Dennis Lehane

[cody44]

Has anyone here read this author? I've recently watched Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone, and they have both sparked my interest in him.

I love the characters, and can't get enough of the Boston setting. What do you guys think?

[Bev Vincent]

Mystic River is an excellent novel and the movie does it justice.

Gone Baby Gone is one of five novels featuring Kenzie & Gennaro, and you should read them in order as they form a well-defined character arc. Shutter Island is okay, but it features something that was done better in another novel, so it didn't feel as substantial to me as his earlier work. The movie, though, looks like it will be good. I didn't care for his short story collection, Coronado, but I liked The Given Day, his most recent novel, a lot.

[Darkmaniscoming]

No been meaning to but haven't got around to it...

i have 2 signed books by him for sale...
S/L "coronado"
and his last book
S/L "the given day"
I could do both with shipping for $80....
pm me if interested

[Seymour_Glass]

I read Shutter island and liked it, but I saw the movie Gone Baby Gone and I want to read all the books now.


Also, he was a writer for the Wire.

[cody44]

Yeah I really want to read all the books in that series too, but I may start with Mystic River or Shutter Island.

[Nick Stefanos]

I wasn't crazy about Coronado (the story collection) but I love Lehane's novels. I got into him because he wrote for The Wire.

[Nick Stefanos]

Mystic River is a great starting point for Lehane. I read the Kenzie/Genarro novels out of sequence and it was coherent. Lehane does a great job of making it pay if you've read them in order, but providing enough backstory with each consecutive edition that you can read them in any order and still get a rewarding read. I did anyway, your mileage may vary. FYI, another good starting point is Live By Night. I've actually yet to read it's storyline-predecessor The Given Day and still thoroughly enjoyed Live By Night more than any other book I read last year.

[blunthead]

I've read Mystic River only. I don't remember who or what influenced me to read Lehane. The movie came out after I read it. I then bought Gone Baby Gone, started to read that, but fell away.

[Cordial Jim]

Dennis Lehane is one of my favorite authors. My favorites are the Kenzie-Gennaro novels, but ALL of his writing is great (especially Mystic River and Shutter Island). Stephen King is a fan of his work, so you know he must be good.