Prayers for Rain

Rating:
Summary: Once again - the best!
Review: My Dennis Lehane books go out to all my friends. They excitedly await them. This one is no disappointment. Please, all you readers out there, begin with book 1, and continue on to the last one. I know you will not be disappointed! Boston milieu.

Rating:
Summary: Dennis Lehane just misses the mark,
Review: "Prayers for Rain" has all the characters Lehane has created in five previous books, but the storyline is too weak to be compelling.. But "Gone, Baby Gone" was so on the mark, it might be I expected the same level of pure "hardboiled" prose, and came away still wanting to be as dazzled. Bubba still reminds me of an unprincipled "Hawk"(Parker's Spenser sidekick) clone without the finesse and moral certainty, and his reliance on his lack of intelligence is a weak gimmick. Patrick seems to be growing more interesting than the rest of the crew, and Angie is no longer as funny as she tries to be. Maybe it's time for Patrick to move on, fly solo and stop falling back to the same old patterns. Nevertheless, it's way too early in the series to give up on the trio, and I eagerly await the next installment. Lehane has only wobbled, he's no where near falling down.

Rating:
Summary: I'm hooked on Dennis Lehane's books!
Review: I LOVE reading Dennis Lehane's novels, and I love his main characters: Patrick, Angie, & Bubba. I feel like I know them now, and I also feel like I can count on Lehane to be authentic to their characaters, through action and dialogue and interaction. The main characters are flawed, but good at the core, and strive to work for right. There's something I find very satisfying in that basic goal.

When I first discovered Dennis Lehane a few years ago when his third novel was published, I was hooked. I immediately went back and read his first two. And since then I have been waiting very impatiently for each new book.

What do I like best about his books? His multi-faceted main characters, the way he exposes the dark side of humankind while not burying us in it or leaving us feeling hopeless, the snappy and witty dialogue of all characters, (especially between Patrick & Angie), and his creativity and inventiveness. His descriptions have a way of making me feel like I really know the character or the place or the feeling. Being from Massachusetts, I also enjoy having a first-hand sense of place. And that he ventured off to Plymouth in this novel was even better as I live only 15 minutes away from Plymouth.

I just hope he gives us more of Angie & Patrick & Bubba. (Good to see that Bubba is made more real and multi-dimensional in this book.) They are great characters, and the stories always make me think. Thanks, Dennis.

Rating:
Summary: Not up to Lehane's standards
Review: I agree with "egregory" from the reviews below--this novel is not as good as Dennis Lehane's previous ones."Gone, Baby, Gone" was brilliant; it surpassed all the cliches of "hard-boiled" detective fiction. "Prayers for Rain", on the contrary, was full of cliches in dialog, characters, situations, and even plot, which I found easy to predict. It seemed like something written while listening to fast'n'cheap rock'n'roll in a hotel room in New York. I highly recommend all his previous books, so start with them, and only when you feel a drought of Lehane, attempt a 'Prayer for Rain'.

Rating:
Summary: another shining moment for dorchester's own!
Review: As a native of Dennis' hometown of Dorchester, MA, I cannot express enough our appreciation for his books. The only problem we have is in having patience as we await the next installment! Keep up the good work, Dennis and keep writing! Please! A fan

Rating:
Summary: Excellent story right through till the end
Review: After reading and thoroughly enjoying Gone Baby Gone I bought Prayers for Rain to see what these chracters were up to next. This book is even better. Great characters, captivating storytelling and so many interesting twists and turns that every time you think you have it figured out, you're surprised. One of the best books I've read.

Rating:
Summary: A Must-Read for Mystery Fans
Review: I live in Dorchester/Boston where Dennis Lehane's novels take place. He has a great feel for the area, both in terms of geography and culture, which he conveys without forcing the sense of place. More importantly for a detective novel, Lehane weaves an incredibly strong mystery; he paces the revelations out perfectly right up to the very last page. And he does so in style. His prose is for the most part funny, chilling at times and at other moments painfully moving. Even more interesting for a detective series, Lehane hasn't lost focus of the main characters (Patrick, Angie and Bubba) nor has he let them grow stale. Just as he tosses a few curveballs into the investigation, he also throws major curveballs into Patrick, Angie and Bubba's personal lives. Lehane also introduces a number of new and extremely hatable villains. This is his best book since "Darkness Take My Hand."

Rating:
Summary: No more "good guys"; only "perspectives."
Review: This is the first novel I read by Lehane, and I've since read two others. Although I believe "Darkness, Take My Hand" was a superior book, this one cannot be overlooked as an example of what I call for lack of a better term "hard-core" detective fiction. Reviews I've seen that are down on Lehane's writing claim that his books teach us that it is acceptable for the good guys to resort to extreme violence to get information they need. What "good guys"? Kenzie is just a guy whose perspective we get the story from. If you want fluffy solutions to problems read Lawrence Sanders. If you want a protagonist every bit as gutsy and complicated as Block's Matt Scudder, read any books by Dennis Lehane.

Rating:
Summary: A great read that twists, turns and keeps you guessing.
Review: This is the thinking mans detective story. The characters at first pass seem stereotypical, yet quickly flesh out into much more complex individuals. Every time I thought I had the plot line doped out, it shifted direction and ran away. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and though I quickly realized that the characters had history it merely made me want to read the prior books.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic!
Review: Wow! This is another excellent book in an excellent series. Lehane's writing is great; he deserves to be on bestseller lists. I read it in less than 24 hours, which now leaves me in the unfortunate position of having to wait another year for a new book by Lehane.