Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro have been friends since they were kids, and as adults they work together as private investigators. When three local politicians hire them to retrieve some stolen documents from a cleaning lady, they think little of it and track her down.

But what awaits them is not a coward ready to cooperate; it is a feisty, intelligent woman with a story to tell, and Kenzie and Gennaro are drawn inexorably into an underlying plot involving gang violence, family ties and some crimes too cruel to mention. Rather than turning away when the going gets tough, he is unable to extricate himself in good conscience, and before he knows it he is embroiled in someone else’s trouble up to his neck.

To get back out of the woods, he’s going to need to say goodbye to some of his preconceived notions about himself and other people, and with Gennaro by his side he has to rise to the occasion and keep a volatile situation from exploding in his face.

This book is the first in a series, and I’ll be up-front with you; I am determined to read them all. The relationship between Kenzie and Gennaro is a brittle friendship with underlying sexual and romantic currents that bring a touch of humanity into a truly bleak indictment of gang culture and racial tensions.

Despite this touch of romance, A Drink Before the War retains a strength many novels can only dream of, weaving a grey tapestry you can virtually step into. Lehane’s ability to create realistic fiction is in evidence here, and it is abundantly clear why several of his works have been made into critically acclaimed films.

Additionally, Lehane deals with some seriously sensitive subjects that are all too often indelicately handled in books, television and films. He does this with such care, such gentleness, and such forthright honesty that they are imbued with the dignity many of the victims of such crimes feel they have been robbed of. This alone – and the fact that this is a habit across his repertoire – elevates the man from the level of ordinary author to that of a literary god.

With carefully chosen vocabulary and an astonishing ability to see through to people’s core beliefs and intentions, Dennis Lehane has created an entire world for his readers to dwell in.

Don’t pass up the opportunity to read this book. It is one in a million, and to miss out on it is to deny yourself the chance to witness a truly extraordinary feat of artistry.

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