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Boston private detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro are hired to find four-year-old Amanda McCready, abducted from her bed on a warm, summer night. They meet her stoned-out, strangely apathetic mother, her loving aunt and uncle, the mother's dangerous, drug-addled friends, and two cops who've found so many abused or dead children they may be too far over the edge to come back.
Despite enormous public attention, rabid news coverage, and dogged police work, the investigation repeatedly hits a brick wall. Led into a world of drug dealers, child molesters, and merciless executioners, Patrick and Angie are soon forced to face not only the horrors adults can perpetrate on innocents but also their own conflicted feelings about what is best, and worst, when it comes to raising children. And as the Indian summer fades and the autumn chill deepens, Amanda McCready stays gone, banished so completely that she seems never to have existed.
Then another child disappears. . . .
Dennis Lehane takes you into a world of triple crosses, elaborate lies, and shrouded motives, where the villains may be more moral than the victims, the missing should possibly stay missing, and those who go looking for them may not come back alive.
Settle in and turn off the phone. From its haunting opening to its shocking climax, Gone, Baby, Gone is certain to be one of the most thrilling, talked-about suspense novels you read this year.
Dennis Lehane is the author of Sacred; Darkness, Take My Hand, and A Drink Before the War which won the Shamus Award for Best First Novel presented by the Private Eye Writers of America, and was also a Boston Globe best-seller. Lehane was born and raised in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and still lives in the Boston area. He holds an M.F.A. in creative writing.
Dennis Lehane is the author of ten novels, including the New York Times bestsellers Gone, Baby, Gone; Mystic River; Shutter Island; The Given Day; Moonlight Mile; and Live by Night, as well as Coronado, a collection of short stories and a play. He and his wife, Angie, divide their time between Boston and the Gulf Coast of Florida.
While he was still in college, he wrote the first draft of A Drink Before the War. Published in 1994, this Shamus Award winner introduced Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, private investigators who live and work in Dorchester, the same blue-collar Boston neighborhood Lehane grew up in. Since their compelling debut, Kenzie and Gennaro have gone on to star in a gritty crime noir series acclaimed by readers and critics alike.
The idea for his breakout novel , 2001's stand-alone thriller Mystic River, came to Lehane while he was still writing the Kenzie-Genarro installment Prayers for Rain. The story of three childhood friends who share a dark past, Mystic River is a murder mystery with powerful psychological overtones. An immediate sensation, the book achieved blockbuster status when Clint Eastwood turned it into an award-winning film in 2003. Then, in his 2007 directorial debut, Ben Affleck adapted Lehane's favorite Kenzie-Gennaro novel, Gone, Baby, Gone, for the big screen.
Lehane's career shows no signs of slowing down, Since the success of his Boston-based mysteries, he has broadened his oeuvre to include television screenplays and short stories -- one of which, "Until Gwen," was adopted into a successful, limited-run play.
"My favorite job was parking cars."
"My favorite game is pool."
"I have an obsession with the color blue -- blue house, blue car, lots of blue shirts."
"I love good writing. Unequivocally. I think competition between writers is wonderful and healthy, but I never understood envy. When a peer writes a book that I know I couldn't have written, I feel the strangest elation because at this point I learn as much if not more from my peers as I do from the old masters."
"I unwind to Red Sox games and am a Patriots season ticket holder. The worst months of every year are February and March -- no baseball, no football, no point."
Each day in this country, twenty-three hundred children are reported missing.
Of those, a large portion are abducted by one parent estranged from the other, and over fifty percent of the time the child's whereabouts are never in question. The majority of these children are returned within a week.
Another portion of those twenty-three hundred children are runaways. Again, the majority of them are not gone long, and usually their whereabouts are either known immediately or easily ascertained--a friend's house is the most common destination.
Another category of missing children is the throwaway--those who are cast out of their homes or who run away, and the parents decide not to give chase. These are often the children who fill shelters and bus terminals, street comers in the red-light districts, and, ultimately, prisons.
Of the more than eight hundred thousand children reported missing nationally every year, only thirty-five hundred to four thousand fall into what the Department of Justice categorizes as Non-Family Abductions, or cases in which the police soon rule out family abductions, running away, parental ejection, or the child becoming lost or injured.
Of these cases, three hundred children disappear every year and never return.
No one--not parents, friends, law enforcement, childcare organizations, or centers for missing people--knows where these children go. Into graves, possibly; into cellars or the homes of pedophiles; into voids, perhaps, holes in the fabric of the universe where they will never be heard from again.
Wherever these three hundred go, they stay gone. For a moment or two they hauntstrangers who've heard of their cases, haunt their loved ones for far longer.
Without a body to leave behind, proof of their passing, they don't die. They keep us aware of the void.
And they stay gone.
