Small Mercies

At the heart of the book is a masterly psychological study of racism. Lehane (who was a writer on The Wire) provides top-notch dialogue, an absorbing mystery and an evocation of a historical moment foreshadowing America's 21st-century ethnic divide * Sunday Times, Thriller of the Month * Dennis Lehane, the author of Mystic River, uses Mary Pat's search for answers to illuminate wider issues of racial tension, drug use and sexual inequality that still plague America. His real accomplishment, though, is his portrait of a mother both "irretrievably broken and wholly unbreakable", one he draws without smoothing over Mary Pat's own flaws and blinkered attitudes. You'll be lucky if you read a more engaging novel this year * The Times, April 2023 Thriller of the Month * A brutal, thrilling and relentlessly clear-eyed portrait of a city riven by fear and hatred * Mail on Sunday * Lehane's latest is a multifaceted affair, delivering an unsentimental account of a city at war with itself and a nuanced investigation of racism, class and cultural identity. Fundamentally, however, it's a powerful story of a woman who has stripped of everything she holds dear and who, with nothing left to lose, has nothing left to fear...Mary Pat Fennessy might be Dennis Lehane's single greatest creation' * Irish Times * Aficionados argue about who currently inhabits the top tier of American crime fiction...two names jostle for pole position: Dennis Lehane and Don Winslow. Both writers provide a perfect balance of detailed characterisation and state-of-the-nation underpinnings in their work...Lehane has said that his work is always about hope, however dark the scenarios, and that quality shines throughout this ambitious and multi-layered novel * Financial Times * 'Small Mercies is thought provoking, engaging, enraging, and can't-put-it-down entertainment' * Stephen King * Small Mercies is a jaw-dropping thriller, set in the fury of Boston's 1974 school-desegregation crisis, and propelled by a hell-bent woman who's impossible to ignore. Thought-provoking and heart-thumping, it's a resonant, unflinching story written by a novelist who is simply one of the best around * Gillian Flynn * Lehane is now well established as one of America's finest crime writers, who superbly blends uncompromising social history with uncompromising tales of what people driven to the limit will do. As ever, Small Mercies is populated with a wide-ranging collection of unforgettable people * Reader's Digest * Excellent and unflinching... [Small Mercies] has all the hallmarks of Lehane at his best: a propulsive plot, a perfectly drawn cast of working-class Boston Irish characters, razor-sharp wit and a pervasive darkness through which occasional glimmers of hope peek out like snowdrops in early spring * New York Times Book Review * A truly exciting, engaging and enraging narrative...Lehane's ear for dialogue and emotion is incisive so all the characters come alive by deft turns of phrase and mannerism. There is wit that keeps the novel's dark tragedy and violence from overpowering the reader. Historical detail is realised with an uncommon vibrancy. Clipped short chapters are not written but carved, so there is not one superfluous word. Lehane has considered every sentence...This is Dennis Lehane at the height of his writing powers; for to miss this novel would be unforgivable -- Ali Karim * Shots Mag * [A] ferocious crime novel... Land[s] like a fist to the solar plexus... Full of booby traps, but the metaphorical kind that blow up futures instead of limbs... [As] in the best mysteries, the detective herself is cracked open and remade * New Yorker * Beautiful. I was blown away by how Dennis Lehane was able to bring such a deeply unfamiliar world into my heart. Small Mercies is hilarious and heartbreaking, infuriating and unforgettable * Jacqueline Woodson * Without flinching, Dennis Lehane

Dennis Lehane is the author of thirteen novels - including the New York Times bestsellers Live by Night; Moonlight Mile; Gone, Baby, Gone; Mystic River; Shutter Island; and The Given Day - as well as Coronado, a collection of short stories and a play. He grew up in Boston, MA and now lives in California with his family.