Live by Night

This is my first book by Dennis Lehane and I picked it up with very high expectations. The high ratings on Amazon, NYT and Shutter Island were the primary causes of my high expectations. However, it did not lived up to the expectations I had. Set in 1920s and 1930s, Live By Night is story of an outlaw Joe Coughlin. The story is nicely told, the details are nice, however the story is very much cliched. If you have read any good crime thriller it is not difficult to predict where this story is leading to. My 3 stars for this books are entirely for the writing style and narrative.

The only reason I bought this book is because I saw the trailer for the film and really liked it. So I thought I'd give the book a try. What I loved about this is the setting. The 1920's are one of my favourite historical periods to read about. And in this book the authorcaptures incredibly the feelings of those years. I also liked the protagonist, Joe. His character is well constructed and dveloped. The rest of the characters I didn't particularly care about. They're okay, I guess. My problem with this book is the pace. I couldn't stand the pace of the story. I found it too slow and unncessarily descriptive in some parts. I think this is mainly because I'm used to reading contemporary thillers that are very fast paced and with lots of suspence. Which isn't the cesa with this book. Live by Night develops and reveals everything slowly and at its own time. So, as much as I like gangters movies, I guess this type of books aren't for me. Nontheless this is a good book, it just didn't do it for me.

3.5