Book Reviews of Darkness, Take My Hand (Patrick Kenzie/Angela Gennaro Novels)

Chilling

This was a really good book. I'd suggest reading the series from the beginning (this is the second; start with A Drink Before the War). I love Dennis Lehane's writing.

All Dennis Lehane's Patrick Kenzie/Angela Gennaro novels are great. Fast reads . I loved it.

I read this years ago when it came out. As I pulled it off the shelf to list here on the site, I found a note I wrote on the business card I'd used as a bookmark. Here's what it says:

"Don't read this book. It's dehumanizing, violent, gory, and bleak. It's so dark you need a laser to punch any light throught to it. Skip it."

My opinion hasn't changed.

By the author of Mystic River, this stunning mystery 'chills to the bone.'

Another good story from Dennis Lehane

I loved the Kenzie series. I like his loyal, if eccentric, friends. I do hope there will be more!

Ranked as a top modern mystery novel, this book puts you again in the hands of the Dorchester detectives that the author introduced in A Drink Before the War. "Crime literature" is what the commentators call it - I just think it's an interesting book to read.

This book is full of suspense and mystery. A must for the mystery reader.

A very tight mystery with remarkably believable protagonists - Love these two

2nd in this series and I liked it a lot!! The characters are well-written and the story is suspenseful.

Dennis Lehane has earned his reputation as the boldest new voice in detective fiction with stunning, exploseive novels featurning Kenzie & Gennaro. --- I thought this book was very interesting since I've moved to Boston & so much of the action is around the area. Very scary book for a detective novel.

Excellent Book. As are all Lehane Novels

I love Dennis Lehane. this one is not his best but it is still a quick , entertaining read!

Not as dark as Mystic River (my favorite of his) but a gritty thriller

Another exciting crime story featuring Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. This one gets real personal for both of them, involving family and friends. A terrifying tale of darkness and redemption.

The first of Dennis LeHane's Gennaro/Kenzie series is very good. Each book that follows in the series gets better and better. The Gennaro/Kenzie series is a must read for any detective type series.

I picked up this paperback because my curiosity was stimulated by watching Mystic River, the film based on another LeHane novel. Darkness, Take My Hand did not disappoint. Different characters, same setting, and identical sense of insanity and irredeemable evil. LeHane's prose is intelligent and witty without being overbearing, a welcome change from many other authors who crank out formulaic , hackneyed language and stories in the crime genre. LeHane's descriptions jump right off the page at you. His characters are so human, so intense, their dialogue so sharp, that it's almost like watching a movie in your mind. There isn't a wasted word in this book. The suspense starts to build on page 1, and never lets up, becoming more and more menacing with each subsequent chapter. This is a stay-up-late read to finish only when you're NOT alone in the night.
LeHane's other works top my summer reading list. I'd love to see what he could do in a different genre.

Good story telling

Dennis is an incredible talent and has risen, yet again, to the challenge of keeping Patrick and Angie in top form. This novel is compelling, exciting, heart rending, and fills the reader with righteous indignation... Just like it should. A great read!

I would recommend reading A Drink Before the War before Darkness, Take My Hand because ADBTW is the first book in the Kenzie/Gennaro series and it is a great book. But DTMH is even better. Do not miss it. Clear your calendar because you won't be able to put it down. Not only is it a thrilling ride about a team of serial killers in Boston with links to private investigator Patrick Kenzie (Warning...not for the faint of heart) it is a well crafted book. Scary, suspensful, and fast paced.

Another great Patrick Kenzie & Angela Gennaro read. I think I have read them all now.
Always a real page turner for me. Love them all !!