Product Description

The master of the new noir, Dennis Lehane brilliantly interweaves beauty and violence, integrity and evil in this thrilling, powerfully resonant novel.

A beautiful, grief-stricken woman has vanished without a trace. So has the detective hired to find her. And a lot of money. Enter saavy, tough-nosed private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. Rooted in the no-nonsense streets of Boston's blue-collar Dorchester, they've seen it all -- and survived. But this case leads them into unexpected territory where nothing is sacred -- a land of lies and corruption where trusting anyone could get them killed ... where taking any step could be their last.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11622 in Books
• Published on: 1998-06-01
• Released on: 1998-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 400 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780380726295
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Dennis Lehane won a Shamus Award for A Drink Before the War, his first book about working-class Boston detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro. His second in the series, Darkness, Take My Hand, got the kind of high octane reviews that careers are made of. Now Lehane not only survives the dreaded third-book curse, he beats it to death with a stick. Sacred is a dark and dangerous updating of Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep, as dying billionaire Trevor Stone hires Kenzie and Gennaro to find his daughter, Desiree. Patrick's mentor, a wonderfully devious detective named Jay Becker, has already disappeared in St. Petersburg, Florida, while working the case, so the two head there to pick up a trail. Desiree, of course, is nothing like the sweet and simple beauty described by her father, and even Chandler would have been amazed by the plot twists that Lehane manages to keep coming.

From School Library Journal
YA?Dying billionaire Trevor Stone has his thugs kidnap sleuths Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro and bring them to his mansion so he can hire them to find his missing daughter, Desire. She is supposedly grief-stricken over the death of her mother and the impending death of her father but it becomes clear that she may not be the sweet and beautiful daughter her father describes. Patrick's mentor, Jay Becker, was the first investigator on the case but he has also disappeared. Patrick and Angie follow the trail to Florida after a brief encounter with a group of religious swindlers who may be involved with the disappearances. Every person they meet adds more confusion and conflicting information to the puzzling case. The intricate mystery of the changing identity of Desire, dangerous car chases, bloody shoot-outs, and the humorous dialogue between Patrick and Angie, all with subtle romantic overtones, will keep YAs happily turning pages.?Katherine Fitch, Lake Braddock Middle School, Burke, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
When detectives Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro are kidnapped by dying billionaire Trevor Stone and forced to find his lost daughter, they become entwined in a vicious whodunit in which "up is down and north is south." The case takes them to Grief Release Inc., a Boston-area church/cult whose members purge their sins, secrets, and financial records; then, accompanied by Stone's henchmen, to Tampa, Florida, where a top-of-the-line sports car and all the money they can spend are put at their disposal. Kenzie and Gennaro ditch it all to continue the search on instinct in a cheap convertible. When the detectives finally find their prize, the perfecto, leggy Desiree Stone, she turns out to be much more than they bargained for. With its fast-paced plot, Lehane's (Darkness, Take My Hand, LJ 7/96) newest will be a winner with adventure buffs.
-?Ahmad Wright, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Lehane is smoking
The only problem with Dennis Lehane is that he writes so well, that his books just fly, and you regret that its over so soon. I started this book and finished in the same day. I can't remember the last time I read a book in one day, and believe me I read a lot. The reason this only gets 4 stars is that comparing it to "Darkness Take My Hand" it would be hard not to fall a little short. That book was so good it gave me chills. Now on to this book, once again Kenzie and Gennaro are drawn into an intriguing case, where nothing is what it seems. There are plenty of twists and turns that jump out at you. The dialogue and action don't miss a step. While I state this isn't as great at the previous book in the series, it is still very good and well worth the read. While it is true that you don't need to read the other books prior to "Sacred", there are however references to the events in those books that give away their endings, so I encourage you to read in order. Lehane has quickly become one of my favorite authors. He is right on par with Harlan Coben, but with a darker edge. If you haven't read Lehane or are yet to read this book, you are missing out. Pick it up now, so you aren't the last one in on this great author.

Lehane Just Keeps Writing 5 Star Books
Private Investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro are back. They've closed their office, because of what happened in the last book ("Darkness Take My Hand") and are adamant about not taking on any more cases. At least for a while. But dying billionaire Trevor Stone has different ideas. He has the pair kidnapped, so that they're forced to listen to his proposal. They don't want to, but he offers them twenty grand just to hear what he has to say. Then he tells them about how his darling daughter, who turns out not to be so darling after all, has gone missing in Florida. He's sent PI Jay Becker after her, the man who taught Patrick the biz, but he's vanished as well.

This book takes us out of the seamier side of Boston and isn't as dark as Lehane's last two novels. Though this one is a little lighter in tone, it's still full of the twists and turns we've come to expect from Lehane and, like his last two books, this one too is worth every one of those five stars.

Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne

High Scores!
This is another book that I'll put in my loaner shelf to loan out to friends who like crime thriller/ mystery novels. I take pride in loaning out only the cream of the crop, and I'm happy to say that this one will fit right in. My wife thoroughly enjoyed it too.
This wisecracking pair of somewhat reluctant P.I.'s entertain from beginning to end. The dialogue is crisp, darkly funny, original, and insightful. The plot is cleverly woven, unpredictable, and fast paced. The main characters' motivations and feelings are explored without beating you over the head with it. (THANK YOU!) The entire book was very entertaining and memorable.
I'm not sure why anyone who enjoys reading wouldn't absolutely love this book, but there are some less than complimentary reviews, so I guess you can't please everybody all of the time.
This book is highly recommended to all non anal-retantives.