Prayers for Rain

Prayers for Rain by Dennis Lehane

I love the end--or, at least, what we thought was the end--of the Kenzie-Gennaro series. I love the way Lehane wrapped up the Patrick-Angie storyline. I love the case, rather, the issue, at hand.

Of what I've read thus far, this was Lehane's best work. I did not "Why" questions in my head after reading this one. Everything made sense. Although I loved the entire series, I had minor gripes with each of the first four novels. None this time around.

Only a great storyline and great writing could make me root for Bubba Rogowski. In Prayers for Rain, I rooted for that man from beginning to end. We saw depth to his character that had been building throughout the series, but hadn't been quite drawn all the way out. There was more to Bubba in this book than we'd previously witnessed.

I think Angie's familial ties were handled much better in Prayers for Rain than in Darkness, Take My Hand, which was the only other time they played a major part in the plot. It did not seem so contrived this time around.

In a way, I feel as though the first four books were written to set up this story. This was neither the most complicated nor the most emotional of the Kenzie-Gennaro plots, but it was the most intellectual. The plot of this novel was about life in the trenches, when every moment is a matter of life and death.

Prayers for Rain was about togetherness and teamwork. Its theme is family. It is about leaning, at the moment of truth, upon those who mean the most to you and seeing whether you stand united and live together or die separately. When you are walking into certain death, who is going to stand with you? If you fall, who is going to speak for you? Anyone? When you cry out, is anyone listening. That's what you think about when reading this book. Really, that is the common thread between all five of the novels.

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