Rating: 
Summary: Complex, thoughtful, and emotional
Review: This crime story was a hard one to read. And it's complex, difficult to condense to a synopsis for an Amazon review. But here goes: Dave Boyle was kidnapped and sexually molested as an 11yo Boston kid. He escaped, but he and his 2 best friends drifted apart as the years passed. Flash forward to their adulthood. The 19yo daughter of one of his friends is murdered. The other friend is a homicide cop, and he begins to suspect Dave, a secretive man who has led a double life ever since the molestation. I think that's all I'll say, because to tell more might be to tell too much. It's a beauty of a book with an unnerving ending, much more subtle and nuanced that Lehane's previous books.
Rating: 
Summary: I love a book that I don't want to end
Review: yet, I need to know the ending. The characters invited me in to their homes and I enjoyed my visit there. The only thing that kept me from giving this a five was that some of the writing was a bit emotionless. Meaning, I would have liked a bit of spine tingling on my part and a bit less matter of fact explanation on the author's part. I do want to read other books by this author simply because I like the people he creates and want to know more of them. I recommend this book highly but don't expect a thriller. This a character novel and a good one at that.
Rating:
Summary: Very good read.
Review: First off I must state that I saw the movie based upon this book before I read the book. Sometimes that is better than reading the book first, however, in this case, I don't think it would have changed my opinion either way, the book was very good and I didn't mind the fact that I already knew how it was going to turn out.My complaint, if I were to state one, would be that the book is not told from the first person, so that we are shown the viewpoints of many characters and yet don't quite get to have someone to really root for. I guess the cop is probably the protagonist, and I imagined him looking like Kevin Bacon since that was who played him in the movie. But Shawn Penn did such a good job in the role on screen, I couldn't quite shake the idea that he was the star of the book too, although, really, he wasn't. In any case, the book was a good suspenseful read and I recommend it to any that enjoy well thought out murder mysteries that have more going for them then the standard soap opera/romance version of a mystery. I didn't put this book down, but I will say it was a bit more of a struggle than your average thriller, which is to say, it was very good, but not light reading. There is some struggle and tension throughout the book and I believe it was handled well by the author. The story takes you into the mind of a man that was abused as a child and it describes his inner struggle to be a better person (husband and father) and overcome his fears and nightmares. It also takes you into the mind of a man that is able to overcome the world in many ways because of his innate intelligence and charm, yet is stricken by tragedy that he cannot control. The third mind we see into is the that of a police officer who is both confident and successful except in his most important relationship and how that effects his thinking and struggle. I give it a strong recommendation and as an aside, I think the movie was well done and won't seem disappointing if you read the book first, nor was the book spoiled in anyway, in my opinion, by seeing the movie first.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, plain and simple
Review: "Mystic River" gripped me like no other book I've read in a long, long time. I was amazed at the depth of the characters and how well Lehane tells the story. By the end, I felt angry at Jimmy for being so self-satisfied, sorry for Dave because of his lifetime of punishment, and I was rooting for Sean. In other words, I cared about these people and wanted to know what happened to them once the novel ended. Beautifully written, tragic, melancholy, and even funny. "Mystic River" is fantastic. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Great book until it is derailed at the end
Review: About half way through the book I took a stab and guessed at who I thought did it. I was right, which was okay but the reason Lehane came up with was lame. I thought it was that person but for an entirely different more reasonable reason. But, up until then, the book was very good and kept me reading until late in the night.
Just finished reading "A Drink Before the War". I recommend it to anyone. It's a different style, but still very entertaining.
Rating: 
Summary: 3.5 stars
Review: I think this is not a bad book and it is not the best book I have ever read. There are few parts of the story which i do not like:
1. dave killed [......] and lied to his wife that he killed a robber.
2. dave's wife went first to jimmy marcus instead of the police to say that she suspected her husband killed katie. i think she should try to understand why dave behaved strangely instead of running away.
3. jimmy marcus killed [....]. dave had already explained that he did not kill [....] and jim did not listen to him.
Rating: 
Summary: let down
Review: I heard that Clint Eastwood wanted to do this movie so I immediately read the book. The plot started out great but the end was awful! I can't imagine the movie could make it end up any better, unless they completely go away from the book. Save your money!
Rating:
Summary: Not brilliant, but worth a read
Review: I was touched by some of the emotions conveyed, but on the whole, most of it was unconvincing. The author stressed trust, honesty, and strength as virtues. At the same time, he portrayed weakness as a poison that will inevitably be spread. The ending was disappointing, almost a fairy tale with predictable conflicts to arise between the cop and the new Irish Godfather. I was disappointed that the author blamed adolescent violence on desensitization from video games and movies. The characters are two-dimensional at best; however, the book is a real page-turner and I think it's a good light read.
Rating: 
Summary: A Powerhouse? More like the Outhouse!
Review: This novel APPEARS to be a suspenseful powerhouse, however, the author fails (miserably) to tie up all the loose ends into a nice neat package. The so called element of surprise is a complete let down. Don't get wrong, the book is fascinating up until approximately three-quarters through. It is here that the author begins to spin a web of characters and events so convoluted the readers head begins to swim. The climax is weak, juvenile, and truly disappointing. Ultimately a futile attempt at suspense.
Rating:
Summary: About Boy and Wolves
Review: This is the title of Mistyc River in Portuguese, which is very appropriate in a story that, beside of all the crime scenes, explorates so much the psycology of each carachter (three small kids that grow together in a poor Boston suburbian area, and when they grow up each one follow it's own way, due to something that happens to one of them, that will change their lives forever), in a way each man will have to fight his own personal wolf (and some maybe defeated by their wolves). When I first read 'A Drink Before the War' I thought: "This is not only another noir, this guy has style!" I guess it's unnanimous by now that Dennis Lehane brought some artistic visions over noir subjects (he can talk about a murder the way we talk about red roses)...
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