A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane

A Drink Before the War is the first Dennis Lehane work I’ve read.  I’ve been aware of Lehane for some time but have somehow passed him by.  The reason I chose to read him now is rather ridiculous.  I’m a fan of the ABC hit series ‘Castle’ where Nathan Fillion plays Rick Castle, a successful writer of crime fiction and in about one episode a season hosts an author’s poker night.  Castle’s fictitious poker buddies include the real life Michael Connelly, Richard Paterson, the late Stephen Cannell, and Dennis Lehane.  Since I’ve read books authored by all except Lehane, curiosity finally won out.  It’s clear from these scenes in front of the camera that authors don’t make good actors, even when they play themselves, but this elite group all in one place interacting in a corny skit is always a treat.

 

A Drink Before the War was Lehane’s first and thus an appropriate starting point for me.  Lead characters Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro are partners in a private investigation firm in a declining south Boston neighborhood.  Both characters’ lives have been impacted by physical and psychological abuse, Kenzie by his late father, a hero and legend in the Boston fire department and Gennaro by her husband, a childhood friend of Kenzie’s.  Patrick’s and Angie’s professional relationship is overshadowed by a sexual tension between the two which they never openly discuss nor act upon.

Kenzie and Gennaro are hired by a state senator to retrieve documents stolen from him by a cleaning woman, Jenna Angeline.  The PI’s are left in the dark as to the nature of these documents and their significance.  They quickly roust Jenna from hiding and after surrendering a sample of the stolen documents, she is gunned down.  Jenna is discovered to have personal connections to a South Boston gang leader who was blackmailing the unscrupulous state senator.  The content of these stolen documents threatens to ignite a gang turf war.  Now with evidence of the criminal activity by both the senator and the street thug, Kenzie and Gennaro find themselves on the hit list of a street gang with their client wishing them dead as well.

Lehane tells a powerful story about abuse, political corruption, and gang activity in South Boston.  Granted Lehane is skilled at developing characters and methodically revealing plot points to a satisfying conclusion.  But his work is so similar to many others, I can’t avoid comparisons.  Robert B. Parker’s Spenser series was based on a PI in Boston.  George Pelecanos does the PI thing on the gritty streets of Washington DC.  Compared to the work of these two authors, I’d call A Drink Before the War nothing special.  Good entertainment --yes.  Original, creative, innovative, riveting? --not so much.  Maybe I just didn’t relate well to the characters or maybe Lehane gets better with practice.  Given all the accolades and movie deals he received for his later work, it’s worth trying something he has written more recently before giving up on him.