In the 1998 thriller, Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro were involved in an investigation to find a missing 4-year old girl named Amanda McCready. In that case the couple risked their lives searching the worst neighborhoods surrounding Boston, MA to find the girl. Once she was found, despite Angela's reservations, the girl was returned to her unfit, neglectful mother.
Now, 12 years later Patrick and Angela have married and have a little girl of their own. Patrick receives a frantic call from Beatrice, the aunt of Amanda McCready, now age 16. The aunt claims that Amanda, a brilliant and attractive young adult has gone missing once again. Patrick is reluctant to get involved--but does. Her druggie mother Helene claims the girl is NOT missing, which only complicates matters.
Along the way as they search for Amanda, the couple and their buddy Bubba (also from previous book), have run-ins with meth dealers, mobsters and other unsavory characters. Much of this makes the story feel a bit unrealistic at times. To say much more about the story would lead to spoilers. The story ended in a manner that makes it pretty clear that this is the end of this particular series.
Having read all of LeHanes novels, except the The Given Day
, which I hope to read soon, I think this author has real talent. Mystic River
, Gone, Baby Gone
and Shutter Island
were terrific and all were made into movies. His other books were very good as well, in their own right. In my opinion, Moonlight Mile
was good, but just not as good as some of his earlier works. LeHane's writing, wit and shady characters keep you interested in the story. I will still be anxious to read other books by him in the future.
RATING - 3.5/5 stars
(review copy)
It's a shame the Lehane decided to do a sequel, really. It's not that Gone, Baby, Gone didn't leave the reader wanting more but it sounds like Lehane did kind of the same book only with an older child. He's too good a writer to fall back to that.
ReplyDeleteI have one of his books but I haven't read it!!!
ReplyDeleteThis author is new to me, Diane. Even though this wasn't your favorite book by Dennis LeHane, it sounds really riveting.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read anything by Lehane yet ( I hope to soon!) but I have read a lot about his books and have looked through several. This book doesn't sound like his work so much, maybe because it's a sequel. I wonder if it came about because of the popularity of the movie?
ReplyDeleteThanks for an honest assessment, Diane. I think I'll start with some of his other earlier books.
~ Amy
I knew this book was part of a series, but didn't exactly know if it had to be read in order. I think I'll pick the first book first. I have not yet read a Lehane book but I hope that can be changed soon.
ReplyDeleteOh well, I have lways read rave reviews of this authors book.
ReplyDeleteBubba reminded me of the vampire in Sookie Stackhouse books :)
Oh well, I have always read rave reviews of this authors book.
ReplyDeleteBubba reminded me of the vampire in Sookie Stackhouse books :)
I have only read SHUTTER ISLAND and loved it. I do want to try his other books. Thanks for reviewing this one!
ReplyDeleteAHHH< I am so jealous you got to read this one early!!! I love Dennis Lehane as well. HUGE fan. HUGE!
ReplyDeleteI will definitely write this one down.
It is a shame this didn't work as well. It sounds like it was a neat follow-up idea.
ReplyDeleteI had a so-so reaction to Moonlight Mile, too. Gone, Baby, Gone had a fantastic moral dilemma, and I liked that it was about family. Even though I couldn't relate to the characters' lives, I connected with the emotions. Moonlight Mile felt more like a standard thriller to me, and I didn't feel the same level of emotional depth that I did with its predecessor. It was entertaining while it lasted, though.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read Lehane's series books yet, but I do plan too. I loved Mystic River and enjoyed Shutter Island.
ReplyDeleteDiane, thanks for the review. Sorry the book didn't live up to the other books! I'll have to check into some of Lehane's earlier books. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteOh, I am so sorry to hear that this one wasn't as good as you'd hoped. I have been anxious to read it, since I love LeHane, but now I think I am going to wait a bit. Wonderful review on it though!
ReplyDeleteI have this one in my TBR pile...but I am not looking forward to it quite as much now.
ReplyDeleteWe will see....
I've really been looking forward to this book, so I'm disappointed to see it's not up to his usual standard.
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad to know that this one is a sequel to Gone Baby Gone because I have it to review! I haven't read Gone Baby Gone so I'll have to do that before tackling this one.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any of his books except The Given Day and I really really liked that one. I saw the movie Shutter Island. He's coming to a book festival here in Las Vegas next month so I hope to see him.
ReplyDelete