book review

A Drink Before the War is a thrilling mystery about two skilled private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro who are hired by three politicians to retrieve documents supposedly stolen by a cleaning lady. Their task seems simple, but as the story progresses, things get more complicated and what seemed to be an easy job for the two investigators, turns into a disaster that no one saw coming.
Once the two investigators locate the cleaning lady, they uncover the stolen documents and it reveals a secret that triggers a war between the two most violent gangs in Boston. After they have the documents in their possession, they find themselves defending their lives while being targets of both gangs. The bulk of the novel concentrates on the investigators trying to escape the cruelty of the gangs. If they are caught by either gang with the documents, the horrors they would experience would be unimaginable. The gangs are not the only problems the two investigators have, though both are battling their own personal problems, as well as having to deal with three crooked politicians that aren’t what they seem. The documents are pictures, pictures of one of the Senators and the leaders of both gangs, and they aren’t pleasant. If released to the public, the city would erupt in chaos. Their personal issues also have an effect on the story. While Patrick deals with the emotional problems linked with his father’s death, Angie goes home to an abusive husband every night and returns to work every morning battered and bruised.
The two are torn between what they should do with the documents. They have three options. They could return the pictures to the politicians and let them get away with their suspicious acts or turn them over to the gangs which would guarantee their safety. They could also release them to the police, but that would anger the gangs which would lead to the deaths of the investigators and would certainly ensure they would not retrieve a pay check for their work. They knew it wouldn’t be easy.
The novel was constructed very well. Even with the complexity of the story, the author was able to present the details in an understandable fashion. The story was told with amazing detail, constructing an image that brought me right into the action. However, the violence might have been a little unrealistic for the time and place. Another thing that stood out to me was that, at times, the characters would stray from their own thoughts, and it seems as though the character takes the voice of the author, which unveiled his own social and political views on modern civilization.