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Will Byrnes

April 05 2015

<blockquote> What they didn’t tell you about absolute power was that it was never absolute; the instant you had it, someone had already lined up to try to take it away. Princes could sleep soundly, but never kings. The ear was always tuned for the creak on the floorboard, the whine of a hinge. </blockquote>The princes would probably do well to stay alert as well. Remember Richard the Third? World Gone By is the final volume of Dennis Lehane’s Coughlin Family trilogy. The series began ambitiously with <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/32980655" rel="nofollow noopener">The Given Day</a>, set in Boston, among other places, in the late 19-teens. That book cast a perceptive eye on the social movements of the era, and the underlying problems that called them into being. It was an opus magnus, big canvas, big ideas, well realized. The second of the Coughlin books, <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/426848617" rel="nofollow noopener">Live by Night</a>, shifted the focus to Florida in the roaring twenties, Prohibition, rum trade, a fair bit on the DNA of violence. It was smart, literary, insightful, and a damn fine read. It took a lot of wordsmith ordnance to produce the first two. But it seems that there were only a few cartridges left when it came time for the third. This is not to say it is not a good book. I liked it. But, compared to its older siblings, it is disappointing for the reduction in scope, and the feeling one might get that Lehane was dashing through this one to finish the series so he could move on to something else. Joe Coughlin, in Live by Night, had carved out a nice little chunk of the Florida crime market. Even bought himself some public respectability. But now he has scaled back. Maintains a low public profile. Although he is still a member of the organized crime council, he functions as a freelancer, an advisor, a voice of wisdom, a gangland statesman <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPw-3e_pzqU" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"> almost</a>.<blockquote> “So was I a gangster?” He nodded. “Yes. Now I’m an advisor to people.” “Criminals.” He shrugged. “A friend of mine was Public Enemy Number Three about six years ago—“ She sat up quickly. “See, that’s what I’m saying. Who could begin a sentence, ‘A friend of mine was Public Enemy’ anything?” </blockquote>He is doing well, plenty of money, a son he adores, a gorgeous, connected girlfriend. He hobnobs with the movers and shakers financial and civic, also has working relationships with the military and the police. But he gets wind that there is a hit out on him, and the game is afoot. Who, when, why? This gives the story structure, a ticking bomb, with tension ramping up as the deadline approaches. <img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1430468087i/14715301._SY540_.jpg" width="400" height="xxx" alt="description" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> Dennis Lehane -from Boston Magazine Lehane brings back plenty of the cast from the last episode, but there is enough new blood to keep things pumping. Joe’s pal, boss of bosses Dion Bartolo, appears to have a mole in his organization. People are dying or being locked up. It’s bad for business and needs to end. One of Joe Coughlin’s challenges is to unearth the snitch. There is enough organizational politicking, back-stabbing (literally, as the case may be) and maneuvering for fans of Wolf Hall or Game of Thrones. The seats of power may be smaller, but the desire, and willingness to do whatever it takes is just as high. The scale of this book is far different from that of its elders, 309 pps for this one, versus 402 for Live by Night and 704 for The Given Day. This one takes place within a few weeks, whereas the prior two covered decades. But thematic strains persist. <blockquote> the gangster genre to me has always been a metaphor for unfettered capitalism. It’s the American system run completely amok without regulation, without anything. So whereas in the real world you have, say, Exxon buying off the State of New Jersey (a recently proposed [and accepted] pollution settlement) — well, in the gangster novel, that would just be somebody would get killed. - from the U-T San Diego interview</blockquote>Family figures large here, again. Lehane brings back issues of fathers and sons, how violence by elders scar and steer their children. Can the cycle ever be broken? Moms have a hard time of it, mostly by their absence. Although one, who is, delightfully, a floral arranger and contract killer, makes a well-deserved dent in her abusive hubby’s cranium to achieve her widowhood. Widowers abound, usually with sons. It’s a man’s world, more so than in the earlier books, probably because the female characters have been killed off. <blockquote> I didn’t realize that until after the book was pretty much going to print. I could have thought that one through a little bit more. Where the hell are all the women in