Moonlight Mile (Kenzie and Gennaro) [Kindle Edition]

Dennis Lehane (Author)

Book Description

“[Lehane has] emerged from the whodunit ghetto as a broader and more substantial talent....When it comes to keeping readers exactly where he wants them, Mr. Lehane offers a bravura demonstration of how it’s done.”
—New York Times

Moonlight Mile is the first Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro suspense novel in more than a decade from the acclaimed, New York Times bestselling master of the new noir, Dennis Lehane. An explosive tale of vengeance and redemption—the brilliant sequel to Gone, Baby, Gone—Moonlight Mile returns Lehane’s unforgettable and deeply human detective duo to the mean streets of blue collar Boston to investigate the second disappearance of Amanda McCready, now sixteen years old. After his remarkable success with Mystic River, Shutter Island, and The Given Day, the celebrated author whom the Washington Post praises as, “one of those brave new detective stylists who is not afraid of fooling around with the genre’s traditions,” returns to his roots—and the result, as always, is electrifying.

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

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)
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Product Details

• File Size: 454 KB
• Print Length: 368 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins e-books; Reprint edition (November 2, 2010)
• Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
• Language: English
• ASIN: B003VIWO4S
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,018 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #78 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Private Investigators
  • #96 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Hard-Boiled

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

214 of 237 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 TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (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. Read more ›

137 of 168 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 VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (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. Read more ›

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not his best work November 27, 2010

By A. Brothers

Format:Hardcover

I'm a fan of his other books, particularly this series, so I tried to like MM. But it just isn't good. The dialogue is stilted and oh-too-clever, the plot is at times wholly unbelievable and at others sappy beyond belief, and the writing is sub-par (why is he constantly describing what people are wearing?!). The handful of political statements thrown in come off as preachy and shallow. I did really enjoy his portrayal of the Russian mob characters. Overall a real disappointment from D.L.

18 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars How did I live this long without reading Dennis Lehane? November 1, 2010

By Susan Tunis TOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Not only have I not read the books, I haven't even seen the movies--except one. I saw Gone Baby Gone, which is good because Moonlight Mile is the sequel to that book. So, I knew this book was a sequel when I picked it up, but I didn't actually realize it was the 6th book in a series. I don't generally like to start a series in the middle. Well, it's good I didn't know, or I might have missed out on a fabulous novel and delayed my introduction to Mr. Lehane further. If it's not already explicitly clear, I didn't find coming to this series late a problem. Exposition was used beautifully, not only to tell the back-story, but also to explicate character. That said, I'm pretty sure I spoiled several past novels for myself, but Lehane's writing is so strong and his characters so appealing, that it wouldn't stop me from reading the preceding books in the series.

The central characters in the series are private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. Angie's been out of the business for years, acting as stay-at-home mom for 4-year-old Gabby by day, and going to grad school by night. Patrick's trying to make ends meet working as a subcontractor for a high-end Boston investigative firm and hoping to get hired on permanently. Patrick and Angie have a life together. They're happy. And they don't discuss the McCready kidnapping from 12 years ago. If their marriage has a third rail, the outcome of that case is it. And all is well until Bea McCready contacts Patrick: Amanda is missing again.

Amanda is no longer a 4-year-old cutie. By all accounts, she's a remarkably self-sufficient 16-year-old young woman. Despite the privations of her upbringing, she's a brilliant and successful student.... However, Amanda may be a little too smart for her own good, and may have learned some life-skills that no teenager should know. As Patrick and Angie are drawn back into a world they hoped they'd left, the twists and turns kept me flipping pages like mad. There was one revelation that was obvious to me, but two pages later there was a jaw-dropping shocker. Time and time again Lehane managed to surprise me. This was an undeniably excellent mystery.

And despite the thrilling plot, even as a new-comer to this well established series, this novel was all about character for me. Whenever I can hear characters' voices in my head (instead of my own reading voice), I know that an author has brought them completely and totally to life for me. It doesn't happen that often. But, Patrick, Angie, and the many supporting characters were beautifully drawn. Wow, my first taste of the celebrated Mr. Lehane and I am hooked! Read more ›

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.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#72 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery

#83 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery

#72 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Mystery

#83 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery