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In SACRED, Angela
Gennaro and Patrick Kenzie take on the case of the disappearance of a
beautiful young woman, Desiree Stone. Their primary clue has to do with
her recent past – she’s suffering from a tremendous amount of grief. Her
mother was recently brutally murdered, her father severely injured, and
diagnosed with terminal cancer, and her boyfriend drowned – all in a
very short period of time. Does any of this tragedy have to do with her
disappearance? Her father, billionaire Trevor Stone, will go to any
length to find her.
As Patrick and
Angela begin their search for Desiree, they find out that Patrick’s
mentor, Jay Becker, was the first private detective assigned to the
case. Patrick admires Jay like no other man. For one thing, Jay taught
Patrick everything he knows about detecting. Another thing is that Jay
has the reputation of finding
anyone that’s missing. The question here is: Why has Jay not
found Desiree Stone, and where is Jay right now?
As you follow
Gennaro and Kenzie on this intricate case, you won’t find SACRED to be
nearly as intense as Mr. Lehane’s first two books in this series.
However, there are plenty of complexities and contradictions going on
here. Gennaro and Kenzie’s intelligence never ceases to amaze me while
reading these books. In SACRED, their intelligence is exceptionally
critical. I find reading Dennis Lehane to be a very satisfying endeavor.
Whether we are reading about another dangerous case, or reading deep
into the relationship of the protagonists, his works are totally
absorbing.
Though it is not
necessary to read the previous two books, nor to read any of them in
order, if the reader is interested in the development of the
relationship between Patrick and Angela, that might be the best choice.
According to the
blurb at the back of SACRED, “The master of the new noir, Dennis
Lehane brilliantly interweaves beauty and violence, integrity and evil…”
I had to use that quote in this review, as it is a brilliant summary of
the third book in this detective series by Mr. Lehane. This case takes
Angela Gennaro and Patrick Kenzie into situations where they discover
that ”black is white and up is down.” If you want to read a
chilling story where nothing is as it seems, then be sure to pick
up a copy of SACRED.
Reviewed by Robin
Taylor for The Road to Romance
December 26, 2003 |