this? - from LA Review of Books interview</blockquote>Lehane touches on race as well, most poignantly in a scene where Joe Coughlin talks with his mixed race son, Tomas, about being called a nigger. There are some wonderful characters here. A top-hatted Montooth Dix conjures images of Baron Samedi. A mob doctor has a particularly interesting tale to tell. An unaffiliated don has a group of bodyguards with a particularly daunting rep. One of the mob bosses has a gambling problem. Contract killers have kids, and even a big deal like Joe Coughlin has to cope with his kid getting chicken pox. So there are both broad and fine brushes in Lehane’s set. Throughout the book Joe sees a young boy. He is uncertain if the boy is real, a message from the other side, maybe manifestation of a brain tumor. But the sightings trouble him. And this is not the only potentially spectral child presence in the book. He wrestles with feeling alone in the world as well, the larger family of which he was a member having, despite the lie about putting family first, done an excellent job of making orphans. Joe gives some thought to the hereafter, making up for his crimes, sure, but more interestingly, offers up a very interesting notion of time<blockquote> “Do you think she’s happy? Wherever she is?” His father turned on the seat and faced him. “Matter of fact, I do.” “But she must be lonely.” “Depends. If you believe time works like it does down here, then, yeah, she’s only got her father for company and she didn’t much like him.” He patted Tomas’s knee. “But what if there’s no such thing as time after this life?” “I don’t understand.” “No minutes, no hours, no clocks. No night turning into day. I like to think your mother’s not alone, because she’s not waiting for us. We’re already there. “ </blockquote>So, what’s not to like? Were this the first book in the series, or a stand-alone volume, one might look at World Gone By differently. But it is part of a trilogy, so the first two parts must be taken into account as well. How does it compare? The Given Day is a big-time historical novel. An epic, a saga, about a time and place, covering considerable time, considerable history. It is a book with heft, and not just from its 700+ pages. Live By Night, while not sharing the same scope as its predecessor, was an amazing book that carried the Coughlin family gangster story forward in the context of American history. There were added artistic elements that gave the work some extra oomph. With World Gone By the scope of the first, and even the second book is abandoned for a smaller tale. The ghostly visitation by a young boy that Joe experiences would be more interesting if Lehane had not played a very similar card already in Live by Night. The sociopolitical concerns persist, and I suppose there is nothing wrong with flogging a theme, but it seemed to me that this had been done pretty clearly in the previous volumes, so that when we stop by there again this time it was a case of been-there-done-that. There is a strain of melancholy here that exceeds that of his prior books. Check out Ivy Pochoda’s interview with Lehane in the LA Review of Books on that. There are reasons. I liked the book. There is a lot of substance surrounding the gangster tale. Some of the secondary characters were wonderful. The ramping up of tension worked well. You might not have the same sort of reaction I did to what seemed recycled material. That is mostly what kept me from liking it more. (Wish I could give it three and a half stars) Joe Coughlin is an engaging character and, despite his chosen profession, one can relate to him. World Gone By completes the Coughlin trilogy, day, night, gone. Lehane has already begun work on another trilogy, this one set in more contemporary Boston. Review posted – 5/1/15 Publication date – 3/10/15 =============================EXTRA STUFF Links to the author’s <a href="http://www.dennislehane.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">personal</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/authorname" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Dennis.Lehane" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">FB</a> pages Other books in the Coughlin series -----<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/32980655" rel="nofollow noopener">The Given Day</a> - #1 -----<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/426848617" rel="nofollow noopener">Live By Night</a> - #2 Interviews -----Ivy Pochoda for the <a href="http://lareviewofbooks.org/interview/create-lot-widows" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"> LA Review of Books </a> -----John Wilkens for the <a href="http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/mar/20/dennis-lehane-world-gone-by-interview/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"> Union Tribune San Diego </a> -----Colette Bancroft for the <a href="http://www.tampabay.com/features/books/dennis-lehane-talks-about-world-gone-by-why-we-love-outlaws/2219988" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"> Tampa Bay Times </a>

