Sacred: A Novel

ISBN 0380726297 - I'm always wary of reading book 3, mostly because I've rarely read book 1 or 2. That would be the case with Sacred, but worse because the book doesn't even mention that it IS book 3 anywhere on the cover. Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro are looking forward to some downtime after their last big case (see book #2). Instead, they get kidnapped. Having been kidnapped, they expect physical danger. Instead, they get hired. They don't really want the job, but the lure of the money involved does have some influence. Hired by a dying billionaire to find his missing daughter, the duo's greatest problem turns out to be figuring out who the "bad guys" really are. Religious nuts, a grief counseling group, the billionaire, his daughter and others are all on the list at one time or another. Staying one step ahead of the right bad guys is all that keeps them alive. Light reading, sometimes too silly to be a good detective story, Sacred's worst feature is the periodic and unnecessary reference to the last case - just enough to interfere with the enjoyment of the book you're actually reading. Any good detective series ought to be made of books that stand alone and Sacred almost does that. On the plus side, making up for that, are two things: "This society's coming apart at the seams. Look at the evidence - Oklahoma City, the World Trade Center bombings, David Hasselhoff. It's all there." and the fact that the religious group in the book really are bad guys and nuts. Always love to see that! - AnnaLovesBooks

Was a good read, I had my suspicions, they were justified. Satisfying ending.

Lehane has such great plot twists & turns and also keeps his character's-humor component involved in his writing too.......I really can't stand the "corny-suspense" and "no-class" writing of so many of the crime-romance & mystery type books.....BUT Lehane is NOT in that no-lass category at all! He writes mystery crime /suspense with romance & a bit of humor thrown in --in SUCH a class act stye!...I always learn a bit about history or some other facet of life when I read his books too..... My only Caution?...I did NOT know that "Sacred" was "book #-3" in a series.....( and am afraid I might have "spoiled" the suspense (possibly?) in the former two books--If your new to reading Lehane and want to read his series "in order" take heed............ I've read: Shutter Island..& Sacred (and I've seen the movie: "Mystic River"..... .I love all 3 of these Lehane "stories" and highly recommend this writers style!