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    A Drink Before the War
    A Drink Before the War
    A Drink Before the War
    Audiobook8 hours

    A Drink Before the War

    Written by Dennis Lehane

    Narrated by Jonathan Davis

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    As richly complex and brutal as the terrain it depicts, here is the mesmerizing, darkly original novel that heralded the arrival of 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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateSep 13, 2011
    ISBN9780062101723
    Author

    Dennis Lehane

    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.

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    Reviews for A Drink Before the War

    4.5/5

    139 ratings40 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Man, everything I read by Lehane seems to go by so fast. Another great book. This one was a lot more noir than mystic river or shutter island, which I actually enjoyed a lot. The story's pacing was flawless, only taking a breath when absolutely necessary. Apparently these two characters are the backbone for most of his novels (including Gone Baby, Gone) so I am really excited to work my way through them. A great way to start if you've never read anything by him. Great.
    • 4/5
      A good mystery-thriller & the start of what should be a good series. I believe he's working on book 4 now. He certainly captures Boston well & I liked the way he worked the racism. Very realistic. If you object to the word "nigger", don't read this. It's used often, but appropriately, as are other slurs.

      He did a very good job on the characters. All of them popped out well & behaved believably. I had a little trouble with some of his action scenes, especially if they were close contact, but nothing major. The plot was complex enough to lead us on a good chase & wrapped up very well. I'm definitely looking forward to the next.

      Thanks for turning me on to this, Nancy!
    • 1/5
      I expected more. Earnestness in the guise of cynicism mars the tone fatally, as do action scenes that are insanely over the top and improbable. Prose style better than an average thriller makes this a decent page-turner for an airplane.
    • 5/5
      This is the first book in a series featuring Boston Private Investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro; the film Gone Baby Gone is based on a later entry in the series. It's also the first book by Lehane I've ever read, and certainly won't be the last. First thing I noticed, then forgot to notice as I was sucked in, is that Lehane has a beautiful prose style, not what you usually see in genre fiction. Told by Kenzie in an engaging voice, the characterizations pop off the page and feel real, as does the depiction of Boston. I read in the Wiki that "The New York Times described the book as somewhat cliched but praised the honest approach to racial and class warfare. They also felt that the seriousness of the novel's themes made a jarring contrast with the flippancy of the detective characters." Cliched? Some elements sure were predictable and far-fetched on reflection. But it didn't feel like that to me when reading, maybe because I was so taken with the sense of place and style. I do think the reviewer is right about it being honest about the complexity, intractability and ugliness tangled in the issues of race and class, even if at times heavy-handed. And precisely because of that I think the reviewer missed the point about the so-called flippancy. The Wiki also notes that the title, spoken by a cop to Kenzie and Gennaro before the outbreak of a gang war comes from a BBC comedy series. I don't think the humor undercuts the seriousness--I think it underlines it and makes it bearable--for the characters and reader both. What will bring me to the next book though are Kenzie and Gennaro. I like them, flippancy and all, separately and together. The romance element was well done without feeling intrusive to the overall plot.
    • 4/5
      Quite readable story about murder, gangland killings, and a pair of detectives who are interesting people with lives!
    • 5/5
      Dennis Lehane’s [A Drink before the War], introduces Patrck Kenzie and Angie Gennaro, private investigators in the under-belly of Boston. Kenzie operates out of a church belfry, the missing bell a mystery he can’t solve for fear of displacing his office. Angie, his partner in the business and a child-hood friend, regularly shows up to work sporting evidence of her husband’s brutal jealousy. When they take on a simple skip-trace on a politician’s office janitor, they stumble into a political corruption case and a gang war.Lehane is clearly Dasheill Hammet or Mickey Spillane’s long lost child, the modern-day noir master. The tone and the nature of the characters fit perfectly into the molds established by the masters of the genre before it became passé. And Lehane comments on the racial and economic politics in the interactions of his characters with a rare, if dangerous, frankness that echoes the moral ambiguity of most noir fiction. Bottom Line: A wonderful modern-noir mystery that takes on the difficulties of modern civilization in an honest way. A compelling introduction to Lehane’s mystery series.Five bones!!!!!
    • 4/5
      Good noir-ish detective story lightened by occasional flashes of humor. Recommended.
    • 4/5


