Live by Night by Dennis LehaneMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I love a bit of Lehane. I think he is one of the best there is at conjuring that era in America we know so well from all those Cagney movies we grew up with.
Thing is though, and I'm sorry to say this, in this book I kind of felt he was going through the motions a little bit. It felt like there had been some sort of "prohibition checklist" on his desk prior to sitting down to write, because all of the stock characters were here.
The dame: check.
The buddies who grew up on the mean streets: check.
The corrupt cop: check.
The evil mob boss: check.
The list goes on, and whilst they aren't bad characters, I felt like I'd met them all before. Lehane did manage to add a few new ingredients to spice things up though. A great Florida setting, Cuba in its "heyday", a cop on the edge and a US Navy ship being blown up, so I'll forgive him a little and look forward to his next book with anticipation.
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