did I feel stalled or taxed. After a great start, Lehane rides the inertial forces towards a dramatic conclusion like a freight train launched into the sky on booster rockets. And yet, the landscape we're traveling isn't new territory: if I were to tell you the plot over coffee, you'd think it's what you'd seen before. A throw-back in the vein of every atypical gangster story, from "Public Enemy" to "Scarface." Lehane isn't trying to dazzle or re-invent. While there are some surprises, they aren't genre twisters. He's not concerned with forcing what's new, only shining a light on what's there, a bright light on a plank of wood to illuminate the grain. His prose is so good, so well-observed, that I want to squeeze the pages like a sponge to wring those words out of there. But again, he never gets hung up on this or that. He paints a picture with exacting clarity yet each chapter is like a run down a water slide. How? I don't know. But when I read it again -- and I will -- I'm going to rake it for secrets. In this book, there are many.
Okay, you might be wondering why I rated Live By Night 5 stars. I've read a bunch of Dennis Lehane's novels and some I put down, but not this one. The main character, Joe Coughlin, is completely three dimensional. His father, Thomas Coughlin, deputy superintendent of the Boston Police Department, is also beautifully rendered (by complete coincidence my name is also Thomas Coughlin). I loved the way Joe's father transformed from a monster to a loving dad with a heart.But, the main reason I rated it 5 stars is because of passages like the one below:"The first time they made love in her room above the cafe it was like a car crash. They mashed each other's bones and fell off the bed and toppled a chair and when he entered her, she sank his teeth into his shoulder so hard she drew blood. It was over in the time it took to dry a dish."Beautiful, that last line took my breath away. The novel is full of these gems. Kudos Dennis!
My first LeHane. I enjoyed it--very "noir."
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