Moonlight Mile: A Kenzie and Gennaro Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

Dennis Lehane (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 26, 2011 | Series: Kenzie and Gennaro

Amanda McCready was four years old when she vanished from her blue-collar Boston neighborhood. Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro risked everything to find her—only to orchestrate her return to a neglectful mother and broken home.

Twelve years later, Amanda, now sixteen, is gone again.

The disappearance of little Amanda was the case that troubled Kenzie and Gennaro more than any other. Still haunted by their consciences, they must now revisit the nightmare that once tore them apart—following the trail of a lost teenager into a world of identity thieves, methamphetamine dealers, and Russian gangsters, right up to the doorstep of a dangerously unstable crime boss and his demented wife. Once again Patrick and Angie will be putting everything that matters to them on the line in pursuit of the answer to the burning question: Is it possible to do the right thing and still be dead wrong?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, November 2010: It’s tough going for a good man in a messed-up world, particularly in Dennis Lehane's Boston. Patrick Kenzie knows he did the right thing twelve years ago (during the events in Gone, Baby, Gone) when he located missing 4-year-old Amanda McCready and returned her to her neglectful mother, even though she would’ve been better off with her kidnappers. That doesn’t mean he’s had an easy time living with his decision. In Moonlight Mile, Patrick is still scraping by as a freelance PI, but now he’s married to his former partner Angie Gennaro and with a daughter of his own. When Patrick learns that once again Amanda McCready’s gone missing, his conscience gets the better of him and he's soon on the trail of the enigmatic 16-year-old, only to discover that the moral complexity of his work has not lessened with time. And neither has Lehane's talent as a top-notch crime writer. Much like a cup of Dunkin' Donuts coffee, Lehane never fails to satisfy and the latest Patrick and Angie story is no less addictive. --Shane Hansanuwat --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

An old case takes on new dimensions in Lehane's sixth crime novel to feature Boston PIs Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro, last seen in 1999's Prayers for Rain. Twelve years earlier, in 1998's Gone, Baby, Gone, Patrick and Angie investigated the kidnapping of four-year-old Amanda McCready. The case drove a temporary wedge between the pair after Patrick returned Amanda to her mother's neglectful care. Now Patrick and Angie are married, the parents of four-year-old Gabriella, and barely making ends meet with Patrick's PI gigs while Angie finishes graduate school. But when Amanda's aunt comes to Patrick and tells him that Amanda, now a 16-year-old honor student, is once again missing, he vows to find the girl, even if it means confronting the consequences of choices he made that have haunted him for years. While Lehane addresses much of the moral ambiguity from Gone, this entry lacks some of the gritty rawness of the early Kenzie and Gennaro books. (Nov.) (c)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Harper; Reprint edition (July 26, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061836958
• ISBN-13: 978-0061836954
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (229 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,048 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #13 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Hard-Boiled

More About the Author

Dennis Lehane was born and raised in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He is the author of A Drink Before the War, which won the Shamus Award for Best First Novel; Darkness, Take My Hand; Sacred; Gone, Baby, Gone; Prayers for Rain; and the New York Times bestsellers Mystic River and Shutter Island.

Mystic River was a finalist for the PEN/Winship Award and won both the Anthony Award and the Barry Award for Best Novel, as well as the Massachusetts Book Award in Fiction given by the Massachusetts Center for the Book. Coronado, a collection of five stories and a play, was published in the fall of 2006 and includes the story "Until Gwen," which was adapted for the stage.

Lehane's work has been translated into 22 languages. He holds an MFA from Florida International University and is the writer-in-residence at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, where he runs the Writers in Paradise writers' conference. Before becoming a full-time writer, Lehane worked as a counselor with mentally handicapped and abused children, waited tables, parked cars, drove limos, worked in bookstores, and loaded tractor-trailers. He lives in the Boston area.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

195 of 219 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Pull To Go Back To Visit Old Friends Will Make This Book A Must Read -- But Beware Of The Disappointment From Doing So!, October 9, 2010

By 

bobbewig (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Moonlight Mile (Kenzie and Gennaro) (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

Having enjoyed all of Lehane's books and being a particulary big fan of the Kenzie-Gennaro mysteries (especially Gone, Baby, Gone), I couldn't wait to read Moonlight Mile to catch up on the lives of my old friends. I'm sure most other readers who are big fans of Lehane's books and of this series will feel compelled to read this sequel to Gone, Baby, Gone, which takes place twelve years later. However, let me forewarn you that after reading this book you are likely to feel disappointed and a bit sorry to have gone back to visit Patrick, Angie, Bubba and Amanda (the girl who was an integral part of Gone, Baby, Gone).

