A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane - A Review (4 Star)

This is a very, very good book. Not a masterpiece, but pushing in the right direction.

At first I was a little bit wary of the wit - Lehane uses just a little too much at the beginning as though he had overworked the writing of the beginning trying to craft it into the perfect stand-up routine rather than a story. It actually became a little bit suffocating but after the first few pages the story starts to flow a lot more and the humour just adds a little seasoning.

Kenzie himself is a comfortably flawed and very human character. He has major paternal hangups due to a thuggish yet quietly terrified father who beat him but saved lives as a firefighter and thus was heralded as a hero by all. Kenzie demonstrates an emptiness in his life in terms of closure with his father - constantly referring to him sarcastically as "The Hero".

But the real personality comes from his relationship with his partner Angela Gennara. She is tough but real, with problems of her own. They love each other but not in the lustful, romantic way but in the compassionate, dependent way. They sustain each other through their problems, only daring to do what they do in the case because they are both there for one another.

The plot is intriguing at first, but revelations come a little early for the astute and the stakes are maintained through the perils of the gang war rather than intrigue and suspense. For the second half of the book we are facing only the devil we know (and we all know that is easier than the devil you don't know) - so I would have liked a little more uncertainty in the later stages of the story.

The message is one of race and abuse (both of people and power) and whilst there are plenty of painfully accurate examples of double standards the real strength of this message comes in the form of Kenzie himself. Part of what makes him human is the fact that he is himself a little racist. Not in the overt sense and it would not drive him to seek confrontation, but when confrontation comes it bubbles to the surface. Minor differences in opinion to similar groups of people who are only separated by colour are thrown in on occasion. When he is given time to think he produces a level headed assessment that is socially acceptable but when he is in a gunfight with a black gang member he can't help letting the issue of colour leak to the fore of his thoughts as those thoughts become primitive and brutish as he fights for survival.

A very rounded and complete story and considering this was the first outing for the dynamic duo I can't help but think I will be obtaining the rest of their adventures.