Prayers for Rain

Rating:
Summary: Funny and Original Crime Novel
Review: It was startling to read this book because Dennis Lehane's writing style is so distinctly unique and engrossing. I was drawn into the story from the start because the narrative was funny, smart and original. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of the characters which made them come alive on the page which is a real accomplishment for any writer.

The plot was intriguing and compelling and I somehow ended up reading the whole book in the space of one day (and most of the night!). I had never read a Kenzie / Gennaro / Rogowski crime novel before and so I was new to the characters, but they all seemed to me to be very well developed and interesting. I even liked the fact that Bubba was more like a superhero than a real life human being. However, I was shocked by some of the things that the lead characters did, for example, arranging for criminals to be beaten up severely and other shady dealings which made me a bit uncomfortable.

Overall Prayers For Rain was a great introduction for me into this series. The excellent humour was a real surprise and definitely made me read on and there was a satisfying twist at the end. The twists and turns of the plot were entertaining and the action scenes were described really well. I'll certainly be checking out other Lehane books in the future. Highly Recommended.

JoAnne

Rating:
Summary: Gripping Psychological Thriller; Unforgettable Characters
Review: I was really wowed by this novel, the first I have read by Dennis Lehane. I really enjoyed the characters as well--Boston P.I. Patrick McKenzie, his trenchcoat wearing boyhood friend and gun runner Bubba Rogowski and his former partner Angie Gennaro, who grandfather is with the italian mob.

McKenzie is hired by Karen Nichols to stop a stalker. McKenzie and Bubba deliver a not so subtle threat/beating and all seems well. Mc Kenzie does not have time to return a second call from Nichols and the next time he hears about her is about her suicide on the news. Feeling guilty that he should have responded earlier, McKenzie starts investigating a bizzare case of psychological warfare, blackmail and murder that is fascinating and chilling all at once. There are lots of bad guys, including Nichols heartless parents and step brother. All is not what it seems in this broad conspiracy of evil. When the identity of the villain is revealed, the warfare becomes very personal, with the fight to the death.

Compelling,scary, and hard-to-put down, Prayers for Rain is not to be missed!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Best of the series!
Review: 'Prayers for Rain' is by far the best in the series.All of them are excellent reads of the highest order. This book has wonderfully rounded characters that even if you are not famililar with Angie and Patrick you'll still instantly feel like you know them.The story is excellent, the characters are excellent and as always Dennis Lehane has written another wonderful book.Hopefully he'll write another edition in the series but for now I'd recommend picking up Shutter Island or Mystic River.

Rating:
Summary: Lehane is addictive
Review: I recently read "Mystic River", my first Lehane book, and loved it, so I thought I would give one of the Kenzie-Gennaro books a try. I'm so glad I did because "Prayers for Rain" is one of the best books I've read in a long time. It's got a fast-moving, nail-biting plot and an antagonist so sinister that you'll find you can't turn the pages fast enough. The dialogue is pitch perfect and the characters are so well written that you'll feel like you know them only a few pages into the book. I can't wait to read the other books in the series.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but perhaps it's time for a break from the series
Review: Dennis Lehane has created one of the very best hard boiled-and-hip private investigator series in contemporary literature, the Boston-set adventures of Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, plus their brutal-but-lovable sidekick, Bubba. All of the books in the series have been exemplary, and in most ways, *Prayers for Rain* is no exception. The plot is gripping, the villain is reprehensible, and there are enough twists in the story to keep readers fascinated right up until the slightly ambiguous and discordant ending.

So for those who have followed the series from its beginnings with *A Drink Before the War* (and reading the books in order is definitely the way to go here), I would certainly recommend that they read this book, as surely they will enjoy it.

HOWEVER--I did develop some reservations this time around. There were three aspects of *A Prayer for Rain* that I found annoying. First, Lehane gives every impression here of having visions that, like Robert Parker's Spenser, Kenzie and Gennaro might someday grace their very own television series. There is certainly nothing wrong with this, but the increasingly macho behavior of Kenzie, including in-you-face posturing in face-to-face encounters with his villains seems just a tad too similar to scenes from "Nash Bridges." I suspect that he would have gone ahead and called his adversary "Bubba," were it not for the fact that one of the main characters in the novels already has claimed this name.

