Those nights by the sea, I’d take Angie’s hand in mine and raise it to my lips. I’d kiss it. And sometimes as the sea raged and the darkness in the sky deepened, I’d feel awe. I’d feel humbled.

I’d feel perfect.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My deepest gratitude to Claire Wachtel and Ann Rittenberg for finding the book within the manuscript, and not letting up on me until I found it, too.

What little I know about field-stripping a semiautomatic handgun, I learned from Jack and Gary Schmock of Jack’s Guns and Ammo in Quincy, Massachusetts.

What I couldn’t remember about the St. Pete/Tampa area, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, and specific points of Florida law was filled in by Mal and Dawn Ellenburg. Any remaining mistakes are mine.

And thanks, as always, to those who read the early versions and gave me honest feedback: Chris, Gerry, Sheila, Reva Mae, and Sterling.

About the Author

DENNIS LEHANE is the author of A Drink Before the War, which won the Shamus Award for Best First Novel; Darkness, Take My Hand; Sacred; Gone, Baby, Gone; Prayers for Rain; and the New York Times bestsellers Mystic River and Shutter Island. A native of Dorchester, Massachusetts, he lives in the Boston area.

Praise
Acclaim for New York Times Bestselling Author

“Lehane’s voice is an original he turns the hard-boiled detective novel into an elegiac treatise on the corruption of the soul.”

Michael Connelly

“A stunning good novelist, one of our very best.”

James Patterson

“One of the best writers of his generation, period.”

Cleveland Plain Dealer

“[Dennis Lehane is one of] the very best young mystery writers.”

Esquire

“Lehane’s voice, original, haunting, and straight from the heart, places him among the top ranks of stylists who enrich the modern mystery novel.”

Publishers Weekly

Books by
Dennis Lehane

SHUTTER ISLAND

MYSTIC RIVER

PRAYERS FOR RAIN

GONE, BABY, GONE

SACRED

DARKNESS, TAKE MY HAND

A DRINK BEFORE THE AR

About the Publisher