Reviews

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

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myrdyr's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed this latest addition to the series, and look forward to seeing what happens next.

paulataua's review against another edition

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3.0

It is hard to say how Lehane could possibly follow “Gone Baby, Gone”, and ‘Prayers for Rain’ never really comes close to the heights of that book. It has all the familiar loved characters, Kenzie, Angie, and Bubba. It also has a sociopathic villain, who doesn’t kill his victims, but gets sadistic pleasure out of interfering so much in their affairs, making things go so wrong in their lives that they end up killing themselves. And yet, with all that potential, I found myself missing the Boston underground, the political corruption, and the dark underbelly of the city that plays such a major role in the earlier books. Definitely worth reading, but the plot loses its way late on and the end is slightly disappointing..

lisaeirene's review against another edition

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4.0

This was a really good, and different from the rest of the series, book. The story had so many layers and I was guessing until the very end. Was glad that Bubba had such a big part in the story and that Angie was back.

tj58's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

okenwillow's review against another edition

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5.0

Dennis Lehane achève ici sa série Kenzie/Gennaro. Kenzie est sollicité par une jeune femme victime de harcèlement, et règle l’affaire en moins de deux. Intrigué par son suicide quelques mois plus tard, il sera rejoint par Gennaro pour les besoins de la cause. J’ai retrouvé avec joie et bonheur le duo de détectives et son acolyte improbable Bubba, le passionné d’explosif belliqueux. Comme toujours chez Lehane les personnages sont passionnants et approfondis. L’intrigue est encore une fois tordue comme je les aime, avec une bonne dose de machiavélisme, voire de sadisme psychologique.
J’ai lu ce dernier volume en un rien de temps, et il ne me reste que son dernier roman, Un pays à l’aube, à lire. Dennis Lehane est un grand homme, je le love d’amour…

ljjohnson8's review against another edition

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5.0

Really, I'm kind of done trying to come up with superlatives for Lehane. Maybe the strongest Patrick and Angie for me yet because I got extremely creeped out by the bad guy in this one. So, not only all of the usual extraordinarily strong writing and characterization, but also I had my pants scared off and found myself looking uneasily around as I was getting in my car in a parking lot at night. Getting scared by a book is a good thing; if writing is powerful enough to make me cry or feel afraid or laugh, then it's the most effective for me.

I only have one Kenzie and Gennaro book left. That's pretty heartbreaking.

mundpund's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

3.75

elisabeth1st's review against another edition

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4.0

Dennis Lehane, my go to guy when I need a fast paced, fun thriller that's a little too much to believe but not too (too) macho to read.

alienor's review against another edition

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4.0

"You wanted to play? Well, hide-and-seek is over. Let the real game begin, motherfucker."

➊ You were baffled to see how out of character and - yes - boring his behavior was in [b:Gone, Baby, Gone|425123|Gone, Baby, Gone (Kenzie & Gennaro, #4)|Dennis Lehane|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388234938l/425123._SY75_.jpg|1234238]? Good news, people! PATRICK IS BACK, and that's for the best. Welcome sarcastic descriptions, infuriating and hilarious comments, smartass answers!

"Twenty miles, and it took us only an hour and fifteen minutes. Welcome to Boston; we just fucking live for traffic"

I missed them so SO much, I can't even tell. Please Lehane, I think you're an amazing author, but do not spoil my favorite character. When I think that many readers only read book 4 because of the movie, it makes me sad, because Patrick isn't more than the shell of himself there.

"For a while I tried the Zen trick of ignoring them, willing my body to seem unattractive. After a few hundred bites or so, though, I thought, fuck Zen. Confucius never lived in ninety-eight percent humidity on a ninety-two-degree day. If he had, he'd have hacked off a few heads and told the emperor he was fresh out of peppy bromides until someone outfitted the palace with AC"

➋ While we're at the welcome back, I'm delighted to inform you that Angie stopped being uncommunicative and fuzzy but regained her wit and kickassery. WOOT!

➌ If you read the previous books, you know that everyone needs a little Bubba to be happy. Therefore I'm ecstatic to announce that we've got A LOT OF BUBBA here, and for our biggest pleasure he's crazier and funnier than ever : that's simple, I seem to be completely unable to stop laughing when he opens his mouth. This psycho is perf : if Patrick has my heart, Bubba for sure has my smile. SPOILER ALERT : there are scenes involving kissing :P

"Angie's with me," I said.
"No shit. Where?"
"Back Bay. We need a delivery man."
"Bomb?" He sounded excited, like a had a few lying around he needed to get rid of.
"Ah, no. Just a tape recorder."
"Oh." He sounded bored."

I already said it, but Bubba's the star of this fifth book.

➍ Do you know what I missed the most in Gone, Baby Gone? COMPLICITY. Humor. Banter. LOVE. All. The. Feels.

"There's nothing but me left there. And white sheets. White sheets and those fucking birds and it hurts, and all I can do is close my eyes and lie there and wish I didn't feel like dying."

➎ The plot is well-wrapped and completely addictive : you've been warned, you won't be able to stop before unraveling all the lies our favorite detectives are told. Hell, you can't get enough of the team finally working together again.

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vance_31's review against another edition

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5.0

This is my fourth Dennis Lehane book and the fifth in Kenzie and Gennaro series.

Characters ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Just like in the other Dennis Lehane books, great character work. I grew to like Bubba's character. I also liked the antagonist of the story. He reminded me of Brady Hartsfield from the Bill Hodges trilogy by Stephen King.

Writing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Fantastic as always, though he could slow down in giving too many details about things.

Flow ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Smooth.

Ending ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Great ending with lots of surprises. Dennis Lehane never seems to run out of tricks up his sleeve.

Overall ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A great thriller/mystery novel. It surpassed my expectations. I find this better than the preceding book, Gone, Baby, Gone.

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