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Baba

August 24 2020

A book with cover artwork that includes a faux-sticker with a <a href="https://goodreads.com/author/show/3389.Stephen_King" title="Stephen King" rel="noopener">Stephen King</a> quote about this book: "The best gangster novel since <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/22034.The_Godfather__The_Godfather___1_" title="The Godfather (The Godfather, #1) by Mario Puzo" rel="noopener">The Godfather</a>" A book so compelling, that when I found out it was the last of a trilogy, not only did I order the two preceding books, I kept on reading this one! A book so absorbing that I delayed almost everything in my life whilst absorbed in this reality. <img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1598296640ra/30010932.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> It's 1943, the United States is at war, and back in Tampa, Joe Coughlin retired gangster and now middleman between the legitimate world and the underworld is virtually everyone's ally, but can anyone be untouchable in the world of organised crime? The gangster and associated life is but a matter of a flick of a coin right? <img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1598296640ra/30010930.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> A wonderful real feeling look at Tampa in the 1940s, and the reach and power of organised crime headed by the American-Italian mafia. A book that lovingly and unrelentingly, world builds as it also winds up the tension and drama in a book that starts of by telling you most people that attended the biggest party of the year awhile back are all dead now. This is the 1940s version of The Sopranos and The godfather mafia realities, and definitely belongs in that class! 8.5 out of 12, firm Four Star read. <img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1598296640ra/30010931.gif" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy">

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Orsodimondo

October 07 2021

IL MONDO PASSATO <<img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1633587792i/32020263.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> Il regista, sceneggiatore, produttore e attore protagonista Ben Affleck interpreta Joe Coughlin in “Live By Night – La legge della notte”. Accanto Chris Messina che interpreta Dion Bartolo. Questo è il terzo capitolo della storia e della vita di Joseph “Joe” Coughlin, figlio di irlandesi, padre poliziotto: The Given Day – Quello era l’anno, Live By Night – La legge della notte, e World Gone By-Tutti i miei errori. Ho letto il primo senza sapere che volendo il percorso narrativo continuava: e ho preso in mano questo senza sapere che a quello si riallacciava. Ma sono comunque storie autoconclusive, non è necessario né seguire l’ordine di pubblicazione, né averne letto altre. <img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1633582798i/32020133._SX540_.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> Joe Coughlin partì volontario nel 1917 per andare in Francia a combattere contro i barbari, quelli che lui definiva gli Unni. Qui ha visto morirgli accanto brava gente, brave persone, e non riusciva a capirne né la ragione né il motivo. Ma, aveva capito che le regole alle quali loro obbedivano erano bugie e non valevano per quelli che le avevano create. Così giura a se stesso che se mai fosse riuscito a non morire e a tornare a casa non avrebbe mai più obbedito a un ordine. S’era imbarcato da soldato: quando è tornato a casa era pronto a vivere da fuorilegge. Ma poi, col tempo, Joe capisce che infrangere la legge non basta. Quello che conta è stabilire le proprie regole. E Joe lascia Boston per trasferirsi in Florida e fare la sua fortuna. Si sistema a Ybor, la Harlem di Tampa. E da fuorilegge diventa gangster. <img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1633582798i/32020129._SX540_.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> A sinistra Zoe Saldana/Graciela, il grande amore di Joe, la madre di suo figlio. Joe non fa differenza tra bianchi e neri, tra neri e caffelatte o cappuccino o caramello. E se differenza deve fare, non è certo a livello umano: per lui hanno tutti pari dignità. E così il suo piccolo (ma non poi così piccolo) impero cresce e si consolida con l’ok di Cosa Nostra, ma facendo business con cubani e afroamericani. Dopo essere stato l’uomo di riferimento della mafia in Florida, i suoi boss capiscono che per quanto di gente ne abbia uccisa, ha comunque il cuore troppo tenero per essere il numero uno. E così gli chiedono di farsi da parte, di lasciare il timone al suo amico d’infanzia Dion Bartolo, che almeno è di chiara origine italiana: e Joe diventa il consigliere, il diplomatico, il vero uomo d’affari della mafia in Florida. <img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1633588922i/32020311._SX540_.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> A sinistra Sienna Miller in un’altra notevole performance. Trovo che sia un’attrice sottovalutata. Joe era sposato alla cubana Graciela e con lei aveva fatto un figlio, Tomas: ma quando il piccolo ha due anni, la madre muore in una sparatoria. E Joe non riesce a dimenticarla e a perdonarsi d’averla coinvolta nei suoi giri violenti. Ora, la cosa sulla quale investe tutto, è Tomas, che nel frattempo ha nove anni: padre e figlio hanno un gran bel rapporto, è molto tenero il senso di paternità di Joe. E accanto a questo caldo e affettuoso angolo di mondo, spaccio, traffico, droga, liquori, prostituzione, corruzione, omicidio, violenza. Un mondo del quale Joe è sempre parte portante e fondamentale. Un mondo da tenere nascosto e lontano dal piccolo Tomas. <img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1633757482i/32027469._SX540_.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> È il 1943, i Giapponesi hanno già attaccato Pearl Harbour e il “nano crucco” rompe il cazzo a mezzo mondo. Sbarcherà mai in America? Forse no, se i Russi lo mandano al diavolo a casa loro. Echi lontani di guerre lontane ma molto presenti: perché le materie prime sono diventate oro e per Joe e Cosa Nostra è un’altra buona occasione di far quattrini e per giunta farli in modo (quasi) legale. Eppure c’è spazio per la nostalgia di un mondo che è stato e ormai passato: quando Joe e Dion svaligiavano banche, o quando muovevano i primi passi in Florida. Adesso sembra già tardi. E trentasei anni sono come sessanta. Molto bravo Lehane a mischiare ricostruzione storica (e che storia: storia del gangsterismo), thriller, suspense, onirico e plot di fantasia. Trecento pagine che si leggono con una sola grossa difficoltà: interrompere, chiudere il libro e posarlo. <img src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1633582798i/32020130._SX540_.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy">

