A Drink Before the War was Dennis Lehane’s debut novel, in which he introduced  detectives Kenzie and Gennaro.      His later novels are highly recommended – Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone, and Shutter Island.    With the strengths of these novels I decided to try his first, published in 1994.    Lehane is a fine writer who provides wonderful local color, strong characterization, and clever plots.    This early work shows the promise but is not as strong.   Some of the dialogue is cliched, the plot seemed to be distillation of a few other stories, and the pacing was uneven.    As an easy-to-read crime thriller, it is enjoyable, but overall not memorable.

When I read more than one book at a time (usually one is an ebook and one is an audiobook), one will usually overshadow the other.    In this case, Tana French’s The Searcher grabbed my attention and appreciation and Lehane’s book seemed to be a pale substitute.

I can strongly recommend Shutter Island, Mystic River, and Gone Baby Gone, but I would suggest that Lehane’s earlier work is one for the beach, but not a milestone in any way.   3.9 out of 5.0 stars3.9

An audiobook clip to sample: