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

A good novel

What made the experience of listening to Live by Night the most enjoyable?

Good evocation of an epoch and a milieu; complex and interesting characters. Jim Frangione's excellent reading made the book even more enjoyable (I totally disagree with negative comments by certain reviewers; you can't argue with taste, but I can hardly imagine a better reader or a more pleasant voice)

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

Yes.

Any additional comments?

A writer grapples with reality through words; a hack seeks only to entertain and makes no such effort. There are of course mediocre writers and brilliant hacks. Dennis Lehane is a writer, and Live By Night is a novel, not a "mere" thriller. I will be forever grateful to audible.com whose sales allowed me to discover Don Winslow, Jacqueline Winspear, and Dennis Lehane.

CAPTIVATING

What did you love best about Live by Night?

This second book in the saga of Coughlin family was captivating as it followed the violent life of Joe, the youngest son, from Boston to the gulf coast and Cuba. Well-written and engrossing.

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

Yes, the plot was tightly woven and full of suspense. At times, I wondered if Joe would live through his brutal injuries.

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

I believe the strongest character was the father. Corrupt but unbending and unyielding with his own family.

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

Watching Joe with is young son was moving. He obviously tried to be the kind of parent he never had.

Any additional comments?

Great story, great performance.

Perfect for Audio

What made the experience of listening to Live by Night the most enjoyable?

I felt like this book surrounded me while I listened. It didn't have a dramatic "cliff-hanger" style but I had to hear more and was pulled in by the story.

Any additional comments?

I've read several of Dennis Lehane's books and loved some, like others. I've also seen the movies adaptations of two of them. This book is best for listening. It was like an audio painting.

Very good, and getting better.

What did you like best about Live by Night? What did you like least?

I'm not quite finished with it, but everything, it was very well written

Would you be willing to try another book from Dennis Lehane? Why or why not?

Since Mystic River, I look for Lehane books.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

very well

Any additional comments?

Definitely a cut above...

Not so good

Would you try another book from Dennis Lehane and/or Jim Frangione?

Probably bot

Would you recommend Live by Night to your friends? Why or why not?

No, it was slow and kind of boring

Which scene was your favorite?

When his wife died at the end

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

Any additional comments?

It was narrated well, but it was kind of boring

Narrator was bland and gave no life to story

Would you listen to Live by Night again? Why?

I love the story...have to tolerate the narrator who is mono voiced and lifeless

Who was your favorite character and why?

Joe

How did the narrator detract from the book?

so much so, that I had to buy book and read it to feel the tension that the narrator could not project. what a shame that this incredible book and story was broadcast by this dull narrator. too bad he has been chosen for the next book.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no... i had to parse it out because of the boring narrator

Great Book for the Era

Love this book from start to finished. I saw the movie but, the book is so much better. Recommend to everyone.

Disappointing

I have been a fan of Dennis Lehane from the first, and have liked almost all of his books, including "The Given Day"- the first of this trilogy. This one I found so predictable, with characters and plot points that were .....less than compelling, and often jut hard to swallow. I am returning this book.

Very enjoyable sequel

I was a big fan of the 1st in the series and was originally skeptical about "live by Night" given the contrast in the main characters, but I was soon caught in the grasp of another wonderful story about the early 20th century. Well done.

A heartbreakingly lovely story.

I'm a Lehane fan and have read most of his books. This is a departure for him as far as timing of the story, but it shares his usual poignancy. I enjoyed it, but it is definitely a bit haunting.