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Labijose

November 24 2020

Broche de oro a la magnífica trilogía compuesta por “Cualquier otro día”, “Vivir de noche” y esta última. Joe Coughlin se enfrenta a sus peores pesadillas, tras más de veinte años de una vida dedicada al crimen y a la extorsión. “Cualquier otro día” nos trasladó al Boston sangriento de los años 20, más concretamente, a la huelga policial de 1919. Fue un arranque espectacular. En “Vivir de noche” asistimos al ascenso de Coughlin como jefe de la mafia en Florida, y a sus actos más salvajes. En “Ese mundo desaparecido”, nuestro protagonista ya no tiene un rol como mandatario en la organización, aunque se sigue manteniendo en ella. Sabe que sus días están contados. Sin embargo, tiene un hijo por el que luchar. Un hijo que ya se quedó sin madre en un suceso sangriento, y que ahora puede quedarse también sin padre. ¿A quién acudir? ¿En quién confiar? En esos círculos, absolutamente en nadie. Y así llegaremos a Cuba, en espera de una conclusión que, aunque lógica, no por ello resultará menos dolorosa al lector que, como yo, le haya cogido cariño a este entrañable mafioso. Aunque el autor no haya vuelto a alcanzar la maestría narrativa de su primera parte (“Cualquier otro día” es una joya en cada una de sus páginas), tanto la segunda como la presente han estado a una altura muy similar. Dennis Lehane es un autor muy a tener en cuenta en el panorama literario mundial. “Shutter island” y la tan celebrada “Mystic River” lo encumbraron a lo más alto. Lo lógico hubiese sido dormirse en los laureles. Afortunadamente, compruebo que no.

K

Kemper

January 08 2015

I like crime stories set back in the days of fedoras and trenchcoats, and I’m a big fan of Dennis Lehane’s. So this should be perfect, right? Sadly, the best I can say is that it isn’t bad. Set 10 years after the previous book, Live By Night, Joe Coughlin has left behind his days of building a criminal empire based on bootlegging to the more respectable position of being a prominent man in Tampa. Joe runs several successful businesses but his real job is to work as an advisor and fixer for the Mob. As World War II rages, the same shortages of men and resources have hit even organized crime. Thanks in part to Joe’s help the drugs, gambling, prostitution, and various other criminal enterprises are still doing well as he splits time between Florida and Cuba. As a man who makes no enemies and is a cash cow for the Mob, Joe’s days of danger seem to be behind him so he’s shocked to get a tip that a contract has been put out on his life. As Joe tries to find out if there’s any truth to the rumor he also has to deal with an escalating conflict between a white mobster trying to muscle in on the turf controlled by a black man as well as being leaned on by the war department to help them try to root out spies on the docks. I wanted to love this one, and I found Joe a fascinating character in a lot of ways, this really comes across as kind of a generic gangster story. The last book was Joe’s rise to power and made for the more interesting of the two as he fought to build a bootlegging empire, and this one just didn’t do anything that adds anything new or different to the genre. The whole trilogy is a little weird because the first one, The Given Day, was more of a look at post-World War I Boston from a social and economic perspective with elements of a crime story that focused on Joe’s family when he was supporting character as a kid. Shifting from that to Joe as a reckless bootlegger and then into the older, wiser counselor was a good story, but didn’t really seem to match up to the first book.