      3.5 stars. Lehane knows how to write. Noirish, with more than a hint of Raymond Chandler, this novel manages to capture a place and time--mid-90s Boston--and a pair of smart-ass PIs who are compelling and entertaining even as they dip into a dark and disgusting world. A solid precursor to Lehane's masterful "Mystic River."
    • 5/5
      This is the first of a truly classic detective series based in Boston. The subsequent volumes are, in order:
      (2) Darkness, Take My Hand
      (3) Sacred
      (4) Gone, Baby Gone
      (5) Prayers for Rain
      (6) Moonlight Mile
      This author also wrote Shutter Island and Mystic River which, with Gone, Baby Gone have been made into excellent movies.
    • 5/5
      Dennis LehaneA DRINK BEFORE THE WARHarcourt Brace & Company, 1994267 pagesCrime / Private EyeA DRINK BEFORE THE WAR is Dennis Lehane's debut novel, and the first featuring P.I.s Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro.Boston. Mid-1990s. When the cleaning lady at the State House goes missing on the same day as some sensitive documents, three politicians simply put one and one together. They figure the best chance at finding the woman and getting back what had been taken would be if they hired Kenzie and Gennaro for the job. Bringing in P.I.s keeps the police out of it, and unwanted attention is the last thing they want, or need. Not to mention, Kenzie's deceased father is something of a legend, a Hero firefighter who saved two kids from a burning high rise.Problem is, no one told Kenzie or Gennaro exactly what the documents were. When they find the missing maid, technically their job is done. An easy payday. Unfortunately, Kenzie also wants answers. He smells a fish. The politicians remind him a lot of his father, and maybe that is why isn't satisfied with just doing the job he was hired to do. He wants to dig,and find answers to the new string of questions that keep coming to mind.When it turns out the documents are actually gut-wrenching, compromising photographs, the focus of the entire case shifts. As Kenzie and Gennaro find them selves in danger at every turn. It isn't just the politicians after the "documents." There are two, major, rival gangs interested in obtaining the information. Bodies start piling up.With an amazing cast of characters, from detectives, and journalists, to reliable crooks, and state resources, the taut thriller is an amazing read. While years ago I'd read Mystic River, and Shutter Island, I am mad that it has taken me this long to get back into Lehane's books. You know what though? I'm here now. And I am enjoying the reads!Phillip TomassoAuthor of the Severed Empire Seriesand The Vaccination Trilogy
    • 5/5
      My first Kenzie and Gennaro and my first Lehane. Don't know why I waited so long. I think I was put off by all the standalone books when I really wanted a new series. This was brutal and fantastic. Lehane squares up to the inanity and the inevitability of racism with even more street rawness than George Pelecanos. Really fine stuff.
    • 5/5
      A spicy little mystery - pair of private eyes from Boston.
    • 5/5
      I decided to read this after watching Gone, Baby, Gone and reading Shutter Island and I am glad I did. Crime/detective novels are not exactly my most loved genres but this novel really was something special.Patrick Kensey is portrayed as a real person; quick witted, flawed, hopeful, and realistic. His partner Angie is not quite as fleshed out because we never see her in the first person but their relationship and how they feel for each other is one of the best parts of the novel.The storyline is relatively simple but the nuances and true to life details really made this novel special. The discussions about race, poverty and politics echo the same frustration and anger that has become a main stay of our society.Overall I was extremely pleased with the book and look forward to reading the rest of the series. 91/100
    • 3/5
      Felt dated and the race relations content, though attempting to be progressive, felt forced and was tone deaf.
    • 3/5
      Bleak detective story. Likable characters.
    • 5/5
      Great emotional story telling. Not only do you have a good mystery but you get an even better story.
    • 4/5
      A Drink Before War' began Dennis Lehane's deservedly popular Kenzie-Gennaro noir detective series. Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro are the epitome of hardboiled private eyes based in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood. Lehane echoes Raymond Chandler with wisecracking tough guys, lurid violence, and plenty of fast-paced action. Lehane develops his characters emotionally while exploring the bitter racial divide between Dorchester and Roxbury. Kenzie is hired by a powerful white liberal State Senator to find his missing black cleaning lady - and some 'documents' that went missing when she did. Patrick and Angie do find her and that leads them right into the heart of a nasty family fight, one that is fought with brutality and finality. 'A Drink Before War' was Lehane's first novel and it shows at times. For example, there is some painfully bad dialogue in a clumsy bit of badinage that plays on the sexual tension between these two old friends from the neighborhood. Angie has found a phone number: "Angie said, 'Got it.' 'Give it to me.' She didn't, but she gave me the number." Groan, said the reader. Ok, so Lehane had room to grow in 1994 and grow he did as his work on this series (the second book is Darkness, Take My Hand (Patrick Kenzie/Angela Gennaro Novels)), the great TV series The Wire - Seasons 1-4, and Mystic River demonstrate. 'A Drink Before War' is entertaining genre fiction with enough hints of greater promise to whet the reader's appetite for more. Recommended.
