A Drink Before The War

Nov 1, 2024 8:36 PM

Author:Dennis Lehane

Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro are tough private investigators who know the blue-collar neighbourhoods and ghettos of Boston's Dorchester section as only natives can. Working out of an old church belfry, Kenzie and Gennaro take on a seemingly simple assignment for a prominent politician: to uncover the whereabouts of Jenna Angeline, a black cleaning woman who has allegedly stolen confidential Statehouse documents.

But finding Jenna proves easy compared to staying alive. The investigation escalates, uncovering a web of corruption extending from bombed-out ghetto streets to the highest levels of state government.

With slick, hip dialogue and a lyrical narrative pocked by explosions of violence, A Drink Before the War confronts a city in which institutionalized bigotry and corruption are often the norm, and the true nature of 'racial incidents' is rarely clear. Dennis Lehane's remarkable debut is at once a pulsating crime thriller and a mirror of our world, one in which the worst human horrors are found closest to home, and the most vicious obscenities are committed in the name of love.

Reviews

Hip, and with a plot in overdrive, relentlessly violent and cathartic

—— Time Out

Truly excellent

—— Daily Telegraph

'A great read...One that lives up to the standards he has set since The Day of the Jackal'

—— Daily Express

'One of his best...an all too real look at a chilling new millennium'

—— The Sunday Times

'A cunningly constructed action thriller...Forsyth's narrative surges along with great power; the story is terrifying and timely...grips you to the end'

—— Daily Telegraph

The writing is lean and mean, and the climax will blow you away

—— Independent

Slaughter deftly turns all assumptions on their head ... Her ability to make you buy into one reality, then another, means that the suprises - and the violent scenes - keep coming

—— Time Out

No plodding, predictable plot lines here. A compelling exciting read

—— Sunday Express

A strong and uncompromising thriller

—— Good Book Guide

Highly sophisticated and exquisitely written

—— Daily Mirror

Riveting

—— Vanity Fair

This morbidly funny page-turner will have you guessing until the end

—— Holly Fraser , She Magazine

Accomplished thriller... Turn of Mind is an incisive, humane exploration of how we can rail against our need for close relationships with others, feeling that they undermine our independence, even as we keep coming back for more

—— Josie Barnard , Times Literary Supplement

Turn of Mind is a difficult read emotionally, but more than justifies the reader's investment with its sublime writing and pitch-perfect plotting. As a drama it is scintillating, but transcends the boundaries of a mere thriller with a stunning exploration of a devastating illness. This is a book of tremendous value

—— Bookgeeks.co.uk

This is a beautifully-written book with a dark mystery at its heart

—— Bookbag

Turn of Mind is an incredibly powerful novel, handled with an infinite amount of care and sensitivity that entertains and educates from beginning to end

—— Milosrambles.com

It sounds like an impossible task: to write a murder mystery from the perspective of a suspect with Alzheimer's. And yet Alice LaPlante pulls it off and with some flair... Unforgettable

—— Alison Flood , Observer

The twists and turns of mind this novel charts are haunting and original

—— New York Times Book Review

Gripping...compelling

—— Stephen Amidon , Washington Post

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