C

Carmen

December 27 2015

Joe stared out at all the prehistoric flora and told himself that's exactly what was troubling him, that's what was gnawing at his soul - the difference between him and a savage. He told himself - and then he pledged to himself - that there was a difference. There was. There was. A couple more snorts of rye, and he almost believed it. This is the last book in Lehane's Coughlin trilogy and it is the most disappointing. I feel like Lehane has really lost the thread here. The first book, <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/2830067.The_Given_Day__Coughlin__1_" title="The Given Day (Coughlin #1) by Dennis Lehane" rel="noopener">The Given Day</a>, was amazing. The second book, <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/13083008.Live_by_Night__Coughlin___2_" title="Live by Night (Coughlin, #2) by Dennis Lehane" rel="noopener">Live by Night</a>, was good. This one is just meh. Joe Coughlin has evolved into a real mob boss. A 'grown men kiss his hands' mob boss. This is already bad, because I don't really like mob bosses or enjoy reading about them. It's hard to remember when Joe was just a kid living with his controlling father, or when he was just a young punk on the street doing his first robberies. He's been so rich and so powerful for so long. He's been raising his son as a single father ever since <input type="checkbox" class="spoiler__control" aria-label="The following text has been marked spoiler. Toggle checkbox to reveal or hide." onchange="this.labels[0].setAttribute('aria-hidden', !this.checked);" id="df92018c-d33a-47a9-93ca-ed752a5c9963" /><label aria-hidden="true" class="spoiler" for="df92018c-d33a-47a9-93ca-ed752a5c9963">his wife, Graciela, was gunned down at the end of the last novel.</label> This book takes place only over the course of about 10 days. Joe hears that there is a contract out on his head. Who put it there and why? You may say this is a thriller, you may say this is a mystery novel, you may describe this as historical fiction - but the truth is (as it often is with Lehane) that this book is a chance for Lehane to philosophize a lot. Lehane is a great writer and sometimes what he's doing really works. He's really strong in two areas: 1.) Race. Talking about race and race relations and racism etc. He really writes this well and I enjoy listening to him speak through his characters about this. Besides being vain, arrogant, and secretly convinced that he'd never met a man as smart as himself, Joe Coughlin had also killed, stolen, maimed, and assaulted his way through his 37 years on the planet. So he rarely felt like he held the moral high ground over anyone. But he could live a hundred lives and never understand the bigots in his midst. Seemed every race had been the niggers of someplace at some point in their history. And as soon as the black niggers got respectable, the next scapegoat race would be duly designated, maybe by the very niggers who'd just escaped into respectability. Joe is someone who married an Afro-Cuban woman and that gives Lehane a lot of material to go on, including raising Tomas, Joe's multiracial son. "Am I a nigger?" Tomas asked. Joe's head snapped on its neck. "What?" Tomas chin-gestured at the radio. "Am I?" "Who called you that?" "Martha Comstock. Some kids were calling me a spic, but Martha said, 'No, he's a nigger." I thought the issues he tackled in this book and the things he had to say about racism and race relations were very interesting. 2.) Another area in which Lehane's writing excels is in romance. Joe is always with some woman - well, there's only been three serious women - and his women are always strong, hard, forces of nature* (*which is not necessary for me to enjoy romance. I adore many romances about women who are not "strong," it's just that I find it interesting that Joe is always attracted to female badasses, given his background, family, and life choices). Not only does Lehane always pair Joe with strong women, but he writes romance and sex very convincingly (most of the time. I was befuddled when he had a long, coherent conversation during allegedly good sex, that was a mistake). I still (after reading this entire trilogy back-to-back) am convinced that Lehane has a good shot at becoming a successful romance novelist. He actually writes relationships that are sweet, yet real, and convincing, and sexy. It's a very rare talent and I want to compliment him on this. Sometimes when he and Vanessa made love it felt like being wrapped in an undertow, spinning softly in a warm dark world, with no guarantee he'd resurface. However, I didn't enjoy this book nearly as much as the first two. This is probably due to the inevitable conclusions Joe has to reach after living 36 very violent, murderous years as a criminal - and that's on me. I don't have the kind of stomach it takes to read mob thrillers. I freely admit this. The book is dismal, but that's to be expected due to the subject matter. On the other hand, there was some stuff that was definitely Lehane's bad. One is his penchant for disgusting, vile shit. This book has a child molester, it has incest - unrelated to the child molester, and (unrelated to either of these) it also has a man murdering his pregnant wife. It has a lot of sick, disgusting stuff in it and with no real point that I could see. Now, as I said earlier, there's also romance and Joe truly loves his son - so it's not as if Lehane is saying "Life is