Had “Darkness, Take My Hand”, the second book in Dennis Lehane’s  ‘Kenzie & Gennaro’ series, not been in the same volume as the first book, I may have taken a break to read some other things before jumping back into the world of these Dorchester private investigators.

Of course, had the plot of the second book not picked up significantly about halfway through, I don’t know when book three would have hit my reading list.

Typically, I don’t like this type of story.  I’m getting sick of it.  TV has done it to death with the untouchable villain whose lifelong game plan has been to get back at our protagonist for some long forgotten trespass, oftentimes committed by a parent or mutual mentor.  Until that reveal, our protagonist was seemingly pulled into the entire plot by accident.  And you know what? Stop.  Just stop.

It’s ok to have a case without rooting it deep within your character’s personal histories.  As readers and viewers of any story, we want to experience the world these characters inhabit but you should insult your audience with stories contrived to make us believe the entire universe revolves around those characters.

But… Ok, if you’re going to do it, I suppose, this time, at least, it was done pretty well.

I figured out who the mystery guy was before the big reveal, but I think, as readers, we were meant to figure it out ahead of the characters.  Once the story got to that point it was obvious because deep down, that wasn’t the mystery.

Between books one and two, Patrick started up a new relationship, and it was the few pages of his frantic sprint over the icy streets of Boston when she was in danger that had me more on the edge of my seat then the ultimate conclusion to the case itself.

With that in mind, maybe I was wrong about this book.  Maybe I was wrong about what the real story was?  The reason I picked up the ‘Kenzie & Gennaro’ series in the first place was to experience Lehane’s Boston through his characters.  The real story in “Darkness, Take My Hand” was the fallout of those decisions that Patrick and Angie had made in the previous book and how it affected both differently.  Perhaps the story wasn’t about hunting a killer, but learning to accept and move past those choices Patrick and Angie made and must continue to make to survive in their line of work.  Otherwise, they would allow themselves to be consumed entirely by it, as many of the characters ultimately were.

It’s actually a quote from “A Drink Before the War” that sums up what is truly at the heart of this novel:

“It never works that way. Once that ugliness has been forced into you, it becomes part of your blood, dilutes it, races through your heart and back out again, staining everything as it goes. The ugliness never goes away, never comes out, no matter what you do. Anyone who thinks otherwise is naive. All you can do is hope to control it.”

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