10 years ago I ranked all of the books written by Dennis Lehane. It was a fun post. Some people hate lists and ranking. Those people are cowards and nobody likes them. My ranking for Mr. Lehane then was as follows.
8. PRAYERS FOR RAIN, 7. SACRED, 6. SHUTTER ISLAND, 5. A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR, 4. THE GIVEN DAY, 3. MYSTIC RIVER, 2. DARKNESS TAKE MY HAND, 1. GONE BABY GONE.
Since then he has written depressingly few books for this reader's taste... MOONLIGHT MILE (2010). LIVE BY NIGHT (2012). THE DROP (2015). WORLD GONE BY (2015). SINCE WE FELL (2017).
I am updating the ranking to include these 5 books. I should note that I did not re-read these books for this list.
13. MOONLIGHT MILE (2010)
After a decade in hibernation Kenzie-Gennaro were back. I was too excited for this book. I believe I was in the room when Mr. Lehane first announced that he had written or was writing a new K+G book. Reading it was crushingly disappointing. No verve, no brio. Every page reeked of his disinterest in this story and those characters. I found it disrespectful to the books that had come before it. Now 10 years on from and with more perspective it was probably my expectations that doomed it. MOONLIGHT MILE has the effect of visiting High School friends ten years later only to realize you have almost nothing in common except the shared memories of the past. Everybody has to let go...
12. WORLD GONE BY (2015)
Florida, as a setting, was never my bag but this return to the state and Joe Coughlin was not unwelcome. LIVE BY NIGHT was wonderful, and I was happy to see what was up with these characters. But WORLD GONE BY fell apart very quickly for me. The basic story here is 'Just when I think that I am out... They pull me back in!!" I was bored and wished he had focused on the third brother in the Coughlin family rather than this unsatisfying completion of the Joe Coughlin story.
11. PRAYERS FOR RAIN (1999)
This brought up the caboose 10 years ago. Now 20 years since its release, I can say that that opinion is tempered by a couple things. One, it was then the last Kezie-Gennaro book he wrote and I was mad not to have these characters in my life. Two, since then I have come to believe that PRAYERS FOR RAIN is probably better than a great number of books I have read since.
10. THE GIVEN DAY (2008)
The biggest drop. No. 4 to No. 10. The book sits on my bookshelf. I walk by it frequently, and have very little memory of it except for the horse stampede and Babe Ruth wandering around the periphery of the proceedings. He took a big swing here stylistically, narratively, formally and now 12 years later I think the book just lacks a focus in those aspects that I appreciate most in his writing.
9. SACRED (1997)
It pains to put this book this low, because I think I allowed the previous book, DARKNESS, TAKE MY HAND, to unduly color my perception. It is a book about the past, however, recent and I dig books about people trying to find peace about things they have done and the impossibility of completing that task.
8. SINCE WE FELL (2017)
This is such a palate cleanser after historical novels of middling success. It felt like a real break from everything he has written, but still a Dennis Lehane novel. Its now been 3 years since the release. Nothing seems to be forthcoming. He has worked on a number shows, notably THE OUTSIDER for HBO this year. He's a slower writer. I can wait.
7. LIVE BY NIGHT (2012)
This book won him the Edgar. All the things that didn't thrill me about THE GIVEN DAY came together here. I liked the historical nature of the story. The period details about Florida, St. Pete, and Cuba all contributed to a fascinating story and characters. Joe Coughlin was a more compelling protagonist. [Editor's Note: About the movie, it is not good. Bad casting. An airless adaptation. Emotional inert. A dead movie.]
6. A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR (1994)
There is always a beginning, and this is an exceptional one. I would kill to read a first novel like this again... actual murder. [Editor's Note: Previous comment is in jest. More metaphorical murder than anything else.]
5. THE DROP (2014)
Hey.... How's it going? Ya know, I'm gonna redo this list in another 10 years and this will be lower. Maybe more in the 8 or 9 position. But in taking up an older short story, ANIMAL RESCUE, and expanding on it this remained me of early Dennis Lehane and that made me happy. Don't sleep on that movie either. Tom Hardy. Tom F'in Hardy.
4. SHUTTER ISLAND (2003)
3. MYSTIC RIVER (2001)
Last time I wrote about the scene where Dave is kidnapped by two men. His two friends are left on the street as they watch their friend taken away. The book really is about how they are stuck in that moment forever. Still on the street watching the horrible act stretching out in front of them for the rest of their lives. [Editor's Note: The movie is very good. A bit histrionic and an unfortunate Tim Robbins accent, but other wise quite good.]
2. GONE BABY GONE (1998)
1. DARKNESS, TAKE MY HAND (1996)
I love GONE BABY GONE. The story and characters are so deep and rich. The ending is devastating. Everything just came together to produce what is arguably his best work. I flipped them this time around because it comes down to this, I think DARKNESS, TAKE MY HAND did all of those things first, if perhaps a bit messier. As a side note, when Mr. Lehane was in Milwaukee signing copies of DARKNESS he mentioned that the book was much longer. Obviously the book went though an extensive re-write. I often wonder what was in the other pages that were left on the floor. I wonder if he still has them. When he writes his next book, and I go to his signing, I'm gonna ask him.
There are some harsh words for some of these books. Let me be clear though, Dennis Lehane is a great writer, certainly one of the best from that burst of authors that came out of the mid-90's. No recent era in crime fiction seems as fruitful as the period that produced Dennis Lehane, Laura Lippman, Harlan Coben, et. al.
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