- Paperback: 334 pages
- Publisher: Bantam Books (Transworld Publishers a division of the Random House Group) (3 Jan 1998)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0553503855
- ISBN-13: 978-0553503852
- Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 10.4 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 409,551 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
A Drink Before The War
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Product Description
Product Description
Set in summertime Boston, this novel tells of Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, tough private investigators in a city about to be ripped apart by an unspeakable scandal and a raging gang war.
From the Back Cover
Summer in Boston. The week before Independence Day. A city steeped in history and racial strife. A city about to be ripped apart by an unspeakable scandal and a raging gang war ...
Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro are tough private investigators who know the blue-collar neighbourhoods and ghettos of Boston's Dorchester section as only natives can. Working out of an old church belfry, Kenzie and Gennaro take on a seemingly simple assignment for a prominent politician: uncover ther whereabouts of Jenna Angeline, a black cleaning woman who has allegedly stolen cofidential Statehouse documents.
But finding Jenna proves easy compared to staying alive once they have. The investigation escalates, implicating members of Jenna's family and rival gang leaders, while uncovering extortion, assassination, and child prostitution extending from bombed-out ghetto streets to the highest levels of state government.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is Lehane's first book, and what a devastatingly brilliant book it is too. It introduces us to Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro and their private investigation business in their hometown of Boston. The Boston we get to see, though, is the lower working class and slum areas of town. This is a hardboiled thriller to the core. Patrick Kenzie is haunted by memories of his abusive father; Angie Gennaro is married to an abusive husband. Together they have a fantastic chemistry in which they can virtually read each other's minds.
Kenzie and Gennaro are hired by a local Senator to find a black cleaning woman who was in his employ until she disappeared with some important documents. The case is simple, find the woman and return the documents. The woman is found, but from this point on, things start to go wrong, and it's clear that Kenzie and Gennaro haven't been told the whole story. They soon find themselves caught up in a gangland war where survival is looking less and less likely.
The dialogue is witty and sharp, the story is very well paced and the characters are very believable and all too real-life. I have read all the other Kenzie-Gennaro books before this one (shame on me for reading this out of order) and rate it very highly in comparison. In actual fact, it would have been of great benefit if I had have read this book first as it puts into perspective events that occur in the later books.
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
To find a great mystery writer is akin to a great bottle of wine for me. Dennis Lehane is one of the best mystery writers around. His stories center around Boston and South Boston is the neighborhood. In "A Drink Before the War" we meet Patrick Kenzie and Anglea Gennaro- a private detective team. Both are locked into their own mysteries- that of abvuse- Patick abuse from his father, a powerful man in his own right. And Angela abuse from her husband. The hint of a relationship is there, but it is subtle and nothing is out in the open.
This mystery opens with a cleaning woman who has stolen papers from an important Boston politico. She asks for assistance and as the storyline deepens- race relations between black and white come to the fore. The streets of Boston are explored and explained. There is violence in this mystery and some of it is not pleasant but somehow opens the mystery to deeper understanding. The writing is superb. This is the beginning of a series exploring Patrick and Angela's relationship and their business partnership. Come along on the journey of Dennis Lehane into the streets and neighborhood of Boston. One of the best writers available- collect all of his books. You will thank me. prisrob
This mystery opens with a cleaning woman who has stolen papers from an important Boston politico. She asks for assistance and as the storyline deepens- race relations between black and white come to the fore. The streets of Boston are explored and explained. There is violence in this mystery and some of it is not pleasant but somehow opens the mystery to deeper understanding. The writing is superb. This is the beginning of a series exploring Patrick and Angela's relationship and their business partnership. Come along on the journey of Dennis Lehane into the streets and neighborhood of Boston. One of the best writers available- collect all of his books. You will thank me. prisrob
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Dennis Lehane's first book, "A Drink Before The War" is a really startling debut into thriller crime fiction. It's not that surprising if a first book is ever so slightly hesitant, perhaps because an author is feeling his way. That doesn't happen in "A Drink Before The War" - it's completely into its stride from just about the first page. I was expecting (and, to be honest, hoping) for the laid-back humour of Robert Crais and, to be sure, it was there but mostly subdued. No matter though; the story got up to speed within a page or two and from then on it didn't let up. Even the occasional and brief paragraph of philosophy, as Lehane stares moodily at American life, doesn't slow things up. If I have a mild complaint at all, it's founded on the relentlessly accurate (I think) description of Boston's highways and byways as private investigators Kenzie and Gennaro move around. For anyone living in Boston, or even slightly familiar with the city, the realism must be rewarding. Sadly, I've never been there but I certainly felt I had after I'd finished reading. Which means, I suppose, that the descriptions did just what they were supposed to do - pull me into the story. "A Drink Before The War" is a great read and well worth it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good read
superb read I think this was the first Kenzie and gennaro one of the best.Some of the later ones were better but the last one moonlight mile was in my opinion the worst,but still... Read more
Published 3 months ago by sam
Good
I came upon this after reading Shutter Island and I was expecting so much more. However, I stuck with it and I did enjoy it enough to buy the rest of the Kenzie/Gremmaro series. Read more
Published 3 months ago by London Girl
Austere.Shocking. Redemptive. Superb introduction to Lehane's Boston.
In the tradition of wise-cracking detectives throughout the years, Patrick Kenzie is the archetypical Private detective. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Paul Hansper-Cowgill
a drink before the war
I couldn't help but feel a wee bit old when reading this book. Set in 1993, the cars had cassette players and there were no mobile phones or internet to be seen. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Ali
Great first novel.
This is the one to read FIRST. I have now read a number of his books and to honest it is crucial to read them in order. Read more
Published 9 months ago by J. Mansfield
AWESOME!!!!
The 1st in the series of Kenzie novels by Dennis Lehane. Gripping, tense and unputdownable (this book is so great that it is worthy of having a made-up word to describe it! Read more
Published 10 months ago by Julie Price
Is there a better feeling?
Than when you find a book that you love by a new author and release a rich seam of future books that you can look forward too? I think not! Read more
Published 13 months ago by Steven
Generic and Disapointing
I bought this book having just seen the amazing film Shutter Island (based on a Lehane novel).
I must say I was extremely disappointed. Read more
I must say I was extremely disappointed. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mr. N. Long
The first in the Kenzie/Gennaro series - it packs a wallop
***NO SPOILERS***
I read this after I'd read the following installments, and it's very noticeable how Lehane's style has adapted as the series has continued; here the... Read more
I read this after I'd read the following installments, and it's very noticeable how Lehane's style has adapted as the series has continued; here the... Read more
Published 15 months ago by L. Hennessy
powerful stuff
I really enjoyed getting to grips with this book. I found it really gritty and packed a fair few punches. Not for the faint hearted. Read more
Published 20 months ago by aragorn17
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