Reviews

Prayers for Rain: A Kenzie and Gennaro Novel by Dennis Lehane

gayatriii's review against another edition

4.0

I've come to regard Lehane as one of the best crime writers out there. In "prayer for rain" he spins a dark tail of greed, evil, violence and despair. The antagonist is a chilling character, the story is solid and the humour is there in right doses. Many will see the twist coming, but strangely the predictability of the final twist did not take anything away for me. There are bits towards the end where the villain seems a bit pussy like, but I'm just nitpicking. It's a satisfying read, and man this guy can write. Beautiful prose. His descriptions even made someone like me Google a popular car model to see what all the fuss was about. Unreal.

jennoux's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

brandongryder's review against another edition

3.0

A so-so book in a pretty good series. Better than most books in the genre. Should finish the series soon.

kristen1213's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

4.25

sambam13's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Cursing, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Animal death

Moderate: Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Mental illness, and Misogyny

peter_gagne's review against another edition

3.0

A decent entry in the Kenzie & Gennaro series. Not the best, interesting and well-written.

meglondon22's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense

4.0

billymac1962's review against another edition

4.0

I don't have many regrets, but one that I do have is having watched Mystic River when I did.
I had been very familiar with Dennis Lehane at the time, and the opportunity came to see the movie even though I hadn't read the book yet. Call it a weak moment, but I went ahead and watched it. I loved it, and only later realized it is considered his best work.
Of course, I can't read it now, at least until I've totally forgotten the movie.

So until then, I'm picking through his work, and I've very much enjoyed this series so far. I devoured Prayers for Rain. It was great to get back to these characters, especially Bubba, and the story was just complex enough to get the brain buzzing but digestable enough to make this a speedy read.
This isn't the best of the series. [b:Darkness, Take My Hand|21681|Darkness, Take My Hand (Kenzie & Gennaro, #2)|Dennis Lehane|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1167322950s/21681.jpg|1356228] takes that honor, but it was a great diversion and a reminder of what a thriller writer should be, and why I should keep reading him.

imposterwalrus's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

eternan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0