Boston private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro are hired by a psychiatrist with a troublesome tale to tell. A young woman had come in for a counseling session regarding her abusive boyfriend. The boyfriend learned of the meeting and began to issue threats - the latest via a manila envelope containing what appears to be a surveillance photo of the doctor's son. The identity of the boyfriend shocks Pat and Angie. They grew up with Kevin Hurlihy who is, yes, a certified psychotic cu...

“If you and your partner aren’t civilians and you’re not cops, then what are you?”I shrugged. “Two idiots who aren’t half as tough as we thought we were.” - In media res is a cute little story telling trick where the writer starts in the middle or with the aftermath of the action and then drops hints and clues about what occurs in what you’re about to read. It works really well if it’s some kind series where you already know the characters. I’m a complete sucker for this tactic, and Lehane uses

I don't know what to say, except, maybe...Now this is a read, motherfuckers. And...Well, except read A Drink Before the War first because the idea of anyone reading series books out of order not only gives me an anxiety attack but it's just wrong and should be punished with jail time. Or a nice spork in the eye.Anyway, I don't often get that ohmigawdIhavetodonothingbutreaduntilIfindoutwhathaaaapeeeens feeling, but I got it here. It's such a nice feeling. Makes me so happy to be a reader.Love the...

Psycho Secrets in South Boston BadlandsThis was my first Lehane PI novel, a psychological suspense that drew me in with an intriguing and plausible plot, in which the gritty characters were developed well enough for me to connect with them. Lehane created just the right amount of sexual tension between the PI partners, Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro, to keep an undercurrent buzzing. I found the story gripping as it threw me into a harbor of bad blood, mobsters and psychos in South Boston (Sout...

Dennis Lehane - image from The-Talks.com PIs Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro are drawn into a malestron of violence and danger after a shrink passes along a dark tale of stalking and murder reported by a patient. When the patient's son is threatened the game is afoot. It takes a few twists and turns that lead to killer clowns, crimes of the deep past and years of revenge and psychotic control and planning. Ultra violence permeates. Dark and evil with a taste for cruelty almost kills the team a...

A psychiatrist is worried that someone is stalking her teenage son and is in danger. So she asks Kenzie and Gennaro to look out for her son. Also one her client is an abusive relationship, who disappears and poor doctor started getting threatening calls. One of the shocking thing about the disappeared client was her surname, which was "Krnzie." Once Patrick and Angie start investigations, things gets messier, nastier and bloodier with each passing day.While Kenzie and Gennaro were brave in the f...

Hot on the heels of finishing A Drink Before the War , I felt ready for another dose of Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro in my life. Actually, rave reviews for this second volume In Dennis Lehane's detective duo series were what lead me to read the first. After all, what girl can resist a promise of serial murders and Boston days of yore? Not this one. The case starts off simply enough, a psychiatrist receives a photograph of her son and a menacing phone call, possibly Mafia associated, and...

Darkness, Take My Hand (Kenzie & Gennaro #2) by Dennis LehaneAudiobook, Length: 12:17 hours, Narrator: Jonathan DavisWith over 1,000 written reviews in Goodreads, I don’t intend to recap the story and plot line of Darkness, Take My Hand. I’d rather comment on some of the characters, the writing, and how the book affected me.Beset as I am with advancing age (77) and a variety of illnesses, I, nevertheless, believe I am in possession of all, or at least most, of my mental marbles. So, when I say I...

"Darkness," I said, "take my hand. Take Me away from this place." and Darkness did.It's pretty good for a series when the second book of it is even better than the first. (A Drink Before the War) This book is that. I got really attached to the characters of Angie and Kenzie in the first book and this book cemented that fictional bond. You live in these books when you read them. Not that it's always a good thing, this book crept even my non-feeling ass out.Kenzie and Angie take a simple case whe

Tell me, what are all-time favorites made of? Perhaps we all have a different definition for them, but mine? I read so much that a great, even amazing book can get sidelined if it doesn't leave a mark on me. On the contrary, a flawed one can earn its stripes if the emotions it makes me feel are unforgettable. I'd say that if there were one lesson to be learnt from this experience, is that Darkness, Take My Hand will linger. Oh, yes, it will. ➊ a fucked-up male lead I grew to adore and for whom I...

Excellent... Far better than the first book, but still flawed in the middle third.This book starts and ends very well, very exciting and fun. Patrick's new loves, Grace and her daughter Mae, appear suddenly and unexpectedly. Angela is off slumming in bars, and she and Patrick seem back to The Friend Zone again. What happened in-between the first two books? The barely restrained (and terrific) passion between Patrick and Angela is suddenly missing at the start of this book. 😞As is often the case

"Eviscerate them, Patrick. Kill them all." I can't say that I went into this book series knowing what I was going to be reading. I also can't say that it was what I would expect it to be. Thought provoking, beautiful writing is a high point in this series, and I'm ashamed to admit I was shocked that that was the case. From page one of book one, I have been enamored with the depth of these stories and the amazing writing that pulls you in whether you want to be sucked in or not....

It's like a James Patterson. Only, you know, good.It might seem churlish of me to criticise a 510 page book that I finished (and enjoyed) in record breaking time as being too populist to be truly great but the fact of the matter is that this series jumped from what I might consider hard-boiled and noir in to thriller territory marked for mass consumption by people who prefer their font to be on the larger size in the space of one book.I complained in my review of book 1 that Lehane drifted far t...

Posted at Shelf Inflicted This second book in the Kenzie/Gennaro series is even better than the first. It retains some of the humor of the first, but is considerably darker and more violent. Bubba, the one-man army who cares for no one but Patrick and Angie, has a much more significant role which involves a fire hydrant and a bowling alley. Angie’s abusive ex-husband, Phil, has quit drinking and starts to show his decent side to a point where I actually began to like the guy. Patrick now has a s...

Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, who were introduced in A Drink Before the War, return in this dark novel set in Dorchester, a working class neighborhood of Boston, MA. While many have left Dorchester Kenzie and Angie stayed and are private investigators. In this story they are hired by a prominent Boston psychiatrist. A young woman told her about an abusive boyfriend. The boyfriend happened to be a member of the Irish mafia. Shortly after that the psychiatrist recieved a photograph of her son...

Scary serial killer stuff. Private detectives Kenzie and Genaro are likable, the killers are weird and memorable (although I must confess I'm weary of serial killers), and the Boston atmosphere is very authentic. Second in a series.

Strong read. Dark

In this book Patrick has started a relationship with Grace, a young doctor with a daughter, and Angie has divorced Phil. But their life will soon be turned upside down. A psychiatrist hires Angie and Patrick to watch over her son who she is scared is a target by the Irish mafia. But they never imagine what the case will do to their life... This book grabbed a hold of me from the beginning and kept its hold until the end. The first book was good, this book was awesome. The story was tragic, distu...

Just when things are going great for both of them, Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro are hired by a psychiatrist to find out who's stalking her son. Meanwhile, Patrick runs into a troubled girl from the neighborhood. But what do these two things have to do with an imprisioned psychopath who wants to speak with Patrick?One of these days, I'm going to learn my lesson and have Kemper and Nancy pick out all my books for me. Kenzie and Gennaro are rapidly climbing my detective hierarchy.Things have

I read this book to fill the Set in New England square on my 2016 Halloween Book Bingo card.Wow, this was gritty and dark. A part of Boston that had never, ever crossed my mind—the Irish working class and the mafia that sprang from them. And the two investigators, Patrick and Angela, not only share this background but have stuck around & continued to work in it.I missed the first book and truthfully I don’t know that I will read another in the series. One dose of bleakness may be sufficient for...