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Title: Mystic River by Dennis Lehane, David Strathairn ISBN: 0-694-52464-6 Publisher: HarperAudio Pub. Date: 30 January, 2001 Format: Audio CD Volumes: 5 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.12 (343 reviews)
Rating: 1
Summary: Painfully poor prose...
Comment: This was the first...and will be the last...Dennis Lehane book I ever read. I have never heard anyone (state cop, townie, or otherwise) from Charlestown, Somerville, Southie or Revere utter a phrase like:
"Show some respect for your elders, Joseph, or we might send you back to working the crystal meth corridor around Springfield, hanging out with bikers and chicks who smell bad, eat lard straight from the can." (p. 257, if you must know!)
Hasn't that cop-busting-other-cop-down-to-meter-maid schtick become a pretty time-worn cliche by now? Oh wait...Lehane gives the description 21st century freshness by throwing in lard eating.
It doesn't even sound right with a Boston accent.
Lehane deserves a little credit for coming up with hundreds of ways an emotion can manifest itself as a sensation in one's chest. For example:
"Jimmy looked over Nadine's head at Annabeth and Sara, felt all three of them blow through his chest, fill him up and turn him to dust at the same time."
"The nails found his chest, a fat, cold grouping of them as if shot from a cannon, and he wanted to shut his eyes but they were nailed too, nailed wide open, as the van reached the middle of the street and Jimmy stared at the car it had been blocking..." [and on and on and on that sentence goes]
"She pretty much knew then, as small clumps of wet sand drizzled inside her chest..."
Every few pages you'll find some reference to pain, fear, anguish, panic, guilt, hurt, sadness, woe, strife, anger, ennui, rage, and/or frustration described as crushing, piercing, grinding, pummeling, shredding, needling, slicing and exploding of/in someone's chest.
Mystic River is nothing more than overwraught, tedious writing that kills what could have been a good mystery and leaves the reader feeling the stony fingers of mild irritation grip his or her chest like a large hand belonging to a prehistoric animal with no conscience and unbridled evil in its blood, at the thought that he or she shelled out eight bucks for this book.
Whaddya know? I just pulled a Lehane! NYT Best Seller List, here I come!
Rating: 5
Summary: Powerful and heartbreaking
Comment: Mystic River is the first Lehane novel I've read. It will NOT be the last.
This novel is amazing. As a mystery, it's predictable. I knew pretty well who had killed Katie Marcus by about page 150. But, really, that's not what the book is about. It's about pain and fragility of the human condition, as all good crime novels are about.
The plot is pretty simple. Three childhood friends are reunited by the murder of a young woman. Jimmy Marcus, the girl's father, is an ex-con who has been on the straight and narrow for years. Sean Divine is the cop investigating the murder. Dave Boyle, who as a boy was kidnaped and abused, is related to Jimmy by marriage; he's also the prime suspect.
As the novel progresses, it's obvious that this murder is just the beginning of a series of tragedies, as each character tries to decipher how best to handle this awful crime. The conclusion is heartbreaking and sickening, and completely unforgettable.
An excellent novel.
Rating: 5
Summary: Wonderful suspense!
Comment: I am really not much on suspense but Mystic River pulled me into its depths and made me want to know more. More about what happened to Dave, the child who was molested at 11 and grew up to be a scarred man. More about Sean, the cool kid who grew up to be the cop investigating a murder. More about Jimmy, part of Dave and Sean's group who grew up to be a criminal and whose daughter was the one murdered. These 3 characters will get inside you and take hold of all of your senses. You can actually see the blood on the ground and feel the Mystic River flowing by. This was my first experience with Dennis Lehane, but it will not be my last.
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Title: Shutter Island: A Novel by Dennis Lehane ISBN: 0688163173 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 15 April, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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Title: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown ISBN: 0385504209 Publisher: Doubleday Pub. Date: 18 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Angels & Demons by Dan Brown ISBN: 0671027360 Publisher: Pocket Star Pub. Date: 26 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane ISBN: 0380726238 Publisher: HarperTorch Pub. Date: 01 July, 1996 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
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Title: Cold Mountain : A Novel by CHARLES FRAZIER ISBN: 0375700757 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 12 August, 1998 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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