Gone, Baby, Gone
by Dennis Lehane
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Read in April, 2003
Dennis Lehane, Gone, Baby, Gone (Morrow, 1998)
Lehane clocks in with the fourth novel in the Kenzie and Gennaro series with his most intricate plot and satisfying novel so far. In this one, Kenzie and Gennaro are bullied into taking the case of a missing four-year-old by the girl's aunt. The mother seems not to care much about her child's whereabouts when she's not in front of the TV cameras, preferring to watch television and drink beer with her best friend and next door neighbor. What's alrea...more
Lehane clocks in with the fourth novel in the Kenzie and Gennaro series with his most intricate plot and satisfying novel so far. In this one, Kenzie and Gennaro are bullied into taking the case of a missing four-year-old by the girl's aunt. The mother seems not to care much about her child's whereabouts when she's not in front of the TV cameras, preferring to watch television and drink beer with her best friend and next door neighbor. What's alrea...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
people who enjoy crime novels
I have to be honest, I picked up this book because I saw the previews for the movie. I didn't even read Mystic River but really enjoyed it on screen so I thought, what the heck?
Lehane's depiction of Dorchester was so real, it felt like I was actually there. I could visualize the runned down Irish pubs where the characters drank. I could see the old dilapidated houses where crimes were committed. I had such a clear image of the characters and their surroundings, that I don't want to ruin ...more
Lehane's depiction of Dorchester was so real, it felt like I was actually there. I could visualize the runned down Irish pubs where the characters drank. I could see the old dilapidated houses where crimes were committed. I had such a clear image of the characters and their surroundings, that I don't want to ruin ...more
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For the most part, Gone, Baby, Gone is a by-the-book mystery. There are the wise-cracking detectives, the hardened police officers, the hints that things just aren't what they seem. It's all very familiar. What sets it apart from most other thrillers, though, is that it's not afraid to pose (and leave unanswered) complicated moral issues. For one, it's tough not to be against kidnapping, but then again...
The issue here is the disappearance of four-year-old Amanda McCready. She ...more
The issue here is the disappearance of four-year-old Amanda McCready. She ...more
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Read in June, 2008
recommends it for:
fans of crime fiction, fans of the movie
I didn't think I would like this book. I didn't think I'd ever even give it a shot. The title alone let's you know what you're in for, even if you haven't seen the movie trailers...an innocent little girl goes missing.
But for whatever reason, I picked this one up, and I was sucked in. I only truly paused once in a day for sleep. I was engrossed in this gritty story of two detectives, boyfriend/girlfriend who reluctantly agree to take on the case of Amanda McCready...a four-year old who i...more
But for whatever reason, I picked this one up, and I was sucked in. I only truly paused once in a day for sleep. I was engrossed in this gritty story of two detectives, boyfriend/girlfriend who reluctantly agree to take on the case of Amanda McCready...a four-year old who i...more
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Ah here we are back at the beginning.
I started reading The Kenzie Genarro series after I saw Affleck's excellent adaptation of this novel, now I've finally reached it again, and it's every bit the masterpiece that it should be.
It's nice to see the series get back on track after Sacred. Not that Sacred wasn't good, on the contrary it was an immensely entertaining book. But it took Kenzie and Genarro a bit to far from their stomping grounds. Not that it wasn't fun to watch my two favorite...more
I started reading The Kenzie Genarro series after I saw Affleck's excellent adaptation of this novel, now I've finally reached it again, and it's every bit the masterpiece that it should be.
It's nice to see the series get back on track after Sacred. Not that Sacred wasn't good, on the contrary it was an immensely entertaining book. But it took Kenzie and Genarro a bit to far from their stomping grounds. Not that it wasn't fun to watch my two favorite...more
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Read in May, 2008
I read Mystic River some time back and loved it. Until the movie GBG came out I was unaware Lehane had written other stuff, especially a series. In fact, I was unaware that he'd written a series until I was about 50 pages into GBG. That was one of my first drawbacks; our two main characters have a chemistry and a way they work and I was jumping into the middle of it. It was like being with a couple who have an inside joke that gets them laughing hysterically and you're standing there with a dum...more
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Read in October, 2007
recommends it for:
mystery lovers
Sad, sad, sad. this is the Boston of Dennis Lehane, populated by tough guys, lost souls, and heartbreak. This is the Boston of Patrick Kenzie, flawed hero of several previous Lehane novels. This is the first Lehane novel I read, and I found it compelling, if not enjoyable. The crime is not as important here, as the way the people around it react. Kenzie's primary character trait is his nobility - it compels to continue investigating the crime, even though he has several opportunites, an...more
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Read in October, 2007
I picked this up at the airport last week only because I had name recognition from seeing Ben Afleck promoting his movie adaptation of it on Leno the night before and there wasn't anything else that caught my interest.
