Mystic River

Rating:
Summary: Sneaks up on you
Review: What a great piece of fiction from Dennis Lehane. This is the closest thing to "literature" I have read since college. This is definately not a book filled with fluff entertainment. Lehane goes in depth with current society issues (especially Boston society), as well has human nature and emotions. I wholeheartedly agree with the reviewer that said they had never read better descriptions of the feelings of losing a loved one.

And while I'm on the subject of feelings of human loss and the vivid descriptions in this book, I have to say this may be the saddest book I have ever read. Don't let that stop you from reading it though. It is a very realistic (unfortunately) view of human nature, and how our experiences shape our lives.

I read this immediately after reading the fast paced books of Jeffery Deaver (which I also love), so this one was a little slow to get started for me. In fact I almost put it down. I am so glad I didn't, because it really snuck up on me and hooked me before I even realized it.

The book has three main characters (Sean, Jimmy, and Dave) and they are extremely well developed. It also has a very complex plot that Lehane pulls together seamlessly and with an amazing talent. He also incorporates a bit of mystery into it. It's pretty easy to figure out the mystery, but that doesn't take away from the premise of the book.

Lehane also pulls a few surprises along the way. However he does it differently than most authors. For instance, with Deaver you always know something is about to happen, but he surprises you with what that something is. Lehane however pulls his surprises out of nowhere. He kind of lulls you into a description, then all of a sudden something surprising has happened.

So I recommend you give it a try, stick with it through the slow beginning, and I promise it will stick with you for a long time after you've finished it.

Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended!
Review: This is the first of Lehane's novels that I have read, and it certainly will not be the last. This book was just randomly picked up by me in the bookstore, and what interested me was the fascination that I have for the Irish mafia in Boston.

Lehane has a thorough knowledge of Southie and the Dorchester area, and he had all the main characters, Jimmy, Dave and Sean so well developed, both the good and bad sides of them. Probably having read "All Souls" by Michael Patrick McDonald, I was able to get a better sense, and feel respect for the struggles that working class Bostonians had and still might have to go through for their survival as was so well described in Mystic River.

Rating:
Summary: oh, come on
Review: lehane has intelligent things to say about the other side of gentrification. (thus the 2 stars). so why not write a real novel about it? wrapped up in this pedantic police procedural, where the reader knows everything before the cops do, so we're forced to slug through them figuring it out, his ideas lose all their force.

By the way, does every victim need to have their face punched in so badly you 'can't even tell what race they were'?

this is genre airport reading that shows promise, but has not achieved anything close to the ecsatic reviews above.But, police mysteries can be brilliant, with real socical inight and value.
Want to see how its done? Read 'Clockers', by richard price.

Rating:
Summary: Mixed Emotions
Review: I feel compelled to give this hypnotic read a high rating alone for its fresh premise. Mr. Lehane does an excellent job weaving many characters into the story with an astounding clarity of individual personalities (many authors creating this many characters would have had us in a state of confusion, but he pulls it off beautifully). The book has one of the best twists to be written in a long period of time. Potential readers will either love or hate the streamlined and simple dialogue. The only thing that prevents me from giving the book 5 stars is that, in my opinion, the book fizzles out on the last 40 or so pages (maybe I just feel this way due to the fact that I guessed the ending). However, this book moves right along, without any sluggishness, so if you are a suspense fan, do not miss this one.

Rating:
Summary: A Reluctant Don Corleone
Review: Let me begin by saying that I waited a few weeks before writing this review. I needed the time to find a better writer than Dennis Lehane in this genre. Thus far, I have found none. Boy o boy, can this Lehane write! The story is crisp and original; the pacing breakneck, but sublime. I would like to analyze this book with the students in my college literature classes, along with Faulkner, Flannery O'Conner, Hemingway, and Mario Puzo--Puzo, because this book is "Godfather" good, with Jimmy Marcus being a reluctant Don Corleone of Boston. But the writing--the writing. Lehane's confident prose styling is the real magic here. It reminds us why we read (rather than watch TV or a film) in the first place. We read good writers because they draw pictures in our head like no camera can. This tragic and complex story of family, friendship, murder, and betrayal (and Boston!--Oh the Point and the Flat are alive like new gems in this book) could not have been handled more deftly by anyone. Think about it... Wow.