shit," but it's pretty close to this. Too close for me to be happy as a reader. I hate reading about child molesters and incest and the murder of pregnant women. I HATE IT. If you can't stomach this stuff, avoid this book. The scene of the man killing his pregnant wife and it's surrounding circumstances is one of the most stomach-churning I've ever read. Two is when Lehane's tendency for philosophy turns into weird, random bullshit that I can't make heads or tails out of. This happens more frequently than I'd like: "Girl thinks she has power in her pussy, and maybe sometimes she's right, for a while. We think we have it in our balls and our muscle. And maybe we're right. For a while." Rico shook his head ruefully. "A little, little while." Joe nodded. Power - most power anyway, certainly Vidalia's brand of it - was the fly that called itself a hawk. It could only govern those who agreed to call it a hawk instead of a fly, a tiger instead of a cat, a king instead of a man. I have no idea what the fuck he is talking about. Even in context (knowing the story that leads up to this little tirade) it makes no sense. This happens a few times in the novel. He also insists on putting ghosts in this book. Which is hella strange, considering this is historical fiction and then ghosts are being thrown into the plot like that's normal. Some people can pull this off, if they have the right tone (I'm thinking of Susan M. Boyer's <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/18044412.Lowcountry_Boil__A_Liz_Talbot_Mystery___1_" title="Lowcountry Boil (A Liz Talbot Mystery, #1) by Susan M. Boyer" rel="noopener">Lowcountry Boil</a> here) but in this book it's like, "WTF are you doing?" And Joe might be having a mental breakdown. If Lehane was just saying Joe was having a mental breakdown due to stress, and that's why he was seeing apparitions, that would be fine. Perfectly fine. I was ready to accept this explanation. Until Joe goes to his primary care physician to get checked out, and Dr. Lenox: After Joe left, Ned Lenox lit a cigarette and noticed, not for the first time, how yellow the nicotine had made the flesh between the index and middle fingers of his right hand. The nails too. He ignored the baby who sat shivering under the examining table. She'd sat there the whole of Joe Coughlin's visit, rocking and shivering in place, even as her father had lied about the afterlife being too boring a place for a ghost to live. Unlike in life, however, her eyes were open, her face unscrunched. She looked a bit like her mother, around the jawline mostly, but the rest of her was all Lenox. Ned Lenox got down on the floor across from her because he had no idea how long she'd stay and he liked her company. In the first few years after he'd killed her and killed her mother, she had come to him nightly, crawling around on the floor and the bed and even the walls a few times. For the first year, she made no noise, but by the second she was squawking, letting loose high-pitched and hungry cries. To avoid going home, Ned worked himself to the bone in his office... [Cue 4 paragraphs of philosophical bullshit, and then] Ned crossed his legs and watched his baby stare back at him, a gnarled and malignant almost-infant. When she opened her toothless mouth and spoke for the first time in twenty-four years, he wasn't surprised. Nor was he surprised that her voice was her mother's. "I'm in your lungs," she told him. Okay, what the fuck is this shit? Is this a horror novel? I mean, come on. And you got lung tumors because you smoke three packs a day. Not because you killed your wife and almost-born child. I have NO IDEA what Lehane was trying to pull with all this shit. None. Tl;dr - The weakest of the whole trilogy. While <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/2830067.The_Given_Day__Coughlin__1_" title="The Given Day (Coughlin #1) by Dennis Lehane" rel="noopener">The Given Day</a> was strong and hard-hitting, and <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/13083008.Live_by_Night__Coughlin___2_" title="Live by Night (Coughlin, #2) by Dennis Lehane" rel="noopener">Live by Night</a> was bleak yet addicting, Lehane has lost the thread here. He had to complete the trilogy. He had to carry Joe Coughlin's story to its inevitable conclusion. However, this is not pleasant to read. And not even Lehane's wordcraft can save the day here, as it did in <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/13083008.Live_by_Night__Coughlin___2_" title="Live by Night (Coughlin, #2) by Dennis Lehane" rel="noopener">Live by Night</a>. I'm very disappointed. Bleak, vile, with a very tragic ending in more ways than one, this book will leave a bad taste in your mouth. Read <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/2830067.The_Given_Day__Coughlin__1_" title="The Given Day (Coughlin #1) by Dennis Lehane" rel="noopener">The Given Day</a> and just stop there. Or read its sequel, <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/13083008.Live_by_Night__Coughlin___2_" title="Live by Night (Coughlin, #2) by Dennis Lehane" rel="noopener">Live by Night</a>, and just stop there. I understand if you feel compelled to read this book in order to finish out the trilogy (I did) but you're probably not going to enjoy it. P.S. This book is not available in Spanish and I'm doubly pissed off because they translated Book 1 and Book 2. Don't start to translate a trilogy and not finish it! It makes me very angry.

