This was not so much a mystery as a gangster novel. I liked the character development. The story kept my attention with some twists and turns.

So long... like reading 5 novels in a row. Found the ending a little unsatisfying. ( )

Lehane writes well, as always, but this one didn't appeal to me as much as the first in the series, or his other books. Characters are interesting, but not up to his usual complex standards. Still a good read ( )

Entertaining as to be expected. ( )

I have to admit that I started this book expecting another Shutter Island. It's not like that at all. Instead, Live By Night follows a gangster from Boston to Ybor City as his makes a name for himself and becomes more and more powerful. All in all, it's a very good read, just don't expect something action-packed and thrilling. ( )

Bello davvero. Cinque stelle, ma solo perché non è possibile darne di più. ( )

I rolled my eyes when this book started out basically, "all my problems started 'cause of a dame" but it turned out much differently than I thought. And it's a movie! ( )

Lehane is a wonderful writer and this is a great story. ( )

Major improvement over The Given Day. It's incredibly dark, Lehane's signature style, but it still manages to have humor sprinkled amongst the crazy. ( )

4.5 a really wonderful crime novel. ( )

I think Dennis Lehane must have sold his soul to the devil or something. This guy seems incapable of writing a bad book. He just goes from strength to strength.

I'd always enjoyed Lehane's books, starting with the Kenzie & Gennaro series. Then he really hit his stride with Mystic River. But for me, I found his high point to be The Given Day, which was unusual, because it was historical fiction. I don't like historical fiction. And yet, it was one of my favourite reads of the year.

Then, along he comes again, with the follow-up to The Given Day, Live By Night. This one takes the historical fiction of The Given Day, and mixes it up with the criminal element of almost any of Lehane's other books.

And man, does it rock.

Lehane has an unerring ear for dialogue, and a wonderful insight into the human condition. And he can tell a story better than most.

If you haven't read Lehane, you need to start. ( )

A sequel to "Any Given Day", which focused on the main character's policeman brother Danny, this novel's main character Joe Coughlin is a criminal, making and distributing liquor during the Prohibition years. Joe is a complex character, running with two brothers, getting sent to prison for his complicity in the death of two cops by friendly fire and double crossed by his lover. From the streets of Boston, we follow Joe to prison in Massachusetts, where he becomes a mafia guy, who is sent to run operations in Tampa upon his release, falling in love again. Lehane has created a varied, colorful group of characters, with shifting loyalties, who disappear at some point in the story only to resurface later at critical points. Violent, but recommended. ( )

I think I referenced Ellroy in my review of the first in this series and this cements that connection. There's more heart here and while some of the leaps serve the narrative more than they serve logic, there are enough action set pieces to keep things moving.

I will see the Ben Affleck movie but now that I know Joe and Emma are supposed to be 20 when they meet, it may be harder to take seriously. ( )

A page-burner, action and not much else. Except for a bit of low-brow philosophising about good and evil by our Irish antihero, who wants to be remembered as an outlaw, not a gangster. Stock characters: evil, dead-eyed, sick Sicilians; good-hearted, family-man mobsters who kill you in a second; women either too good or bad bad bad; southerners, both pillars of society and dumb rednecks, all racists but often taking money tainted by not-so-white hands; salt-of-the earth immigrant cuban cigar workers who have their knife fights on the weekends.

I wanted another Mystic River, but this is not it. ( )

I have loved many of Dennis Lehane's books, particularly his early stand-alone thrillers and the books centered around the detective team of Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. Unfortunately, his more recent ventures into portraying crime in earlier eras are less successful. This is a volume I put down unfinished. Characters not well drawn or appealing and the historical details were unpersuasive. A disappointment. ( )

Boston, Florida, Cuba in the 20's
Son of Boston Polic captain — career as mobster/outlaw — bygone era sin a cause for celebration — vice a national virture
good — gets better Joe very philosophical

Prohibition has given rise to an endless network of underground distilleries, speakeasies, gangsters, and corrupt cops. Joe Coughlin, the youngest son of a prominent Boston police captain, has long since turned his back on his strict and proper upbringing. Now having graduated from a childhood of petty theft to a career in the pay of the city's most fearsome mobsters, Joe enjoys the spoils, thrills, and notoriety of being an outlaw.

But life on the dark side carries a heavy price. In a time when ruthless men of ambition, armed with cash, illegal booze, and guns, battle for control, no one - neither family nor friend, enemy nor lover - can be trusted. Beyond money and power, even the threat of prison, one fate seems most likely for men like Joe: an early death. But until that day, he and his friends are determined to live life to the hilt.

Its a mobster book that is not about violence, wars, killings, drugs or whatever you associate with the mob. This book is so much deeper than that. It touches issues on race, freedom, religion, family, human nature and love. I've loved all the characters even the rotten ones because they were 3 dimensional. I love the uniqueness and depth of this book! ( )

Very disappointing sequel to The Given Day. More like a trip to the bank for Lehane rather than a serious effort. Written with an eye toward a movie sale - and a mediocre genre film at that. He's capable of good and interesting work when he feels like it. ( )

I credit this book for teaching me what type of crime novel I enjoy. This is because it's more or less divided into two parts. I would sum these up as lower than low and high rollin'. The latter part is vastly longer than the former. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the former far more.

