Rating: 
Summary: Portrait of Evil
Review: 300 children disappear each year and never return. Amanda McCready disappears from the neighborhood. She is four and a half. Once running away and abduction are ruled out, disappearance is a murder. The private detectives, Angela Gennaro and Patrick Kenzie, ask questions about the mother at a bar. The mother has been afraid to admit that she left the child alone and went there on the evening in question.
The private detectives speak with the police, but nothing good can come when a child has been missing for eighty hours. The mother passed a polygraph. The child lived in the middle unit of a triple decker in Dorchester. The missing child was taken to play T Ball by her aunt and uncle. Parents of some of the other players describe the youngster as unusually subdued.
The investigation continues. It is October and New England is brilliant with color at that time of the year. Police and PIs go to Charlestown to pursue leads where there is a code of silence. (The book is replete with street information and ties, the private investigator, Angie, lost her own father two decades earlier through a mob hit.)
It seems the officers are faced with a kidnapping since there is a ransom note, but the foursome, two officers and two private detectives, elects to proceed without federal involvement. One person who has bearing on the plot was victimized by schoolyard bullies and the author presents with ability a truthful rendering of such a character. Lieutenants of a crime syndicate seem to be ready to take over the rackets as their leader remains imprisoned and impotent. The kidnapped child appears somewhere in the equation.
The narrator, Patrick Kenzie, finds the uniformed state police officers to be agressively Teutonic. They enter the picture as a promise is made to produce the victim in an area of granite quarries. The Boston police, also present at the scene, are described as looking like the waiting room of a soup kitchen.
The Boston atmosphere is apt. The book is well done. The story is so sad.
Rating: 
Summary: The Emperor Has No Clothes
Review: I have reached the point of mystification with Dennis Lehane. After reading "Mystic River", I was very excited, thinking that I had found a great new American author. For someone like me who can literally read a book in just a few hours, this was a happy feeling, because I am rapidly running out of books to read! However (you knew there was going to be a however, didn't you?) ... "Shutter Island" was so-so, and THIS book was, well, just awful. How in the world did this guy write "Mystic River", which is a masterpiece and is technically flawless, yet crank out a limping book like "Gone, Baby, Gone"? At first, I enjoyed this book, as the pacing was fast, the story was fresh, the characterizations were right on, and the writing was technically tight. Then, around the time that the female sidekick breaks into a criminal's place to wire it (ummm .... OK), the story simply fell apart. I could no longer tell what the heck was going on. Then, even worse, the book started tasting dated, as Lehane threw in mid-90's and even early-90's references galore, such as references to Ren-N-Stimpy. What the ... ? I know he wrote the book mid-90's, but as every author knows, unless you are writing a historical novel, you don't put in pop references unless you want your work to age like brie from K-Mart. That is one reason why "Mystic River" will be around for centuries. There are no cheap pop references in it whatsoever. Then, Lehane gets on his VERY high horse about "save the children" or whatnot and the suspension of disbelief is wrecked. I agree with his sentiments but not with his heavy-handed writing technique. It just doesn't work. THEN, and IMHO worst of all, the female detective gets the baby-rabies, and starts moaning on and on about "creating a beautiful baby with love energy" or some such claptrap. It just made no sense at all. A hard-boiled private detective acting this way, with no warning whatsoever? Maybe if he had worked it into the story a little more, but as it stands, it's not plausible. Maybe if she was cracking up or something; I just don't know. He never explains or justifies it, and that's why I finally put the book down. I think this book may have been part of some MFA project of Lehane's, as it screams, "I have an MFA in creative writing!" I dunno about that though. All I know is that this book does not live up to the hype, and does not live up to the talent level Lehane displayed so beautifully in "Mystic River". If you like good writing, avoid this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Lehane is the master of this genre.
Review: I stayed up last night and finished this book. It was like watching a very suspenseful movie. Not only is this a good murder/mystery, the character development is exceptional as well. I am anxious to read Prayers for Rain to find out what happens in the Angie/Patrick relationship. I highly recommend this author to those mystery/suspense buffs out there. You will put Dennis Lehane on top of your favorites list!
Rating:
Summary: Dark, suspenseful read
Review: Lehane's writing is good. That's what draws you in. But ultimately, like the movie Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone is unsatisfying. Not because its themes are dark, but because Lehane either does not know how or is afraid to honestly emote. I will not waste my time with him again. That simple. Read Lashner if you want a good writer.
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