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This is the best book by Dennis Lehane, according to readers
"Nobody combines the brutality and the beauty of the human experience like Lehane."
No one captures Boston quite like Dennis Lehane. That’s evidenced by the thriller author’s many books set in the city and the heaps of praise our readers gave him for that work.
“Nobody is better at gut-punch endings than he is,” said a reader from the North Shore. “All his books have that trap-door payoff to keep you coming back.”
This month, Boston.com’s Book Club welcomes Lehane to discuss his newest release, “Small Mercies,” a book about a Southie mother searching for answers about her daughter’s disappearance during the summer of 1974 as the neighborhood roils over the busing crisis. The author will join us on June 27, at 5 p.m.
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Ahead of Lehane’s live virtual discussion with Harvard Book Store’s Serena Longo, we asked Boston.com readers which of his works they consider his best. Readers shared their favorite books by the prolific writer and why they consider him among the best in his field.
What’s your favorite Dennis Lehane book or series?
A 🎥 emoji means the book(s) has been adapted into a film or television series.
7. “Since We Fell”
In this psychological thriller, protagonist Rachel Childs is a former journalist who becomes a shut-in after an on-air meltdown ends her career. Just as she begins to put herself back together with a new marriage, her life is once again derailed by a chance encounter that leads her to question her new husband and her own sanity.
6. “The Drop” 🎥
Several of Lehane’s books have been adapted into films, but this one took the opposite approach. “The Drop” is a novelization of a film written by Lehane and expands upon a short story also written by the author. In the book, a Boston bartender gets tangled up with the mafia, cops, and stick-up artists when he makes the decision to rescue an abused puppy whose owner comes searching for his dog.
5. “Small Mercies”
Lehane’s most recent book is our June Book Club pick. The novel takes place in South Boston, during the summer of 1974. As the busing crisis grips the neighborhood, Mary Pat Fennessy searches for answers about her daughter’s recent disappearance.
4. Joe Coughlin series (“World Gone By,” “Live by Night,” “The Given Day”) 🎥
These historical thrillers start at the end of World War I and follow a cast of characters in Boston during the 1919 police strike as well as in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Later books focus on Joe Coughlin, the youngest son of a prominent Boston police captain introduced in “The Given Day,” as he climbs the ladder of organized crime.
3. “Shutter Island” 🎥
U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels arrives on Shutter Island — based on nearby Long Island — to investigate the disappearance of a patient at Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane. But the investigation takes sinister turns as it unfolds, revealing greater dangers than Daniels could’ve imagined.
2. “Mystic River” 🎥
The novel is centered on a group of childhood friends from Boston — Sean, Jimmy, and Dave — who are forever changed after one of them is abducted. Years later, their lives are entangled once again when Jimmy’s daughter goes missing, Dave returns home on the night of her disappearance covered in blood, and Sean is assigned to solve the case. The book was made into a 2003 film and was voted the best film adaption of a Lehane book by Boston.com readers.
1. Kenzie and Gennaro series (“Moonlight Mile,” “Prayers for Rain,” “Gone, Baby, Gone,” “Sacred,” “Darkness, Take My Hand,” “A Drink before the War”) 🎥
Native Bostonians Kenzie and Gennaro are private investigators in South Boston in this series of crime thrillers. The books’ plots involve political intrigue, the Irish mob, mysteries, murders, and more. Several readers mentioned “Gone, Baby, Gone,” the fourth book in the series, as one of their favorite reads of all time.
Praise for Dennis Lehane
“Growing up in Somerville in the early 50s, I feel that Lehane captured life as it existed then. Those neighborhoods have changed a great deal but Dennis brings me back to those memories.” — Jack K., Plymouth
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“Dennis transports us back in time and involves us in the web of mystery. We are there in person as eyewitnesses to what is happening and yet we are invisible to the three-dimensional characters that Dennis has us meet.” — Suzanne F., Plymouth
“Straight shooter and he writes women well. Not overly macho. Lehane captures Boston wonderfully.” — Eileen M., Wilmington
“I spent almost 10 years working in Dorchester, about 100 feet from the JFK Red Line station. I like Lehane’s writing because it’s fast-paced and interesting and I love being so familiar with the locations and street names in his books. Plus, a colleague of mine grew up with Lehane, and a recurring character in the Kenzie and Gennaro books is named after this colleague, so I feel even more of a connection with the books!” — Mike C., West Roxbury
“Nobody combines the brutality and the beauty of the human experience like Lehane. The way he can make you relate to people in the direst scenarios while weaving in themes of race, class, ethnicity, and gender divide reminds you we’re all the same, just separated by the false borders we choose to create. Existentialism is delivered through the lens of Bostonian grit. I’ve never picked up one of his books without flying through it.” — Peter L., Quincy
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“I loved the Joe Coughlin series. ‘The Given Day’ had the coolest opening and ending. I kept wondering after reading the opening chapter, where does Babe Ruth fit into this narrative? Read it and find out.” — Patrick W., Worcester
Boston.com occasionally interacts with readers by conducting informal polls and surveys. These results should be read as an unscientific gauge of readers’ opinion.
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