I’d recommend reading the previous book in the series before this one, but you might be able to swim along without it. I for example due to supply have only read books 1 (a drink before the war) and 4 (gone baby gone) in this series before this one. I got along well enough.
In this book Kenzie is less bright eyed and bushy tailed than in previous books. His hectic life seems to be getting to him. Poor guy. In the last book (I think it was explained enough in this book that you shouldn’t get lost) he broke up with Gennaro: the love of his life, so he starts off really down about everything. Then we get to see him claw his way back up. Before I go any further, here’s the blurb:
The master of the new noir, Dennis Lehane delivers a shattering tale of evil, depravity, and justice that captures the dark realism of Boston’s gritty blue-collar streets.
Private Investigator Patrick Kenzie wants to know why a former client, a perky woman in love with life, could, within six months, jump naked from a Boston landmark–the final fall in a spiral of self-destruction. What he finds is a sadistic stalker who targeted the young woman and methodically drove her to her death. A monster the law can’t touch. But Kenzie can. He and his former partner, Angela Gennaro, will fight a mind-twisting battle against this psychopath even as he turns his tricks on them.
So yay, Gennaro comes back, which helps things along hugely. We also get to see a lot of Bubba who manages to be both adorable and terrifying. So that’s already pretty awesome.
The plot is a good one with lots twists and turns as is usual for the series. I love this series for three main reasons. One: so many twists and turns. Two: the gritty hard hitting atmosphere. Three: Kenzie’s witty remarks. Now, Kenzie is slightly less witty than previous books, but I can forgive him that. There is wit enough to be happy about. And this book isn’t as hard hitting as the previous books I’ve read in the series (books 1 and 4) but still has enough gritty atmosphere to keep its usual style. The twists however are their usual twisty selves.
The stalker in this book is a scary guy. I was amazed by how much a person can damage another person’s life without even interacting with them. Which of course makes it a lot more difficult to get the law involved, and makes Kenzie and Gennaro’s job far from easy.
I gave this book four stars. To be honest, it probably lost that extra star due to high expectations. Both the two previous books in the series I read had moments and twists that were ‘oh my god, almost drop the book’ kind. The wit was sparkling. The atmosphere was at times too hard hitting to take.
This book had great twists, good wit, and interesting atmosphere. In short it was good, great even, but it didn’t have the same impact on me as the other two books had. So while I still recommend it, it’s a four star book for me.
For more reviews on this book check out: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21683.Prayers_for_Rain
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