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

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.

First 14 hours were great then

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

creative insightful wordsmith

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

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

Which scene was your favorite?

Pick one - the prison uprising or the feet of clay

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

The devil drinks good rum

Any additional comments?

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

Perfect!

Would you listen to Live by Night again? Why?

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.

Any additional comments?

I can't wait for his next book.

Okay...

Better than the first book, but just okay. Lehane is fine, but i just somehow never quite connect with him.

Solid read by Frangione.

Stick it out till the end

Not so original (think Floridian Godfather with the family tradition & intricacies) but sweeping enough to get caught up in.

A Must Listen!!

Where does Live by Night rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Live by Night is the top of the list. I have read a few Dennis Lehane books before and loved them and Live by Night did not disappoint.

What did you like best about this story?

I love the prohibition era and bad guy that you can't help but love.

Any additional comments?

I don't usually listen to books more than once but I will be listening to this one again. It was excellent. I couldn't stop listening. The characters were very well developed and Lehane really knows how to bring the characters to life. The narration was great too - the story flowed very well.

An Excellent Gangster Tale

I was drawn in and stayed there, as caught up in this historical fiction piece as I was with Lehane's introduction to the Coughlin brothers. And while "Live By Night* continues the saga of the Coughlin family, it is quite different from "The Given Day" and gives the reader a gritty look at mob life during prohibition.
Live By Night is solid enough to be a stand alone novel, and a reader certainly need not have read the first to appreciate the rich characters and historical detail.
From Boston to Florida to Cuba , Lehane's story and well-written characters kept me listening !
Great narration... well read and realistically portrayed.

TOO DRAWN OUT

Great narration as usual by Frangione. Great writing as usual by Lehane, but I just couldn't get vested enough in Joe Coughlin to care about the character, and the story was too drawn out.