Sacred (Bookcassette(r) Edition)

Rating:
Summary: disappointing
Review: After having read "A Drink Before the War" and "Darkness TakeMy Hand", I was disappointed with "Sacred". It seems to me thatPatrick and Angie have lost their edge. After I read the previous 2 books I was left thinking about myself and my morals and the others around me. The characters in this book were shallow and while it was a good read it was not affecting or memorable. I am now reading "Gone Baby Gone" and I hope Lehane is back to form.

Rating:
Summary: Lehane is good...really good!
Review: Dennis Lehane is the new master of the suspense novel. SACRED again brings us the detective team of Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro in yet another fast-paced, witty page turner. His writing and dialogue are so believable, you are convinced that Patrick and Angie are real people, and I love how their love affair has evolved with each book. Theirs is a relationship between true equals who not only like each other, but love each other...I can't get enough!

Rating:
Summary: Another Solid Hit For Lehane
Review: Sacred is another terrific mystery in the series featuring Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro, the team you'd want on your side if you needed a private investigation -- if only they were real people. Lehane describes these characters in such realistic detail and uses such crisp dialogue that you forget that they are only fictional characters. Nonetheless, they are characters you want to get to know better, and Lehane successfully evolves the personalities of Patrick and Angie in each of the five books in the series. Thus, it's best if you read the series in chronological order. Sacred is very fast-paced and loaded with surprising plot twists, which forces you to read on non-stop. While you can see I am very high on Sacred, it -- believe it or not -- is not the best book in the series. Of the four I've read so far, I enjoyed Darkness, Take My Hand and Gone, Baby Gone even more. Do yourself a favor and treat yourself to all of Lehane's books.

Rating:
Summary: A bit below his usual standards
Review: Lehane has become my new favorite author. Since he has written only five books so far, I am reading them in order. The first, A Drink Before the War, left me speechless. A gripping story, well-written with interesting factual touches. The second, Darkness, Take My Hand, was even more amazing and spooky at the same time (although it had some unsettling similarities to Silence of the Lambs). I read both these books through, cover-to-cover, and even found myself rehashing the underlying ideas after I was done. Sacred, while still a good read and a page-turner, seemed to have little more behind it than some genuinely nasty rich people. Okay, a good book is still a good book, even without a moral. Goodness knwos, there's a lot of trash out there. But I was turned off by a glaring error on the author's part. I have assumed that Lehane is presenting fact when mentioning real people, places, etc. However, Bob Dylan has no album called Positively Fourth Street. To make that a clue -- and a clue that one character gives to another and a third interprets (so they all have the same misconception?)-- well, Dennis, do your homework before throwing around clues of this kind. (Elmore Leonard would have the person give the incorrect clue, but he would know that it was wrong -- and so would the reader and probably at least one of the other characters as well.) Sorry, this may be nitpicking, but stuff like that bothers this reader. All in all, I'm looking forward to reading Gone, Baby, Gone.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but not as good as others he's written
Review: I loved Gone Baby Gone, because it really made me think. I loved Darkness Take My Hand for the same reason. This one left me feeling a bit empty, though. When I finished I kept thinking to myself, where's that Lehane "moral", the one that keeps running around inside your head and makes you look inside your soul. This one didn't have that. However, having said that, I will say that it kept me reading to the end in less than one day. Maybe I just can't fathom the utter and complete lack of soul in Trevor and Desiree. I guess there are people like that, I've not met them yet.

Rating:
Summary: Fast paced and interesting
Review: "Sacred" is a book that moves along at a satisfyingly quick pace. Even if you get tired of a few improbable action sequences and somewhat cheesy dialogue, there's enough going on in the novel to keep you from putting it down. A constantly twisting storyline as well as a real chemistry between the main characters Patrick and Angie distract the reader from the few faults in the novel. Also, LeHane doesn't depend on his previous "A Drink Before the War" or "Darkness Take My Hand" to explain the backgrounds of either character. A complete novice to his books will have no problem following along, as each of their prior escapades is summarized efficiently in the pages of "Sacred". In the end, you are left with a quick read that leaves you craving for more.

Rating:
Summary: Dennis Lehane continues to reward detective fiction fans
Review: Those who would criticize this book for inadequate, shallow character development have probably never known someone who is very, very rich. Many of these people are inadequate and shallow. It would be hard to fault Lehane for accurate description, now would it. In my view this is the best of his first three stories and that is saying a lot as the first two were outstanding examples of the genre.

Rating:
Summary: Sacred is a nice read for the subway commute home.
Review: While I enjoyed the red herrings thrown here and there and the dialogue between the heros, I was disappointed with the ending. Kenzie and Angie are characters the reader can identify with, but the monster that is Desiree is never quite justified or explained fully for my tastes. If she had shown more avarice throughout, or if the origins of her promiscuity were defined, she might have been more believable. Maybe some insight about her childhood would have helped. The one insight we do get is around her relationship with her mother; unfortunately, it wasn't enough to pull it off.

Rating:
Summary: Action, characterization, and a devastating plot.
Review: Lehane's Sacred is a shattering mix of yer classic love story, yer hard-boiled detective novel, and yer astonishing modern novel. What should we think of Angie and Patrick, and should we really care? I think we should. Somehow, it works, and that's all that matters. The plot is as tight as the G-string of a high-class stripper, the characters are as loveable as Pooh & his pals. My toes were curling from Chapter One. It's an essentially perfect novel. Sit back with a lager or Irish whiskey, a roaring fire or a whining air conditioner, a footstool or a cringing slave. Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: A terrific read!
Review: If you like Michael Connelly's thrillers, you will love this one. Don't miss it.