Live by Night

By: Dennis Lehane

Narrated by: Jim Frangione

Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

Edgar Award Winner, Best Novel, 2013

Boston, 1926. The ‘20s are roaring. Liquor is flowing, bullets are flying, and one man sets out to make his mark on the world.

Prohibition has given rise to an endless network of underground distilleries, speakeasies, gangsters, and corrupt cops. Joe Coughlin, the youngest son of a prominent Boston police captain, has long since turned his back on his strict and proper upbringing. Now having graduated from a childhood of petty theft to a career in the pay of the city's most fearsome mobsters, Joe enjoys the spoils, thrills, and notoriety of being an outlaw.

Joe embarks on a dizzying journey up the ladder of organized crime that takes him from the flash of Jazz Age Boston to the sensual shimmer of Tampa's Latin Quarter to the sizzling streets of Cuba. At once a sweeping love story and a compelling saga of revenge, it is a spellbinding tour de force of betrayal and redemption, music and murder, that brings fully to life a bygone era when sin was cause for celebration and vice was a national virtue.

©2012 Dennis Lehane (P)2012 HarperCollinsPublishers

Fun Noir

This book takes off a little slow, then clicks along in a gritty, vintage wise-guy style for most of the book - appealing, street-wise, intellectual anti-hero surrounded by lunky gangsters. Evocative settings during Prohibition, in prison, in Ybor City during rum-running's height. Nice look at the changes organized crime had to make to adapt to the end of Prohibition. Good characters. Ends a little abruptly, but I am now looking for another one by this author. Narrator does a good job.

Remarkable

Dennis Lehane is always surprising, yet always good! Gripping. Heartfelt. This is fine, well researched historical fiction.
Thomas P. O’Connor

Great LISTEN !!!!

If you could sum up Live by Night in three words, what would they be?

A super storyline !!!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Easily JOE COUGHLIN .....
Normal average screw up makes REAL GOOD !!!! Finally makes it and WHAM .... All gone !!!

Billy Bathgate Meets To Have and Have Not

If you could sum up Live by Night in three words, what would they be?

Violent Crime Florida

What other book might you compare Live by Night to and why?

This reminds me a lot of Billy Bathgate - tracing the life of a young gangster who falls into a Mob life.

Which scene was your favorite?

the scene on the tub boat

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Probably the end.

Any additional comments?

Very fast paced.

The movie brought me in!

Saw the movie on Foxtel and wanted to know ow more. The narrator kept me interested through the journey.

Okay. Wow! I really got into this book.

Would you listen to Live by Night again? Why?

NO, I have lots more to listen to.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes

Which character – as performed by Jim Frangione – was your favorite?

The lead, Joe.

Any additional comments?

I read mostly ancient historical novels and even though I write crime stories, I don't often read them. Also, I am not a big fan of an author pontificating throughout the book. It tends to remove your attention from the plot. So, during the first chapter or two I thought maybe I had made a mistake buying this book. There is a lot of deep thought and pontification going on in this book. I'm not sure organized crime figures are that deep.

As I continued reading, something magical happened. I couldn't stop. The story grabbed me and forced me to continue. The characters and plot kept me glued to the book. The writing style was like a magnet. I am so happy I continued reading the book. The author has many books under his belt and I will read more of them.

It’s a great 2/3 of a book

If Mr. Lehane had ended this story before the last 2-3 hours my rating would be much higher. The latter part of this story was an effort to get through and the ending was so apparent I could have written it down before it happened. A shame really because it spoiled a great 2/3 of a book, for me anyway.

Big,sprawling gangster epic set during prohibition

What did you love best about Live by Night?

The story starts in Boston, and then moves to Tampa and Cuba. The history was well covered , and as I live in Florida I found the scenes in Tampa and Ybor City especially interesting.
All the characters were well developed, except for the lesser players.
The gangster genre is always difficult in some ways in that most of the characters were amoral, and many are sociopaths, but this makes the moral dilemmas they face, if there is such a thing among thieves, always compelling.
Beware as of course there are many graphic scenes of violence and some sex scenes as well.

What other book might you compare Live by Night to and why?

The Godfather.

What about Jim Frangione’s performance did you like?

Narrator did an amazing job with all the voices. I believe I wouldn't have enjoyed this book nearly as much if I had simply read it.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The relationship between father and son was complex! A crooked cop and gangster son.

10 extra minutes in the driveway every night

What other book might you compare Live by Night to and why?

I think "The Given Day" and this book, in sequence with Ken Follett's first two books of his Century trilogy, make for a great fictional picture of the first half of the 20th century. I'm really look forward to the next book in each sequence. Follett's books are more about the Wars and these really more about the social development of the US,

Any additional comments?

I mostly listen in my car, but this is one of those books where you listen for a few extra minutes every time you can.

Great follow up

Thoroughly enjoying the world created by this author. Wondering how accurate it is and not really caring. Great characters. I am looking forward to the third book even though i suspect it will be about new characters.