Sacred

A Novel

By: Dennis Lehane

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

A beautiful, grief-stricken woman has vanished without a trace. So has the detective hired to find her. And a lot of money…

Enter tough-nosed private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. Rooted in the streets of blue-collar Dorchester, they've seen it all – and survived. But this case leads them into unexpected territory: a place of lies and corruption, where trusting anyone could get them killed, and where nothing is sacred.

Another superior thriller from Dennis Lehane, the bestselling and acclaimed author of Mystic River, Shutter Island, and Gone, Baby, Gone.

Once again, too much of a good thing.

What did you like best about Sacred? What did you like least?

The relationship between Patrick and Angie is very well written. They have become almost like real characters in my life, which is evidence of good writing. Their dialogue is witty and the feeling between them is deep and complicated. The problem with the book is something I have said before about Mr. Lehane: he just doesn't know when to stop. The second half of the book is gigantic padding, with gore and viciously murdered bodies flying around everywhere. The plot twists become so outrageously overwritten as to become cartooonish. What starts out as a clever idea, the cult-like church which preys on young people with trust funds, is pushed so far beyond the limit that the whole thing devolves into utterly unreal "murder-for-hire" stuff which has been done to death. A book half the length of this one would have been far, far, far, far....you get the point.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Anticipating the next question, I feel that the narrative skills of Jonathan Davis are so good that in some ways it doesn't matter that the book is weighed down by tired cliches. His voice is rich and very easy on the ears, as it were. He is funny (all right, Mr. Lehane is funny, too) and deadly serious and true to all of the material. Next to Edoardo Ballerini (high praise, indeed, coming from me), he is the best narrator around. Maybe Victor Bevine, the narrator of Timothy Hallinan's books, is just a little bit better.

What about Jonathan Davis’s performance did you like?

I just answered this question. I like just about everything he does. The book would be much less enjoyable if read by a narrator of lesser skills. I will look for other books that Mr. Davis has narrated.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

That is too complicated a question to be answered easily. One of Mr. Lehane's books, The Drop, was recently made into an extraordinarily watchable movie. It was the last work that James Gandolfini ever did, and knowing this makes his performance even richer than it is. Plus, the lead actor is Tom Hardy, who is, again, IMHO, one of the best actors around today. Go see him in any other movie you can find him in. You'll be delighted and amazed with his virtuosity as an actor, and his ability to climb into various characters. At this, he is almost as good as Cate Blanchett, which is saying a whole lot, believe me. I think that she is the best actor alive today.

Any additional comments?

One of the best things about The Drop is that it is half the length of Mr. Lehane's other books. I didn't know this when I saw the movie, but it proves without a doubt that, in some areas of life, less is indeed more. Brevity is the soul of wit, as some famous guy once said.

Better than the first two in the series!

I loved every minute of it! Great writing from beginning to end. The descriptions were so detailed, you felt as if you were watching a movie! Can’t wait to start the next book in line!

A pure page-turner

It starts off with a thinly veiled parody of scientology, but you will never anticipate the plot twists Lehane has in store for you. Lehane is a gifted writer who just happens to write mystery/thrillers. I judge my audible purchases by the ones that force me to take detours from my driving destination in order to listen a bit more. Or force me to stay on the treadmill a few minutes longer. This one did that. Repeatedly. Davis does an excellent job with the narration. Highly recommended.

Pretty good

But needed a good editor. Those endless descriptions of women’s beauty were grating and utterly irrelevant to the story.

Good ending, though!

Wise cracking dialogue gets tiring

The story is good but listening to it wears thin. I may try to read it some time in the future and skim the dialogue.