Rating:
Summary: Character-Driven Suspense
Review: What amazed me most about this novel was that, even though the plot was very simple, the characters depicted within were so complex, intense and real they almost literally seemed to be living human beings. Lehane is a master at showing the tragedy of life, of the terrible mistakes we make and of how repentance often comes too late. I was hypnotised as I read this book, and whenever I put it down it took me a while to adjust to the real world around me; Mystic River is that powerful. Lehane deserves to be recognized by a larger audience, and I hope he one day gets his due.

Rating:
Summary: My oh My!
Review: I justed finished Mystic River by Dennis Lehane and all I can say is My oh My! The best thing about this book is that it is so well written. Lehane is a step above many other current mystery writers because is writes well and tells an incredible story at the same time. He, along with Crais, Connelly, and Coben really are a cut above because they write so darn well. Add Pelecanos to that same list as well.

The bad about this book is the "heavy" content. I had forgotten how well Lehane tells it like it is. I haven't been so depressed after a book since I read Lehane's first A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR. There is no sugar coating here. Lehane's content is graphic, poignant, and at times upsetting. It isn't content that is hard to believe, I just hate to admit to myself that there really are some sick and disturbed people in this world. Perhaps the truth he tells, even when you know it is truth, is very hard to stomach.

Not for the light hearted, but still a very wonderful read.

Rating:
Summary: Mystic River
Review: Dennis Lehane has to be the best in the field. I wouldn't miss a book he wrote. If you haven't read any of his books, go buy them all then call in sick for a week and read them from beginning to end! You won't be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Best I've Read Since PLAINSONG!
Review: PUBLISHERS WEEKLY refers to Dennis Lehane as the hippest heir to Hammett and Chandler. I don't see much of a similarity, other than that MYSTIC RIVER might be considered a noir novel. Lehane is more of a literary writer. Where Hammett's writing is spare, written in objective point of view, Lehane takes you inside the heads of some of the most realistic characters I've encountered in quite some time.
The story starts when Sean Devine, Jimmy Marcus, and Dave Boyle were kids. They were friends, kind of, but Sean was from the Point, whereas Jimmy and Dave were from the Flats. I don't know if this was meant to be Boston or not, but Lehane explains the difference toward the end of the book. The Pen River is named after a penitentiary that was once located there. People who lived in the Flats were descendants of the prisoners; those who lived in The Point were the children of the guards.
Anyway, Dave and Jimmy and Sean get into a fight (Jimmy wants to steal a car and Sean doesn't want to); a car pulls up and some cops get out. They take Dave away. Only, they're not cops.
Twenty-five years later the story picks up when ex-con Jimmy's daughter goes missing. Sean is now a cop (Of course he is, he's from the point). Dave has a hard time holding a job. Jimmy has pretty much gone straight. He runs a corner store (It's described during some of the best exposition I've ever read). Dave becomes a suspect because he's one of the last people to see Jimmy's daughter alive.
MYSTIC RIVER is about so much more than just the aftermath of child abuse. We get inside the head of a murderer, more than one actually, and they're not your typical murderers; they're your everyday people who have trouble holding a job, who fight with their wives, who try to do the right thing. This is one of the best books I've read in the last ten years, right up there with Kent Haruf's PLAINSONG.

Rating:
Summary: From the darker side of Beantown
Review: Dennis Lehane captures the dark side of life in and around Boston and writes dialogue as well as anyone. The thread of child abuse that runs through everything I've read by him is discomforting, but he still creates a great story.

This one begins with a flashback to when Jimmy, Sean and Dave were 11 years old. Two guys posing as cops hassled them for fighting and took Dave away in their car. Twenty-five years later Jimmy's daughter Kate is murdered the night before her wedding. Sean's a State Cop, and he and his partner Whitey are called to the scene. Dave, now married but probably affected by that boyhood incident, is the reader's immediate suspect.

The cops banter about evidence, pieces that may or may not make sense. Dave's squarely in the picture with big holes in his story, but will they tie him to Kate's murder?

Jimmy's life becomes central to the story which unfolds during Sean and Whitey's investigation. The characters really come to life, and there are many twists and turns on the path toward conclusion. Very well done!