    • 4/5
      This is a thriller that is gritty, full of action, and fast paced. It is also the first book in a series that features private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. As the story opens, the investigative team is hired by a group of politicians to retrieve documents that have been stolen by the cleaning lady, who is now missing. As Patrick and Angie set out to track down the missing woman, they find themselves caught up between two rival gangs, and, as they discover just what the highly sought after documents contain, they face their own ethical dilemma about what the proper course of action should be. This type of book is comfort food for me. I love a good detective story that can sustain plot and pacing. Throw in lead characters that make you want to join them again for another adventure, and you have a winner, winner chicken dinner. So far, there are six books in this series by the author of Shutter Island, and I plan on reading every one of them. While not as well written as Shutter Island, this was also the author's first book, and so I look forward to experiencing his transition from adequate and engaging to brilliant mastermind (I absolutely LOVED Shutter Island).
    • 4/5
      I just love Dennis Lehane. The detective/murder mystery isn't my favorite genre (any more), but I think I would enjoy reading Lehane's grocery list.
    • 5/5
      Don't read reviews on amazon.com before you read A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR. They give too much information and spoil the story.Dennis Lehane’s A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR introduces two PIs, Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. They’re hired by a politician to find a cleaning lady who he claims has stolen some important documents from him. That’s all the politician wants. Once they find her, their job will be done. But Patrick and Angela learn there is more to those documents, and more than one person wants them.Their exploits as they learn more and more make this book a true mystery/thriller you won’t want to see end.But take heart when end it does. A DRINK BEFORE THE WAR is just the first book in a series about Patrick and Angie. And they’re all excellent. I can tell you because I read them all. But this book, in particular, is probably my favorite in the series because of Lehane’s comments spoken through the voice and thoughts of Patrick.So now I’m sad. I read of the books Lehane wrote. And now there are no more until he writes another.
    • 5/5
      Outstanding first in a series. Complex ethical questions drive the main characters to investigate. Not your b/w approach to solving crimes. Combine that with masterful prose and unrelenting pacing, you have a masterpiece.
    • 4/5
      I very recently read my first Dennis Lehane novel and I was hooked. When another opportunity came up on my Book Bub list, I jumped at the chance to grab it and I was not disappointed. This book was a compelling read. I started reading it during a blackout and was so engrossed that I read it in one sitting. Sometimes there is an advantage to disengaging from the wired world.The story is set in South Boston. Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro grew up together and now have a Private Investigation agency located in the belfry of a local church. In exchange for free rent, they do light security duty for the parish priest. As the book opens, Patrick is summoned to meet with a group of local political players who want the agency to retrieve some documents that have gone missing. All signs point to a cleaning woman having removed them.From there, the actions kicks right in as Patrick and Angie pursue the cleaning woman and in turn are pursued by two rival gangs and their leaders who also want both the cleaning woman and the documents. In the mix, there is also a bill set to go before the House involving regulating gang activity and this also plays a role in the story.Patrick and Angie have great chemistry and there is a wrench in the works: Angie is married to a third high school buddy who is also very abusive to her and has been for years. Patrick alternately wants to save her, encourages her to save herself and wants a relationship with her but both know that her husband is a loose cannon. This story line mirrors that of the cleaning woman although their outcomes are very different.The scenes are so well described you feel yourself squarely in South Boston and the downtown environs. This is a writer who knows his city intimately and that comes through in the work. The writing is gritty in a good way and there is an edge of black humor that keeps the whole story in perspective.I’m a Lehane convert and I can easily recommend this book which looks like it might be a first in a series for these characters and you will want to revisit them.
    • 4/5
      In which we meet our heroes, Patrick Kensie and Angie Kennaro, private investigators in a Boston that quivers with racial tension as July 4 approaches. They are hired by a powerful state senator to retrieve some "documents" taken by a cleaning woman from his office. Locating Jenna takes very little time, but she is gunned down before she can tell Patrick the whole story about the justice she seeks.Patrick and Angie, along with their hired gun Bubba and an assortment of policemen, become involved in a gang war between Jenna's son and his father. Patrick has father issues of his own, which complicate the story, and which he resists dealing with. No doubt he'll make some slow progress on it in subsequent volumes. And he'll have to do some work on sorting out his relationship with his partner as well.We stay in Patrick's head for the entire novel, so events and people are filtered through his perceptions, and we get to know him better than the other characters. I find that in spite of his similarity to a host of other wisecrackers (Elvis Cole comes to mind), he has enough depth that he remains interesting. Both Patrick and others have ethical issues; he does things that don't square with his or our ideals, and Lehane challenges us to accept or reject them. A thought-provoking first book in a series. I will definitely look for the next one.
