Featured on The TV Book Club on More4 on 3 Jul 2011.
Moonlight Mile sees the return of the much-loved characters Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. Lehane, author ofShutter Island among others is one of the best crime writers around, not surprising then that he's also been busy writing scripts for the TV drama, The Wire. If you're looking for a well written strong plot with real world characters and dialogue then Lehane is your man.
Sixteen-year-old Amanda McCready has disappeared. Her anxious aunt contacts Patrick Kenzie to investigate. It is not the first time she has gone missing, as Patrick well knows - he was the investigator who worked on her case when she was kidnapped before, as a four-year-old. But this is not a simple case of a runaway girl. In fact, nothing in Amanda's life has been simple: brought up by the world's worst mother, neglected throughout her childhood, she has nonetheless blossomed into a formidably intelligent young woman. A young woman so bright that she can seemingly out-think and out-manoeuvre anyone...For Patrick, the case leads him down Boston's darkest, most dangerous streets - and into a world of shocking secrets that will threaten not only Amanda's life, but also his own and that of his partner Angie Gennaro.
'Vintage stuff... another dark but absurdly enjoyable tale that's so beautifully written and so sharp in its details and atmosphere that it's no wonder Lehane's books attract filmmakers with such ease' Irish Voice
'Lehane perfectly captur[es] gloomy post-financial meltdown Boston. Fortunately, he brought Patrick and Angie along to offset the murk; their chemistry has only gotten fizzier, with a realistic dash of old-married-couple resolve' Entertainment Weekly
'Lehane is a writer bringing new confidence and an easy prowess to a new chapter in an epic story - the Kenzie-Gennaro saga' Washington Post
'[Lehane has] emerged from the whodunit ghetto as a broader and more substantial talent...When it comes to keeping readers exactly where he wants them, Mr Lehane offers a bravura demonstration of how it's done' New York Times
'Lehane maintains a page-turning pace courtesy of Patrick's laconic narration, a downbeat and blackly humorous style that is entirely appropriate for Lehane's depiction of the banality of evil' Irish Times
'Some of the sharpest talk and smartest social observation in crime fiction' Guardian
'Lehane's thrillers mix viscerally violent excitement with a thorough airing of ethical dilemmas' Daily Telegraph
'Gripping, with tones of menace laced with chilling realism' News of the World
'Each character...is described with economy and wit... and yet the most impressive aspect of the novel is the way that Lehane shows the psychological effects of having to deal with damaged people day after day' Evening Standard
'A good thriller that does not shy away from questions of moral responsibility, and maintains a quick-fire pace and winning line in repartee' Metro
'A brilliant thriller' Uncut
'It boasts surface pace and moral depth that few can match' Scottish Sunday Herald
'... a good crime thriller that doesn't shy away from questions of moral responsibility and maintains a quick-fire pace and winning line in repartee' Metro Herald Ireland
Author
About Dennis Lehane
Dennis Lehane was born and raised in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He has written eight novels, A Drink Before the War, Darkness, Take My Hand, Sacred, Gone Baby Gone, Prayers For Rain, Mystic River, Sutter Island, The Given Day and a short story collection, Coronado. Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone have both been made into oscar nominated films.
Before becoming a full-time writer, Mr Lehane worked as a counsellor with mentally handicapped and abused children, waited tables, parked cars, drove limos, worked in bookstores, and loaded tractor-trailers. His one regret is that no one ever gave him a chance to tend bar. He lives in the Boston area.
