A review by jeffmauch
The Given Day by Dennis Lehane

4.0

Another gem from Dennis Lehane here. This is a bit of a departure from the gritty, present day novels I mostly associate with Lehane (Gone Baby Gone, Mystic River, Moonlight Mile), but it's still the lovable setting of the city of Boston. This time it's Boston post WWII and prior to prohibition. It also has characters you can't help but root for: Danny Coughlin, the honest cop that follows what he thinks is right, regardless of the consequences. Luther, the African American on the run who again, like Danny, is trying to be the good in the world and do right by everyone. Thomas, Danny's father, the old guard, torn between the world that was and the better world that may be that Danny envisions and is fighting for. I really enjoyed this book quite a bit, particular the way Lehane tied Babe Ruth into multiple parts of the book as a means to not only tie the storylines together, but to give us a sense of time and place from an outside perspective to the events within.