"The tough neighborhood of Dorchester is no place for the innocent or the weak. A territory defined by hard heads and even harder luck, its streets are littered with the detritus of broken families, hearts, dreams. Now, one of its youngest is missing. Private investigators...more
"The tough neighborhood of Dorchester is no place for the innocent or the weak. A territory defined by hard heads and even harder luck, its streets are littered with the detritus of broken families, hearts, dreams. Now, one of its youngest is missing. Private investigators...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
only to those die-hard crime-fiction readers, Dennis Lehane fans
First of all, why do I keep reading books about children being abducted, and killed? (There are other verbs I could use as well, but I don't want to spoil anything.) What's wrong with me? Granted, there have only been two of these books, (the other being What the Dead Know) but still. Anyway, I picked this book, not for it's child-abducting and -killing, but because I'd heard that the movie was good. It's possible that I may have the mildest of crushes on Casey Affleck. Anyway, I do still want t...more
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Read in May, 2008
I get obsessive about some things. I rented the movie Gone, Baby, Gone on a Friday and liked it so much I watched it again on Sunday. I reserved the book from the library and had it by Tuesday. Part of my affection for the movie, it must be told, had to do with Casey Affleck's Patrick Kenzie, but the other part had to do with how incredibly cool his partner Angie was. The movie didn't spend a lot of time worrying about her which I find rare as Hollywood seems to exist partly to keep women in...more
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Read in March, 2008
I should have read the book before I saw the movie, because at first it was hard for me not to picture the characters as the actors in the movie, and I hate that, because books should be separate from movies, especially since the book was written way before the movie was made. Once I was able to stop thinking about the movie and just imagine the characters on my own, it became a much better reading experience and I haven't been able to put it down since.
The other thing I like about it, now ...more
The other thing I like about it, now ...more
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
any mystery/Noir reader
I'm so bummed because I thought I wrote a pretty good review earlier but it didn't get saved! Try again
There are two mystery writers focused on Boston, PArker and Lehane. Parker's Spenser is the wise-cracking one living in posh Back-Bay. Lehane's Kenzie and Gennaro private eye team live in the squalor of Dorchester and Southie. They inhabit the Boston world of crooked cops, crumbling tenements, seedy bars and creepy drug dealers that tourists never see (or should want to see except on 2-...more
There are two mystery writers focused on Boston, PArker and Lehane. Parker's Spenser is the wise-cracking one living in posh Back-Bay. Lehane's Kenzie and Gennaro private eye team live in the squalor of Dorchester and Southie. They inhabit the Boston world of crooked cops, crumbling tenements, seedy bars and creepy drug dealers that tourists never see (or should want to see except on 2-...more
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Read in July, 2008
recommended to Jeff by:
Kevin
The book that started it all!! After watching the movie, it was recommended to me to read the books of Dennis Lehane. Because I am a man of streaks, I started at the beginning of the series of which Gone, Baby, Gone is the fourth installment. I always struggle to read books after I have seen the movie simply because I am always trying to fit everything I read into the mold of the movie...It is missing the suspense, because I know what is going to happen next. This is the very reason I never ...more
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Read in January, 2004
recommends it for:
mystery fans (Some)
I do NOT recommend this book for everyone. It is raw and the language is harsh. The lifestyles involved are the underside of the city of Boston. I've done inner city ministry. I've met some of these people. They are people too. With real needs. Lehane knows these people. And this book gets to the morality of life. That's why it's an important book (and now a movie). And HARD book and movie. (My daughter, age 22, cried through the whole movie I think and had to leave at one point briefly. ...more
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Read in October, 2007
I read Mystic River long ago enough that I can't remember specifically what I liked about it. But I do remember that I fell in love with the writing. It was almost enough to make me interested in reading more American crime novelists. However, James Patterson is so bad that Dennis Lehane may well be the only American crime novelist I ever read. And with stuff this good, I'm not sure that's a bad thing.
Dennis Lehane writes so well that I can occasionally forget that I'm reading.
Yes, h...more
Dennis Lehane writes so well that I can occasionally forget that I'm reading.
Yes, h...more
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Read in December, 2007
This engrossing and grim novel begins with the kidnapping of four year old Amanda, the daughter of a neglectful mother, and it quickly accellerates. Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, two private detectives don't want to get involved in the child abduction case, but after significant pleading from relatives of the child, they cave. The investigation leads to murder and excitement, ending with a gripping and devastating climax. This is the perfect blend of psychological thriller and suspenseful a...more
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Read in March, 2008
recommends it for:
crime novel fans, anyone
This is an amazing read, from start to finish. I read it before I saw the film and, while both are excellent, I definitely prefer the novel. I found it to be wholly unpredictable. Dennis Lehane's writing is absolutely hypnotic and, much like his other novels, it will thrill and confound you. One of Lehane's strengths is allowing the reader to enter Patrick Kenzie's turbulent world and become a first-hand witness to the action. The novel focuses on Patrick and his partner/love interest Angie Genn...more
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Read in November, 2007
A sad, damning book by Lehane. I've started this series out of order, but I want to read more about McKenzie and Genarro, two lovers and private eyes. The movie had grace and power, and the book sets up the two of them in a stronger way than Affleck's film did. Is it right to return a child to its mother, even when that mother doesn't take care of that child? Especially if there is another home, ready and waiting to take loving care of that child? It is an ethical dilemma, not one easily un...more
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Read in March, 2008
I wasn't particulary impressed by the writing or the characters. I thought it started extremely slow, although I did manage to finish it and enjoy it a little more the further along I got into it.
The many references back to previous novels got tiresome for somebody picking this book up as the first Lehane novel. The main character walks into the toughest bar in Boston and just as he's about to be attacked, he gives the owner an evil look and scares everybody into giving up all the informat...more
The many references back to previous novels got tiresome for somebody picking this book up as the first Lehane novel. The main character walks into the toughest bar in Boston and just as he's about to be attacked, he gives the owner an evil look and scares everybody into giving up all the informat...more
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