'Small Mercies' by Dennis Lehane
'Small Mercies' by Dennis Lehane

  • Terrific writing.

  • Fantastic characters that feel, act, and talk like real people.

  • One one level, it’s an interesting mystery, as a mother searches for her missing daughter, with help from a detective. Lehane does a nice job of revealing the truth, step by painful step.

  • On another level, it’s the story of Irish families in South Boston, various crime families, the desegregation of schools, racism, race riots, and a number of other events from life in the Boston area in the 70s. Lehane does a great job of exploring this dark period in history, with the strong characters in this story giving you very realistic-feeling glimpse into how people must have felt about what was going on.

Rating: 5 stars