"My sister," Lionel McCready said, as he paced our belfry office, "has had a very difficult life." Lionel was a big man with a slightly houndish sag to his face and wide shoulders that slanted down hard from his collarbone, as if something we couldn't see sat atop them. He had a shaggy, shy smile and a firm grip in a callused hand. He wore a brown UPS deliveryman's uniform and kneaded the brim of the matching brown baseball cap in his beefy hands. "Our mom was a--well, a boozer, frankly. And our dad left when we were both little kids. When you grow up that way, you--I guess you--maybe you got a lot of anger. It takes some time to get your head straight, figure out your way in life. It's not just Helene. I mean, I had some serious problems, took a hard bust in my twenties. I was no angel."
"Lionel," his wife said.
He held up a hand to her, as if he had to spit it out now or he'd never spit it out at all. "I was lucky. I met Beatrice, straightened my life out. What I'm saying, Mr. Kenzie, Miss Gennaro, is that if you're given time, a few breaks, you grow up. You shake that crap. My sister, she's still growing up, what I'm saying. Maybe. Because her life was hard and--"
"Lionel," his wife said, "stop making excuses for Helene." Beatrice McCready ran a hand through her short strawberry hair and said, "Honey, sit down. Please."
Lionel said, "I'm just trying to explain that Helene hasn't had an easy life."
"Neither have you," Beatrice said, "and you're a good father. "
"How many kids do you have?" Angie asked.
Beatrice smiled. "One. Matt. He's five. He's stayingwith my brother and his wife until we find Amanda."
Lionel seemed to perk up a bit at the mention of his son. "He's a great kid," he said, and seemed almost embarrassed by his pride.
"And Amanda?" I said.
"She's a terrific kid, too," Beatrice said. "And she's way too young to be out there on her own."
Amanda McCready had disappeared from this neighborhood three days ago. Since then, the entire city of Boston, it seemed, had become obsessed with her whereabouts. The police had put more men on the search than they had on the manhunt for John Salvi after the abortion clinic shootings four years ago. The mayor held a press conference in which he pledged no city business would take precedence over her disappearance until she was found. The press coverage was saturating: front page of both papers each morning, lead story in all three major telecasts at night, hourly updates inserted between the soaps and talk shows.
And in three days--nothing. Not a hint of her.
Amanda McCready had been on this earth four years and seven months when she vanished. Her mother had put her to bed on Sunday night, checked in on her once around eight-thirty, and the next morning, shortly after nine, had looked in at Amanda's bed and seen nothing but sheets dented with the wrinkled impression, of her daughter's body.
The clothes Helene McCready had laid out for r daughter--a pink, T-shirt, denim shorts, pink socks, and white sneakers--were gone, as was Amanda's favorite doll, a blond-haired replica of a three-year-old that bore an errie resemblance to its owner, and whom amanda had named Pea. The room showed no sign of struggle.
I absolutely love this series! I cannot say enough good things about Dennis Lehane. Each novel is fantastic due to the characters of Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. The writing is fantastic, the dialogue is great and the story is fantastic. Lehane knows how to write a great detective story.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 8, 2012
One of Lehanes best
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.BellabMA
Posted September 25, 2011
#4 in the Kenzie, Gennaro series by Dennis Lehane. If you have read one then you know you can't get enough off them! This is my thrid time reading them :)
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.JessLucy
Posted April 14, 2010
I loved this book but hated the ending. I just couldn't believe the outcome of this novel; it was so upsetting. This book is like all of Lehane's: well-written, original and touching. I love a well-written mystery and this book didn't disappoint. I love Lehane's series novels and also adored Shutter Island. I really like the series characters and the original storylines. Mystic River was also wonderful; a very disturbing and poignant story. If you like this book, you may also enjoy: Ruth Rendell (especially End in Tears and Going Wrong), Barbara Vine, Lee Child's Jack Reacher series, and the novels of Ken Follet.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted May 15, 2013
This isn't a book that lifts your spirits. But, Dennis Lehane is a craftsman with words, an artist. To read this is to be in Boston living it. I read large portions of it in single sittings, stopping only when emotionally overwhelmed. In other words, it is a typically great bit of writing by Lehane.
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Posted May 17, 2012
Cats do not say the opposite of what they mean to say in this Clan. I am not red with green eyes. Grassfire is not my name. I am not a tabby tom. Do not go to *opposite* 10th result. We do not need a med, warriors, and apprentices!
0 out of 17 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I read all excellent reviews for this novel and I have to agree. A lot of people said this was the best book of the series, but I really don't have a favorite from the series. They're all good in their own ways. The plot was excellent and the characters are great. Read this book and be amazed.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted May 8, 2010
I have enjoyed a lot of books from this author!
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted March 2, 2010
WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THIS STORY??? THE ENDING WAS AWFUL. NOTHING WAS ACCOMPLISHED. TO READ THE WHOLE BOOK AND NOT FEEL GOOD AT THE END WAS A WASTE OF TIME. THE CHILD ENDED UP IN THE SAME SITUATION. A LITTLE DIFFERENT ENDING WOULD HAVE MADE THIS A GOOD BOOK. DONT WASTE YOUR TIME.
