Live by Night

Dennis Lehane knows how to write. I wish he knew when to stop. The first half of this book is the former; the second half the latter. In Part 1 he sets up a good plot among a bunch of gangsters and prison inmates and crime families. There is a cherche the femme aspect of the plot, of course. There is a guy who controls his empire from inside prison walls. So far, so good, However, Part 2 becomes a giant cliche, with the bad guys blasting each others' heads off, along with deathless dialogue. The plot bogs down and sinks into the mire. We begin to forget who is who, and we begin to not give a sh...
Lehane is capable of better than this. I think maybe the pressure to produce a "blockbuster" with each new book presses him to prove Mae West wrong: too much of a good thing is not
great.

Maybe it's great writing, though I doubt it; some of the lines were so hackneyed they made me laugh. This wasn't helped by Jim Frangione's melodramatic lilt, which made it all sound like a very bad SNL sendup. Maybe I'd have been able to take it seriously with another narrator, but not with this one.

Story had a good pace and was very well told. And really sucked me in.
Never boring.

creative insightful wordsmith

I read all of his books because they are delightful to read.

Pick one - the prison uprising or the feet of clay

The devil drinks good rum

Horrible ending. Did he run out of words? Did the publisher say we gotta get this on the shelves?

Wonderful pacing,characterization.

I can think of 5 or 6, but to have one SO close to the end that was so unexpected, yet fitting was great.

I liked everything about Jim Frangione's performance. What I did not like was a review that complained about his performance. One of my key measures (of over 500 titles) is how much/often I simply don't notice someone is reading/performing and simply get lost in the story. If not for the cruel, stupid review I saw elsewhere, I'd never have noticed him at all. It was a masterful job considering the size and scope of the story and the myriad characters and accents involved. I may go listen to something else he did just to check him out more. As a first listen, I have to give him 4 out of 5 GuidallStars.

Many more than I expected. Probably 6 or 7 that would all be spoilers, I guess the first one was the near-opening scene of "feet in cement".

Dennis was close to having my "Prayer Review" One more like this and he gets it. (Yeah, I'm full of myself today but I have probably earned it.)

I have been reading laudatory reviews of Mr. Lehane's work for years, and have enjoyed listening to interviews with him on NPR. And I love gangster movies and noir thrillers. But this was just not for me. This book traverses a queasy tightrope between the sentimental and the horrific, with not much in between. When I wasn't annoyed at the tough-guy codes (concealing deep and lardy emotions), I was dreading the next revolting description of physical torture. At about hour two, I decided I just wasn't enjoying it: not the plot, not the characters and not the writing.

I have read all of Dennis Lehane's books and this is by far the best one yet! The black sheep son who becomes a seasoned gangster with love and "demon rum" along the way.
Lehane elevates the story by taking it out of Boston and New York City and luring the reader to Tampa and Cuba where the unexpected await. I thought the narrator was very good...

I don't generally listen to a book more than once but if I were one to do that, this would certainly be one I would read again.

I can't wait for his next book.

A super storyline !!!

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

I listened to the first half of the book and it kept my interest but the second half was boring and dragged and at that point I didn't care which awful, stereotypical character lived or died. There was nothing in any of the characters that made them redeemable. I had to stop listening, couldnt stand any more torture. I disagree with those who said the reader was bad, I think he did a decent job. I believe the problem with this audio was the poor storyline, bad character development and basically that it was a book unworthy of Dennis Lehane who is one of my favorites!