And Bubba--ah, yes. He's an interesting and in some ways lovable kind of sidekick character, but when he is brought front and center in the story, as he has this time around, the ridiculous nature of his *persona* becomes uncomfortably clear. As another reviewer commented, he is a veritable cartoon character, a person who is real life would really be a kind of psychopathic monster. Yet here he is portrayed not only as a kind of super-male "warrior"-hero, but a kind of warm-and-fuzzy one who engages in completely unlikely romantic conquests (I won't give away the details here), a feature which I would think many women readers would find kind of offensive.

The third flaw is a kind of minor thing, but it annoyed me just the same. Lehane clearly has a strongly male persective in his approach to relationships and to women in general, and this becomes a limitation on the effectiveness of his writing sometimes. For example, his idealized female protagonist, Angela, comes across as a fairly shallow character much of the time, and on occasion Lehane puts words and sentiments in her mouth which are pretty ridiculous. For example, Angie postulates that Bubba's magnetism with regard to even the most cool and intellectual of women is attributed in part to the fact that he is "hung," a fact that women allegedly can always tell, no matter what a man is wearing. Give me a break, folks.

I know, picky, picky. Overall, this novel stands head and shoulders above most others in this genre, and fans of the previous books certainly should go ahead and read it. But I think that there is a tiredness to the Kenzie-Gennaro series by this point, and I suspect that Lehane himself agreed, since his newest book, *Mystic River*, has a different set of characters.

Rating:
Summary: Prayers for Rain
Review: The only thing I can say about Dennis Lehane is: "When's the next one going to print?" For myself, I thought 'Prayers' dialogue was a bit snappier, more colorful, than the others but that's me. One of the many things I enjoy about Lehane's writing is that he puts as much effort into the last ten pages as he did the first ten. In detective and mystery stories, that's rare indeed.

Rating:
Summary: Dark and all to Real
Review: Things haven't been going well for Patrick Kenzie, so when Karen Nichols hires him to get a stalker off her back, he doesn't give it his best effort. Then when Karen commits suicide he's consumed by guilt. With Angie and Bubba with him on the case, Patrick learns that there was more than a stalker in Karen's life and now all three of them are in danger.

This book is best read after the others in the series, but it is a stand alone novel. And like his other books, Lehane takes us on a ride to the dark side of human behavior, but he's such an excellent story teller that we're there before we know it happened. There is a lot violence here and it seems all too real, so real it's scary. Lehane paints his people with the brush of truth, his descriptions with the brush of fact. A five star book if ever there was one.

Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne

Rating:
Summary: The best of the series
Review: I just finished the last of the Kenzie/Gennaro series and have to say it was the best of the bunch -- which, considering my high opinion of the preceding books, is saying something. I'm not a big fan of violence, but it always seems counteracted by the scenes when Patrick, Ange and Bubba get together and start their "three stooges" routine. Besides, once I start a Lehane book, the writing just sucks me in and I've gotta stick to the end.

Rating:
Summary: a book for the most discriminating mystery reader...
Review: 'Prayers for Rain' is my first Dennis Lehane book. I now think I'll read the rest. Why? Unlike many of the popular crime/mystery writers of today Lehane can *really write* as opposed to just tell a good story. 'Prayers for Rain' should be considered literature by any standard.

In this book we have a couple of private investigators following upon the odd suicide of a young woman. The more they dig into it the more strange things become. Before long it all becomes a bit unbelievable yet the author is so deft at spinning this story that each little twist comes as an exciting surprise (as opposed to a groan of disbelief). I should also add that much of the story is very violent, with some very cruel/sadistic moments.

But back to Lehane's writing ability. The prose is uniformly excellent, and the characters are very well-developed. Compared to the likes of Robert Crais and George Pelecanos, two authors I admire, Lehane is clearly the superior writer. It was a complete pleasure reading 'Prayers for Rain'.

Bottom line: slightly over-cooked story aside, 'Prayers for Rain' and Dennis Lehane are definite winners. Strongly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic story, genuine bad guy, incredible humor
Review: This guy (Lehene) is good. What a teriffic plot, and I find myself laughing out loud with the banter between Angie, Patrick, Bubba (is this guy a piece of work or what?). This is great reading. If you can get the unabridged book on tape, it is worth the extra $$$. The readers "Basten" accent adds a dimension to the story that cannot come thru in written form.