J

James Thane

July 30 2016

This excellent novel concludes the Coughlin Family trilogy that Dennis Lehane began with <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/2830067.The_Given_Day__Coughlin__1_" title="The Given Day (Coughlin #1) by Dennis Lehane" rel="noopener">The Given Day</a>. Through the three books, the story ultimately comes to focus on Joe Coughlin and is set against background of the nation's turbulent history from the end of World War I to the middle of World War II. Joe is the son of a Boston cop, Danny Coughlin, but he ultimately rises to become a major crime boss with principal interests in Tampa and in Cuba. He's associated with the noted gangsters of the day, including Meyer Lansky and Charles "Lucky" Luciano. As this book opens in the spring of 1943, Joe, though still a young man, has essentially retired from active duty and now acts as a consigliere to the Bartolo crime family. He's the man who mediates disputes and smooths the path so that other criminals can play well together. He's a major earner who fronts a number of legitimate businesses and plays a critical role as organized crime makes a fortune out of the raging world war. As a practical matter, Joe is the Essential Man, and as a result, he's untouchable--or at least that's what everyone thinks. But then someone tells Joe that there's a contract out on his life. At first he can't believe it, but then he gradually comes to realize that it may be true. Even more than fearing for his own life, Joe worries about the fate of his young son. Joe is a widower and naturally wonders what would become of his son were he to be killed. Joe has precious little time to determine who might want him dead or why and even less time to figure out what he might do about it. And as we watch him sort through his options and react to the forces arrayed against him, the reader finds him or herself in a serious moral dilemma: Why are we rooting so hard for a man who is pretty much the essence of evil? This is a gripping, thought-provoking story with a great protagonist and a very well-drawn set of supporting characters. As he has demonstrated in so many books by now, Dennis Lehane is a very powerful and gifted writer, and this is easily my favorite of his books since <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/21671.Mystic_River" title="Mystic River by Dennis Lehane" rel="noopener">Mystic River</a>. It's a great conclusion to the Coughlin family trilogy. I usually give very little weight to author blurbs, but in this case I would make an exception. Stephen King calls this "The best gangster novel since The Godfather," and he'll get no argument from me. 4.5 stars.

B

Barbara

April 03 2015

In this 3rd book in the 'Joe Coughlin' series, the gangster/businessman is in the midst of deadly mob rivals. The book can be read as a standalone. ***** As the book opens World War II is raging. Joe Coughlin, a former crime boss in the Tampa area, is now more of a businessman gangster living a (more or less) respectable life with his 9-year-old son Tomas. <img alt="" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1564408587i/27905899._SY540_.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> <img alt="" height="400" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1564408587i/27905900.jpg" width="263" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> Joe is an advisor to current Florida crime boss Dino Bartolo and friends with top lieutenant Rico DiGiacomo, whom he's known since childhood. He's also on good terms with other gang bosses because he makes lots of money for everyone and doesn't skim or cheat. <img alt="" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1564408587i/27905901._SX540_.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> So Joe is surprised when a hit-woman needing his help tells Joe that a hit on him is scheduled for Ash Wednesday. <img alt="" height="400" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1564408587i/27905902.jpg" width="265" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> Meanwhile Bartolo's gang is short on personnel because so many men have been drafted. This opens lieutenant spots for some ambitious but less than brilliant criminals, like Rico's brother Freddy DiGiacomo. Freddy wants to push out Montooth Dix who rules 'Brown Town', the neighborhood where African-Americans and Cubans live. <img alt="" height="192" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1564408587i/27905903.png" width="400" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> Freddy tries to kill Montooth but fails, losing two men in the skirmish. Freddy then insists that Montooth be murdered because he killed two white men - though Freddy started the trouble. Joe, who likes Montooth, is ordered to set him up. Joe's life is further complicated by his torrid affair with the mayor's wife and by the ghost of a young boy who seems to be related to him. <img alt="" height="332" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1564408587i/27905904.png" width="400" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> <img alt="" height="400" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1564408964i/27905926.jpg" width="283" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> The author does an excellent job creating a dangerous atmosphere as Joe hobnobs with various gangsters who might be about to kill him. It's clear that being a gang boss is a tricky business, as there's always someone ready to bump you off and take your place. The dramatic climax of the book takes place on a luxury yacht. <img alt="" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1564408587i/27905906._SX540_.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy"> The book should have ended right after this but the story drags on for a bit to a somewhat surprising ending. All in all this is a good story with vivid, interesting characters - recommended for fans of mystery/thriller or gangster books. You can follow my reviews at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="http://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com/">http://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.com/</a>

