Darkness, Take My Hand

Dennis Lehane kept me up late last night. I had begun reading 'Darkness, Take My Hand,' and I couldn't put it down. The prologue sets up what promises to be a very tragic story, and Lehane delivers. The prologue leaves a few questions unanswered, and you have to read through the novel to find out what the answers really are.The second novel in the Kenzie/Gennaro series finds Patrick Kenzie accepting employment from a woman who has recently received a threatening phone call and a picture of her college son in the mail. Quite simply, she wants Kenzie and his partner Angie Gennaro to find out who is stalking her.Kenzie and Gennaro suspect that the ghoulish Kevin Hurlihy of the Irish mafia in Massachussetts in involved. A quick meeting with the Irish mafia casts a cloud over this suspicion and subsequent work on the case raises new suspects. An old acquaintance of Kenzie's is murdered in grizzly fashion, and Kenzie is left wondering if this has anything to do with the case he is working on.From this point on, the novel becomes somewhat complicated. The investigation into the threatening calls and photographs grows to include a serial killer or maybe two. The police force, FBI, and Kenzie's walking terror of a friend named Bubba all get involved.Other crime fiction writers would do well to study Lehane's work. He has mastered the ability to create suspense and tension in a way that so many other authors in the genre have not realized yet. Kenzie and Gennaro, plus the law enforcement officers that work around them, actually do detective work and do not wait for all the clues to conveniently fall in their lap. Lehane finds ways to include twists that aren't quite as shocking as surprising as say James Patterson's, but highly effective. The novel is very dark and comments on the social depravity of Kenzie's surroundings. Gritty is probably an appropriate adjective for this novel.I would recommend this novel to anyone that likes crime fiction or a good suspenseful story. It is a page turner. A word of caution though, it is very graphic in many descriptions of violence. This novel is not for the ultra-squeemish. It also has some sexually explicit scenes and would not be appropriate for some younger readers. The writing in this novel is simply superior and I give it my highest rating.

This, the second of Lehane?s Kenzie/Gennaro novels, was gripping and suspenseful from prologue to epilogue. We know from reading the prologue that Kenzie and Gennaro are about to go through a harrowing experience. Still, I was not prepared for the chilling and gruesome events that unfold. There are many twists and turns as Lehane sustains a high level of suspense throughout. The writing is very good, although not flawless, and the mystery is well plotted. There are little details here and there that seem implausible, but they are easily overlooked under the sheer weight of the narrative. I was mildly disappointed in the first Lehane novel (A Drink Before the War) mostly because it seemed like Kenzie was too much of a cheap imitation of Spenser, and the writing seemed a bit amateurish at times (but I still thought it was very entertaining and a good introduction into a new series.) In this one, though, Lehane seems more confident as a writer and Kenzie has become a much more realistic and convincing character. Angie Gennaro is a wonderful character that you can?t help but fall in love with. With this novel, Lehane has definitely become one of my ?must read? authors. Highly recommended!

There are soooo many mystery writers out there these days, but there is only a handful who truly produce first-rate work on a consistent basis. Dennis Lehane is definitely a member of this elite, and *Darkness, Take My Hand* demonstrates why. Like Michael Connelly, Robert Crais, and some others in the P.I./lone wolf cop genre, Lehane has written his books in such a way that they are best read "in order," as each book builds on the previous one(s) in terms of the development of his main characters. Consequently, readers should read Lehane's first book, *A Drink Before the War*, before picking up *Darkness, Take My Hand*, which is the second in the series. In most respects, however, *Darkness* is a richer, deeper, and better-crafted mystery than was Lehane's debut novel. He has utilized a well-worn but still effective plot theme here, that of the long-term serial killer. This provides the basis for the mystery element of the book, and also, perhaps unfortunately, the blood-and-guts angle, as well. Yes, there is a lot of gore in this book, and lots of discussion in graphic detail of the depravities of which human beings are capable. Lehane's work is NOT for the faint of heart. What separates Lehane from many other mystery writers, even good ones like Robert Parker, is his sheer literary talent. His writing is gloriously rich, descriptive (particularly in terms of his depictions of the Boston area setting for his stories), and insightful, and he goes to great pains to develop in some psychological depth his main characters, Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. Consequently, this enables Lehane to take his work well beyond the cliches that are so typical of shamus novels. If you like the work of Parker, Connelly, Crais, Barre, Burke, etc., you should definitely start reading Lehane--in order, of course.

Oh man this is one good read! I can't believe that I didn't know about Patrick and Angie earlier. I am an avid reader and only heard of Dennis Lehane's series last month. I have read "A Drink Before the War" and now "Darkness, Take My Hand" in the past week. I was late to work on Sunday because I couldn't put "Darkness" down. Oh I love the characters. How wonderfully human they are. So full of fault and virtue. The story is dark, moody and riveting. It moves at a fast pace. Almost too fast since I was sad that it was over.

After devouring this novel I was drained. This is the second in Lehane's series featuring private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro and it really packs a whallup. The first novel, A Drink Before the War, did a fine job of introducing these characters, along with an adequate story. This novel digs deep into the relationships of these people, and all the while we're being pulled through a harrowing serial killer mystery. Lehane has pulled out all the stops here. Sure, there are many authors who will try to shock you with gruesome details, but in this novel it's the sense of the helplessness of the victims that stays with you long after you leave the story. If you're like me, and have already read dozens of rave reviews about this, you'll be about 100 pages into it and will be wondering what the big deal is. Trust me on this: the novel is so well structured and timed that it very slowly begins to build up, as if you're treading water just at the edge of a whirlpool. Slowly and gently the current begins to tug at you, and before you know it you're caught in its grip and being pulled to its depths......God, I'm beginning to sound like a Kirkus Review. Sorry. But the novel is that good and the characters are incredibly well drawn and complex. Here's a quote from the story that will stick with me forever: "We're human, so we're messy."