Search - Sacred (Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, Bk 3)

ISBN 0380726297 - I'm always wary of reading book 3, mostly because I've rarely read book 1 or 2. That would be the case with Sacred, but worse because the book doesn't even mention that it IS book 3 anywhere on the cover.

Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro are looking forward to some downtime after their last big case (see book #2). Instead, they get kidnapped. Having been kidnapped, they expect physical danger. Instead, they get hired. They don't really want the job, but the lure of the money involved does have some influence. Hired by a dying billionaire to find his missing daughter, the duo's greatest problem turns out to be figuring out who the "bad guys" really are. Religious nuts, a grief counseling group, the billionaire, his daughter and others are all on the list at one time or another. Staying one step ahead of the right bad guys is all that keeps them alive.

Light reading, sometimes too silly to be a good detective story, Sacred's worst feature is the periodic and unnecessary reference to the last case - just enough to interfere with the enjoyment of the book you're actually reading. Any good detective series ought to be made of books that stand alone and Sacred almost does that. On the plus side, making up for that, are two things: "This society's coming apart at the seams. Look at the evidence - Oklahoma City, the World Trade Center bombings, David Hasselhoff. It's all there." and the fact that the religious group in the book really are bad guys and nuts. Always love to see that!

- AnnaLovesBooks

Fast-paced, twisting plot

A beautiful, grief-stricken woman has vanished without a trace. So has the detective hired to find her. And a lot of money. Enter savvy, tough-nosed private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. Rooted int he no-nonsense streets of Boston's blue-color Dorchester, they've seen it all - and survived. But this case leads them into unexpected territory where nothing is sacred - a land of lies and corruption where trusting anyone could get them killed --- where taking any step could be their last.

Not my favorite Patrick Kenzie book, but it was ok.

I am loving this series! The two main characters are so cool - tough, but human. Dennis Lehane's books have mystery, romance, humor and all of them are page-turning reads. This is the 3rd book in this detective series. I actually read book #4 (Prayers for Rain) first and liked it so much, I went and picked up #1 and have been plowing through them one at a time. I would recommend reading them in order so you can follow the relationship between Kenzie & Gennaro and see how it develops. I highly recommend!

If you like Dennis Lehane, and the Kenzie/Gennaro books, this one will not disappoint. This one is less violent than the last two, which is not good or bad, just an observation.