    • 5/5
      Wow. One of the best first novels I've ever read. As good or better than David Baldacci's debut novel "Absolute Power." All I can say is read the damn thing if you're a fan of thrillers.
    • 2/5
      No question the writing style is effective. Just didn't like the plot or most of the characters.
    • 4/5
      Very dark, very bloody, very intense, no easy answers -- and very good. Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro are human. They do not tread a straight and narrow path. They must choose between right and just, law and vigilantism. Their choices were difficult and I did not envy them. A good book from the mean streets of Boston.
    • 3/5
      Thought-provoking, and interesting, but not as much of a page-turner as Mystic River or Shutter Island.
    • 3/5
      Patrick Kenzie, and by extension his partner, Angela Gennaro, are private detectives hired to retrieve documents stolen from a state senator's office. Except that the documents aren't really documents and, what these "documents" are and why they are important, provide the link to a story which highlights a Boston beyond what tourists see: Racial tensions, extreme economic disparity within blocks and, political corruption. Dennis Lehane has written a hard, truthful story about a city, about a culture within the context of a fictional thriller. Black vs White racial tensions are the biggest axe that Lehane grinds in A Drink Before the War. The politicians are white, the cleaning lady is black; blue collar workers hole up in dives in black neighborhoods and, count the number of black players on opposing football teams on TV; the gang wars are drawn along geo-racial lines: the blacks of The Bury (Roxbury) and the white kids of Dorchester; even a newscasting team on television consisting of a white newsman and a black newswoman, show up the racial lines drawn in the racist city. The economic inequality is played out across the neighborhoods in and around Boston: An obsequious doorman pulls open the doors to posh restaurants and hotels and, Copley Square is a testament to the gaudy splendors of the monied; but in Dorchester, the the lower middle class watches as the dual forces of gentrification and urban decay obliterate their homes into the dust and; in Roxbury, the tenements and sagging homes fall prey to entropy. The environments do not encourage correlative levels of crime, only better cover for the crimes in the better neighborhoods. The dome of the capitol, it turns out, provides better protection against punishment than the streets of Roxbury. Lehane's key protagonist, Patrick Kenzie, has the self awareness to recognize how the city has informed him and; despite his attempts to rise above his circumstances, the scars of his past are ever-present both literally and figuratively. Kenzie's internal struggle to identify his moral dilemmas and excoriate his ghosts add dimension to a character that could all too easily been rendered a mere action figure.Jonathan Davis gives a solid, nearly neutral and careful reading of the text. He gives the story a very light, somewhat Ben Affleckian Boston accent, and affects an appropriate Irish accent to the equally affected state senator with a deliberate and near comic manner. A light Boston accent is better than a bad Boston accent; but there are inherent risks in that approach because authenticity is sacrificed. Davis slows his meter down to create an illusion of a deepened register for the black characters, but the street cadence is missing. We always know who's talking; but all the voices are slightly "off" either in measure or in idiom. One also has to wonder if Davis has a sense of humor in the literary or narrative sense: Some lines could have benefited from a quicker, more ironic delivery.Recommendation: For those who like grittier fare a la Adrian McKinty (The Dead Trilogy: Dead I Well May Be; The Dead Yard and, The Bloomsbury Dead; or Richard Price (Lush Life.)Other Stuff: I received a digital dnload copy from Harper Audio for review purposes.Also, it turns out that the narrator is the nephew of a consultant for the company I work for. This fact did not inform my review on any conscious level.
    • 3/5
      Totally enjoyable. I've been looking for something to lose myself in for a while, and a sister suggested this author. I didn't buy the final shootout scene and the peace-making with the one druglord at the end; but minor complaints, overall. I like a politically progressive thriller.
    • 5/5
      4.5 stars for the detective genre book! Woo hoo! It's been a while since I've read a great detective book, and this was it. Totally loved it. Loved the connection of the detectives, Angie Gennaro and Patrick Kenzie, but who wouldn't? The banter is wonderful and reminded me a little bit of the characters on Castle, which I also love. As far as detective novels go, this one is definitely high on my list - I look forward to reading more in Lehane's series and reading more by him as a result!