0 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This book is one of the darkest books of the series. It grips you from start to finish. LeHane has an unrelenting style and a cynical view of the world reflected in his writing. In this book, no one is clean and ultimately explores the question of fighting monsters without becoming one and what truly is right and wrong. Great book.
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Posted March 23, 2009
Having read Mystic River which was good, Shutter Island which was confusing and not good, I was pleasantly surprised. This was the first of his books with the main characters that I had read. Good chaaracters, good plot, good ending. Very graphic.
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Posted February 12, 2008
It's no surprise that Gone Baby Gone was selected for big-budget movie treatment by the Hollywood machine. The story of a missing, neglected child offers knuckle-clenching thrills, heart-rending chills, and later a moral dilemma that shakes the foundation of private detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro (this is the fourth installment in their series). It's Lehane's characters and dialogue that stand out -- living, breathing, and dying before our eyes, with only the faintest nod to caricature and cliche (but would it be possible for a detective somewhere, somehow, to arrive on a crime scene and NOT immediately glean information that has eluded scores of police officers? Please?). Things bog down at times when Lehane indulges himself a bit too much with his descriptive prose in his attempt to make Boston's neighborhoods and history a vital part of the story, but for the most part the plot chugs along at a decent pace, steadily building tension until the moment of truth arrives. Most inconsistencies and loose threads are tied-up neatly, albeit somewhat implausibly, with a few well-considered revelations in the final pages.
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Posted December 17, 2007
Gone, Baby Gone, is a wonderful story that I am happy to recommend! The plot is very exciting and the characters are fantastic! Buy the book. You won't be disappointed!
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Posted January 9, 2008
I will admit it took me a little while to really get into this book but once I did I was hooked. I even had to read it in the car, knowing I would feel sick from doing so. Lehane is a true master of the written word who knows how to make your heart jump with suspense or ache with compassion. He doesn't sugar coat a thing. I also enjoyed the way he described Boston in all its glory and gore. Now, I just gotta see the movie.
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Posted September 25, 2007
Just as I've come to expect from Mr. Lehane, this book does not disappoint. Such a good book, as all of his are proving to be. Only ones for me left to read are Prayers for Rain and Coronado.
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Posted January 17, 2006
I've been a fan of Lehane ever since I picked up Shutter Island at the airport for something to read on my flight. That got me hooked on the Kenzie-Gennaro books. I've read the first two, but accidentally skipped 'Sacred', but they keep getting better and better. What I really like is Lehane's way of taking the most mundane of chores like scribbling on a notepad into such vivid and lyrical imagery. He does the same thing with settings that would normally be bland or depressing and finds something beautiful about the location to accentuate it. Getting to the subject matter, it was tough to get through this book like it was for Patrick and Angie. It dealt with things I normally would not want to touch, but Lehane did it with genuine sincerity and ultimate realism. I heard someone say, 'You can't change the devil, the devil changes you.' Truer words have never been spoken in regards to this book.
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Posted November 6, 2003
Just finished this book. All I can say is 'GASP'. Thought that Sacred was #1 but this book beat it all around. Don't you just hate to finish a good book? The next one might disappoint you. Bet this writer never does that.
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Posted July 2, 2003
Dennis Lehane's writing is so far ahead of everything out there it's hard to go back to reading anyone else. His prose manages to be witty, gut-wrenching, and emotionally satisfying all at the same time. I got completely lost in the pages of this novel. Be forwarned though: this is no fairy tale. It's dark and intense. The themes are heartbreaking, especially if you've got kids, and doubly so if one happens to be a 4-year-old girl. I had to set it down a few times and take a breath, clear my head. But that's exactly what sucked me so deep into this novel. Like the best reads, you're the most entertained when you've got an emotional commitment. That's certainly the case here. Out of the 5 Kenzie-Genarro novels I happened to read this one last (it's chronologically 4th), and found this one to be the most satisfying.
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Posted October 10, 2002
From Beginnig to end this spectacular, Thrilling, edge of your feet book keeps you entertained. you don't want to put it down, every moment puts you right there, wanting to know more, wanting to know what else happen. Dennis Lehane is a genius, and being from Boston myself makes me proud to read these books
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Posted June 1, 2002
His best book yet-I couldn't put it down!! If this is his first book that you have read, it's definitely worth it to go back and start at the beginning. Don't know what I will do when I am done with Mystic River!!
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Overview
Boston private detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro are hired to find four-year-old Amanda McCready, abducted from her bed on a warm, summer night. They meet her stoned-out, strangely apathetic mother, her loving aunt and uncle, the mother's dangerous, drug-addled friends, and two cops who've found so many abused or dead children they may be too far over the edge to come back.
Despite enormous public attention, rabid news coverage, and...