R

Richard

March 17 2014

Do I really need to tell you in this day and age that this is a very well-written crime saga filled with fully-drawn characters and a page-turning plot? I don't think so. I could just tell you that it's a new Dennis Lehane book and you should already know what to expect. World Gone By is the sequel to Lehane's Edgar-Award-winning <a href="https://goodreads.com/book/show/13083008.Live_by_Night__Coughlin___2_" title="Live by Night (Coughlin, #2) by Dennis Lehane" rel="noopener">Live by Night</a> and you should definitely read that book before tackling this one. It leads to a much more rewarding experience. Set in the middle of World War II in 1943, years after the events in Live By Night, former South Florida crime boss Joe Coughlin has sort-of gone legit, a member of the Commission with Meyer Lansky, but now he just runs his sugar cane and import/export business, acting as the legal front and consigliere to the present Florida crime lords. He leads a relatively quiet life between Cuba and Ybor City with his son Tomas. But everything changes once Joe hears the rumours of a contract put out for his assassination, a hit scheduled on Ash Wednesday, eight days away. This book is understandably not the epic crime saga that Live By Night was (which tracked the bloody rise of Joe Coughlin from a small-time hood in South Boston to the most powerful crime lord in Florida); it's more intimate and narrower in scope but still just as exciting, the ticking clock of the assassination providing tension and suspense as the story moves forward. But more importantly the book deals with the theme of consequences that come home to roost when you live the lives that these characters do, with each one forced to take stock of the things that they've done in the past and what their lives have amounted to. Yet again, another good piece of work from one of my favorite authors.<blockquote> "You have put a lot of sin out into the world Joseph. Maybe it's rolling back in on the tide. Maybe men like us, in order to be men like us, sacrifice peace of mind forevermore." </blockquote>

B

Bettie

September 25 2017

Description: 'The best gangster novel since The Godfather' Stephen King Joe Coughlin is untouchable. Once one of America's most feared and prominent gangsters, he now moves effortlessly between the social elite, politicians, police and the mob. He has everything he could possibly want; money, power, a beautiful mistress, and anonymity. But in a town that runs on corruption, vengeance and greed, success can't protect Joe from the dark truth of his past -- and ultimately, the wages of a lifetime of sin will finally be paid in full ...Chilling, heart-breaking and gripping, this is the most complex and powerful novel to date from Dennis Lehane, writer on The Wire and author of modern classics such as Shutter Island, Gone, Baby, Gone and The Given Day <img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1447617716s/26156488.jpg" class="gr-hostedUserImg" loading="lazy">Nope, I am reading in English, yet the isbn is correct *shrugs*. Set in Tampa, which, thanks to the horrors of Chris Cuomo's reporting during hurricane Irma from the west coast of Florida, I am now fully confident that I know where this small city lies. It used to be wars which improved geography, and now it is man-made climate change that does the job. *shakes a fist at the knowingly denialist Tillerson et al* Read during: Hurricane Maria: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yoR2gCxsyk" rel="nofollow noopener">Puerto Rico</a> private emails: kushanka, jr., preibus, bannon chemo luther strange v westworld cowboy bot in alabama sport kneel downs Dotard's 250 days worst mass shooting in US history, Las Vegas oh, and don't forget noko taunts

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