My disappointment with Moonlight Mile has nothing to do with Lehane's plot concept, which is a good one. The plot invloves Kenzie and Gennaro, haunted by the past, revisiting the case that troubled them the most, following a twelve-year trail of secrets and lies. Believing that this time will be different, they vow to make good on their promise to find Amanda, who has once again disappeared. This vow leads them down a path that could cost them their lives.

My disappointment stems from what, until this book, I thought was an impossibility; which is that Lehane -- who has proven to be a master in creating rich, complex "real world" characters and dialogue that sounds "fresh from the street," -- could write a book in which some characters seem paper-thin and unbelievable, and which speak in a way that, while glib and, at times witty, doesn't ring true at all. This is especially true about the character of sixteen-year old Amanda, as well as of Lehane's Russian mob characters, which are virtually cartoonish. Further, the characters of Angie and Bubba, who have been favorites of mine throughout this series, don't come across as compelling or even particulary interesting in Moonlight Mile.

I hope this review is helpful in cautioning fans of this series that going back in time to revisit old friends might not always be the best move.

130 of 160 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great and Fitting Finish to the Series, September 21, 2010

By 

Matthew Erwin (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Moonlight Mile (Kenzie and Gennaro) (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

It was my great pleasure to receive Moonlight Mile to do an early review. It has been eleven years since Patrick and Angie have graced the book world, but even though we haven't seen them in a long time, they are welcomed back into our lives.

While Moonlight Mile is the direct sequel to Prayers for Rain, the last Patrick and Angie book, it is more closely related to 1997's Gone Baby Gone. As long time fans will remember, that book ended with Patrick Kenzie making the impossible decision to take a young four year old girl away from her loving kidnappers and give her back to her derelict mother. An action that almost permanently destroyed the relationship between Kenzie and his long time love Angela Gennaro.

Flash forward twelve years and things have drastically changed for Patrick and Angie. For one, Angie is now married to Patrick and they have a precocious four year old daughter of their own named Gabby. Their PI firm has been shuttered mostly because Patrick and Angie can't take the violence that has followed them. Patrick works on a contractor basis with a big PI firm doing mostly corporate and high dollar client work, hoping to get hired on as a full time benefitted employee. Meanwhile, Angie is finishing up a grad degree to work with special needs students.

Their tenuous existence is shattered when Bea McCready calls Patrick in the middle of the night to inform him that her niece is missing again. Now 16 years old, she had become hard from being put back with her derelict mother. After Patrick is assaulted and robbed by criminals involved with Helene McCready (Amanda's derelict mother), he launches himself headlong into the newest disappearance, finding a long sad trial of violence and broken lives. To give away more would rob you of a great reading experience.

It is good to see Patrick and Angie return, even if it is clear this is their final ride. It is also good to see Lehane be funny again. As a writer, he is a master of hilarious dialogue, even in difficult situations. That humor was sorely missing from Mystic River, Shutter Island and The Given Day, the three books he has released in the preceding 11 years.

Much like Gone Baby Gone, the story revolves around morality and what it means. Patrick is faced with the fact that Amanda McCready would likely have been better off with her kidnappers than with her mother Helene. Other characters are forced to make similar choices between what is right as a general rule and what is right for a situation.

It is also a meditation on love. Kenzie's love for Angie, Gabby and even his psychotic best friend Bubba (who is sadly underused in this story) is explored and plays a vital role in every decision made.

If this is it for Patrick and Angie and they don't get pulled into another case down the line (and I don't think they will), I don't think they could leave us in a better way. Highly recommended, five stars and by far the best book of the year.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars OK - but not up to Lehan's standards, November 16, 2010

By 

Dwight Ternes (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Moonlight Mile (Kenzie and Gennaro) (Hardcover)

Very quick read - but did not live up to expectations I have for all of Lehane's work. Seems like he said to himself (or someone said to him) "let's do a sequel to 'Gone Baby Gone' - but we only have 'x' days to do it, so make it quick!". Seemed rushed and not well thought out. If it's possible, it was good and disappointing at the same time.