A Drink Before the War

Dennis Lehane

Jul 2010 · Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro Series Book 1 · Sold by Harper Collins

About this ebook

The mesmerizing, darkly original novel that heralded the arrival of now New York Times bestselling author Dennis Lehane, the master of the new noir—and introduced Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, his smart and tough private investigators weaned on the blue-collar streets of Dorchester.

A cabal of powerful Boston politicians is willing to pay Kenzie and Gennaro big money for a seemingly small job: to find a missing cleaning woman who stole some secret documents. As Kenzie and Gennaro learn, however, this crime is no ordinary theft. It's about justice, about right and wrong. But in Boston, finding the truth isn’t just a dirty business . . . it’s deadly.

Ratings and reviews

Gritty, Dennis Lehane writes down & dirty; brings his two main characters into plots that tend to makes us squirm, & while we may not agree with how the issues are resolved, he definitely makes the reader face them head on.

This is the first book of my favorite series of all time. Dark, gritty, violent, tragic, and at times laugh-out-loud funny, Lehane fleshes out his characters, even the more marginal ones. I've read this series three times, and come to think of it, I'm about due to revisit the office/ bell tower of Kenzie and Generro.

Excellent read great characters and roller-coaster story. Looking forward to more.

About the author

Dennis Lehane is the author of thirteen novels—including the New York Times bestsellers Live by Night; Moonlight Mile; Gone, Baby, Gone; Mystic River; Shutter Island; and The Given Day—as well as Coronado, a collection of short stories and a play. He grew up in Boston, MA and now lives in California with his family.