I suppose some readers really enjoy stories on clawing your way to success, and it's spoils. Not me. I'd rather read a thousand pages on Capo Joe from Boston than a hundred on Tampa's Joe the Kingpin. All that said, I still found it entertaining, especially Part 2's climax. That chapter was fantastic, so yes, I would recommend this to fans of this genre. But first, I'd probably ask "Who's more entertaining, young Vito Corleone or older Michael Corleone?" ( )

Loved this introduction to Joe Coughlin. Hated the movie. ( )

Loved this introduction to Joe Coughlin. Hated the movie. ( )

I did not realize there was an earlier novel in this series. This is a standalone book. Joseph Coughlin is working on the opposite side of the law than his father who is hoping to become the Police Commissioner in Boston. Joseph is involved in robbery which leads to cops dying. He is arrested and sentenced to prison where he meets Maso, head of a powerful crime family in Boston. After his release from prison he goes to Tampa where he heads Maso's family branch there.

I enjoyed this story. The era of Prohibition, rum runners, and gangsters is portrayed very well here. Joe is not the strong arm. He works to get agreements from all parties involved. He gets involved with Cubans and gets them to work with him and cut out the others. He builds his own mob.

I liked the characters. They were complex--not all good or all bad. I like how Joe backs up his people and how he stands up for what he believes as he gets higher in the organization.

I will be reading more of this author ( )

Dennis Lehane
LIVE BY NIGHT
William Morrow, 2012
402 pages
Crime / Fiction

I first discovered Dennis Lehane when I stumbled upon a paperback copy of Mystic River. I knew then I loved this writer. And although I then read several more titles, for some odd reason I drifted away from his books. No blame placed on the author whatsoever!

LIVE BY NIGHT has kind of a Departed, or Scarface feel to it. It was layered with an array of characters, three different settings, and constantly twisting plots! The story takes place during prohibition. And even those of us who are considered history-challenged know what happened when booze was outlawed?!? Speakeasies, moonshine, and gangsters sprang up everywhere!

Despite being the son of a Boston police captain, Joe Coughlin, has become an outlaw. He starts out small-time with the Bartolos brothers, Dion and Paolo. Given bad information they decide to hold-up a card game. Little did they know it was Albert White's game. Albert White was bad news. One of the big bad names in Boston. Once Coughlin realizes the error, he also realizes it is too late to stop what is already in motion.

When things get hot in town, and Coughlin knows it is best to back-off some, he commits to once last heist. A bank job. Only problem is, people are onto the game. Cops are tipped off. Nothing goes as planned. Coughlin does time in prison. Attempts are made on his life. He has a chance to turn things around, and takes it, placing himself in the hands of Albert White's enemy, Maso Pescatore.

Tasked with running the operation in Florida, Coughlin begins a new life, improving on his old way of life. He turns the swampy mass of Tampa into a thriving rum-running business for Pescatore. His rise to the top creates a host of enemies. There is no sleep for the man on top when there is always someone scheming to knock you down, or take you out.

Prohibition won't last forever, and as the end of a dry-reign is in sight, Coughlin clearly sees the writing on the wall. What is going to happen to his empire, to his family, to him?

At the movies not long ago, they showed a trailer for an upcoming Ben Affleck film, LIVE BY NIGHT. I knew that was a more recent Lehane novel, and immediately picked myself up a copy. I had to read it. My interest in Lehane has been restored. I devoured the novel in a few nights. it was absolutely absorbing. (Be advised, LIVE BY NIGHT is actually Book 2 in Lehane's Coughlin series).

Phillip Tomasso
Author of the Severed Empire Series,
and The Vaccination Trilogy ( )

[Live By Night] by Dennis Lehane
2.5 stars

From The Book:
unflinching tale of the making and unmaking of a gangster in the Prohibition Era of the Roaring Twenties—now a Warner Bros. movie starring Ben Affleck, Elle Fanning, Zoe Saldana, and Sienna Miller.

Meticulously researched and artfully told, Live by Night is the riveting story of one man’s rise from Boston petty thief to the Gulf Coast’s most successful rum runner.

My Thoughts:
I almost hate to rate or review this book since I feel that I'm not being very fair to it or it's very talented author. I have to admit that I chose the book solely to help complete a challenge and not because I was in anyway interested in the content. I'm going to watch the movie in hopes that it will hold more interest for me. Anyone interested in this period of history will more than likely find the book entertaining but for me it was a struggle. Please know that it in no manner reflected on the author or his ability to write an interesting story. I have read others of his books and thoroughly enjoyed them ( )

Joe is a Gangster in Boston during Prohibition. Doing small jobs, gets caught and lands in prison. His father was police chief but taking graft. While in prison he gets set up by a big gangster after almost dying from beatings. He ends up in Tampa in the rum business and becomes a big wheel..Ybor city was his domain and he had it made there, but the Klan was in cahoots with the city fathers and they try to run him off. After that it was his boss who wanted him out. In the end he retires to Cuba with wife and son, but when he went back to Tampa his past caught up with him and his wife is murdered.. ( )