Monday, June 23, 2008

MYSTIC RIVER by Dennis Lehane

Yeah, I've seen the movie -- it was really good. The book is better. :)

Brief Synopsis: Jimmy, Sean, and Dave were all friends when they were kids. Then, one day, a car pulled up next to them and Dave got inside with two strange men. He disappeared for four days. It changed them all and eventually they drifted apart. Twenty-five years later, Jimmy is a reformed felon who's daughter has been murdered, Sean is the detective put in charge of solving the crime, and all signs are pointing toward Dave having been the one who killed her.

I've already made mention of this in an earlier post, but it bears repeating. I have serious book love right now. (g) This book was amazing. Not only because it's a great story, with all kinds of twists and turns, but because it's just _flippin' fantastic_ writing. As one friend put it, "it's raw." You feel the emotions, you see everything as it plays out, and it's all so real and in your face.

His world-building--and I hesitate to use this term, because it all felt very real--was flippin' awesome. I felt like I knew the neighborhood, knew the thugs standing on the street corners, and could smell the stench coming off the river. The characters were flawed as all get out, but I understood them, and I cared for them.

I'll be looking for Lehane's other titles.

Buy or Rent? Buy.

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