Rating: 
Summary: Excerpts, excerpts, excerpts
Review: Oh, the novel itself is great, and normally I'd give it five stars. But I'm hoping that giving it one star will call SOMEBODY'S attention to the excerpt insanity that has gotten totally out of control here. You see, the novel itself is only 277 pages long... but has been puffed up with no less than thirty pages of advertising, including excerpts from not one, not two, but THREE of Dennis Lehane's books. 'OK, you say,' 'that's pretty gross, but is it really worth ranting about?' Get this. The book includes excerpts from 'A Drink Before the War,' 'Darkness, Take My Hand,' and 'Sacred.' No, no, you say, that's a misprint, this book IS 'A Drink Before the War.' No mistake. This book includes an excerpt FROM ITSELF. Chapter Two appears in its proper place at pages 11 through 16. Then it appears again as an excerpt on pages 281 through 286. I guess they think that after you've read the book, you'll forget which book you've just read, hit the excerpts, say, 'Gee, that sounds good,' and run out and buy a second copy.
Rating: 
Summary: All the right stuff!
Review: With the introduction of Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, Dennis Lehane takes on Robert Parker in his own turf...and gives Parker a real run for his money. Kenzie and Gennaro are great macho/macho-ess characters and Bubba the animal is an inspired foil. Add to that mix a full array of Irish, blacks, politicians, and a range moral and economic lowlife created with a skilled writer's touch: it's a strong beginning to a series of mystery novels. I can't wait for the next one.
Rating:
Summary: You Can't Read Just One
Review: Wow! If you decide to read this book, and you should, I recommend that you immediately purchase all five Kenzie/Gennaro books by Dennis Lehane. You will not be able to put them down until you've finished the entire series, and then you'll wish there were more. Lehane's dialogue is crisp and clever; his plots though dark are always hopeful and well crafted. Ultimately its the relationship between the protagonists that makes this novel unforgettable.
Rating:
Summary: Lehane can't write fast enough
Review: I picked up a copy of this book a few months ago and was so surprised and hooked that I went straight to the bookshop ( sorry Amazon!) to pick up the sequels. The first few pages worried me and I thought I had another run of the mill "hard boiled" thriller with flat characters and a very black and white good versus bad storyline. Nothing could be less true. No doubt it is not a gentle world Lehane describes. Bullits are flying, people are dying and characters like Bubba hopefully in the real world are picked up and spend the rest of their life behind bars. Lehane, however, trnascends the normal level of such thrillers through his exceptional talent for dialogue and character development. We learn to know Patrick and Angie with all their strengths and flows. We live with them trough the trauma of the developments and their misjudgements but we like them the more for it. Mr.Lehane never ever leaves his eye off the ball as far as dialogue is concerned; it is magnificent. After this first novel, I would have thought that the following ones ( like it happens so often) would be weaker. This is certainly not the case and therefore I cannot wait to read his latest one!
Rating:
Summary: A Drink Before the War
Review: This book was the first one I had read by Dennis Lehane, and it is no wonder that this novel won the Shamus Award for Best First Novel. All the praise that Lehane receives is warranted. "A Drink Before the War" features the PI team of Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro who work in Boston. Two senators ask them to find Jenna Angeline, a cleaning woman, who they believe stole some sensitive documents from one seantor's office. They find her, but things don't end there. Gang warfare breaks out, and Kenzie and Gennaro are in grave danger themselves. All the main characters in this book are well-drawn, and the depiction of Boston is right on target. I can hardly wait to read all of the Kenzie-Gennaro books by this very talented author. This one is highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Lehane is good, real good!
Review: I read Prayer for Rain, and A drink before the war. I liked both very much. The character's were realistic and flawed and Lehane's dialogue is fantastic. You read other novels where the dialogue is utterly canned, and compare it to Lehane's and you have to smile because he gives you faith in the detective genre again. His dialogue reminds me of Demille's and also Elmore Leonard, and yet in some ways its better because Lehane's Kenzie is flawed and humble. I would love to see a movie with Lehane's dialogue, I could see Harrison Ford as Kenzie.
Rating: 
Summary: A Dynamite Debut!
Review: 4 1/2 stars are what I would give this book if Amazon allowed. Its no wonder this story published by Lehane was winner of the Shamus award for best first novel. Private investigators and best friends Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro are given a red-hot political case; recover documents stolen off a U.S. senator's desk by the cleaning lady. Little do the P.I.'s know that these vital papers, if in the wrong hands, could bring down the career of Massachusetts top officials and provoke the city of Boston into a riot. In their search for the missing housekeeper and the papers she allegedly stole, Patrick and Angie discover that the senator is holding a corrupt and ugly secret. If exposed, he will surely face ruin and a race "war" will erupt due to the nature of his dirty deed. Car chases, dodging bullets, and confrontations with cold-blooded killers are just a few of the sticky situations Patrick and Angie get caught up in. In the meantime, they are struggling to keep their relationship on the professional level, which is not easy for either of them. Patrick knows that he is in love with Angie, however, she is married to an abusive husband and is afraid to leave for fear of her life. I give Lehane a lot of credit for addressing the issue of race and how racial tensions and stereotypes are generated. This is a sensitive subject which many writers would probably fear to express secondary to being politically incorrect. Lehane gives an honest and objective viewpoint as to how people of different ethnic backgrounds scrutinize one another. Another thing I loved about the story was the detailed and accurate description of the city of Boston. If you've ever been to Boston, you'll know exactly what streets, buildings, and landmarks, Lehane speaks of. I hope Lehane keeps up the good gritty writing because he certainly has a knack for it.
Rating:
Summary: Vivid literature!
Review: This is a terrific book, superbly written by Dennis Lehane. I've liked the characters so much I haven't missed a single book in the series, and each one is of the highest quality. This is the first of the Patrick Kenzie/Angie Gennaro series, and the characters are vivid, dialogue is witty and intelligent, the plot complex and believable, and the description of scenes and action terrific. At times Lehane is poetic in his turns of phrases. Others have likened him to Robert Parker--the similarity is purely superficial in that both have Boston private eyes who use snappy dialogue. Lehane is without a doubt by far the superior writer. His novels are worthy literature, whereas Parker's are, well, a fun read. It seems to me that there is a terrific new generation of writers out there, from Michael Connelly to James Hall, who cover the territory of writing--characterisation, plot, description, tone--so wonderfully that I never want to miss one of their books. I'd add Dennis Lehane to that list. This book has my highest recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: Great novel, read by someone in a great country!
Review: I have just finished reading "A drink before war". This book was kindly lent to me by a friend I made on a recent vacation, who lived in Boston. I found the book to be rather entertaining and provided an interesting insight into parts of Boston. I am now reading "Darkness, take my hand" - 3 pages in, and I think this will be a winner! Speaking of winners, didn't Australia do a fantastic job with the Olympics !! Aussie Aussie Aussie, oi, oi oi !!
Rating: 
Summary: A Spenser Wanna-be, but still worth it
Review: In this novel (Dennis Lehane's first work involving the detectives Patrick Kenzie and ANgela Gennaro,) Lehane tries very hard to write in the style made famous by Robert B. Parker, and his character Spenser. A Drink Before the War isn't bad, but to anyone the least bit familiar with Spenser, the similarities are obvious. The protagonist's sarcasm, the book's setting, the attractive co-lead character, all of them just scream SPENSER at the top of their lungs. The only thing missing is a bit of Spenser's charm and originality. I read A Drink Before The War on an airplane, and found it quite entertaining, but for the serious connosueir of detective literature, I advise you to look elsewhere.
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