Many thanks to Harper and to NetGalley for the opportunity and pleasure of the read.
Strong story not still waiting for a repeat of Mystic River. The story was strong enjoyed reading about the time period something new for me but the ending was a bit far fetched.

In the mid-1990s, Dennis Lehane published A Drink Before The War, the first in a series of mystery novels featuring Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. I was hooked. His writing includes both standalone novels as well as series – and in my opinion all can be read in any order (although as is often the case with series featuring crimefighters, the evolution of the characters and their relationships is better when read in order. Among his many books, Mystic River, Shutter Island, and Gone, Baby, Gone were made into successful movies, and he wrote for The Wire, which is possibly the best crime-centered TV series ever. I admit I haven’t loved everytiing of his that I’ve read, but I am always eager to explore his latest, so I was pleased to receive a copy of Small Mercies from Harper and NetGalley in exchange for this honest review.

Small Mercies is set in Lehane’s Boston in 1974, just when the court-ordered busing to integrate public schools began. Lehane has a vivid memory of riding through South Boston late one night in the car with his parents (he was nine at the time) and being terrified as he witnessed the frenzied mob of protesters who seemed ready to burn it all down. He says “This is a novel about those times. And maybe about the times we live in now.”

South Boston was known as a rough area: “…in Southie, most kids came out of the womb clutching a Schlitz and a pack of Luckies.” The racism for which Boston is well known is a given. The protagonist, Mary Pat, “...can’t blame the coloreds for wanting to escape their shithole, but trading it for her shithole makes no sense.” People talk a lot about their religion, but “No matter what we claim in public, in private we all know that the only law and the only god is money.” Mary Pat has grown up in the projects, and the story revolves around the search she undertakes when her teenage daughter doesn’t come home one night– the same night a young Black man is found dead, having been struck by a subway train.As Mary Pat begins asking questions in her search for her daughter, the head of the Irish mob and the tough guys who work for him feel a threat to their business, and Mary Pat is doing a dangerous and possibly foolish thing as she continues her quest. In this tale of crime and power, the exploration of the racism that is more and more overt makes for some tense reading. Optimistically, I like to believe that “…maybe the opposite of hate is not love. It’s hope. Because hate takes years to build, but hope can come sliding around the corner when you’re not even looking. Small Mercies is an amazing book. Five stars.

Dennis Lehane is a master at nailing a place and a moment in time--and then peopling that moment with richly developed and complex characters. In SMALL MERCIES, Lehane spotlights the moral challenge of desegregation on a community, seen through the eyes of a woman on a desperate search for her daughter.

Pitch-perfect, compelling, razor-sharp and challenging from its first word to its last, this is a spellbinding read from a master of the novel--this one sticks like a burr in the brain.

Many thanks to Harper and to Netgalley for the opportunity and pleasure of the read.

An absolute gut punch of a novel. Lehane takes you to the days just before school desegregation in Boston, lights a match, and sets us loose on 320 pages of the burning aftermath. As difficult as some of the situations are, the reading experience is both informative and entertaining as hell. While the story isn't about the integration of the school system specifically, it is the cloud hanging over the action as we follow a mother's search for her daughter.

I read this novel in 2 nights. I couldn't put it down. Lehane takes a moment in history and makes it come alive. You could hear the Boston accents, smell the sweat, and feel the anxiety as you read. This is Mary Pat's story- a blue collar local , a mother of two and a divorcee. She lives by her wits and reacts the way her town expects. But when her daughter goes missing, Mary Pat unravels a dark secret in her city- pitting her against the town mob boss and into a partnership with Bobby the lead detective on the ase. All of this unfurls as the historical desegregation of the local schools is unveiling the neighborhood's racist hate. Lehane shows true South Boston in the 1970's. You will be rooting for Mary Pat. AN incredible historical thriller.

Small Mercies is an exceptional novel set in the summer of 1974 in the Southie neighborhood when school integration is about to begin. Dennis Lehane carefully unfolds the impact of race through two mothers, one white, one black, who happen to be coworkers at a nursing home. Mary Pat Fennessey is a once-widowed, once-divorced, mother of 17 year old Jules, and a deceased son, Noel, who survived Vietnam but returned to Boston to die from street drugs. Calliope Williamson is the mother of Auggie, who graduated from high school and is working in the management program at Zayre, a chain discount store. Lehane details the generational poverty and brutal violence in Southie, and by contrast, shows Calliope's life with her husband and son in a well-manicured home in the black neighborhood. Mary Pat and Calliope's world collide at a subway stop, pouring readers into a harsh and memorable novel of love and hate. Small Mercies is highly recommended for discussion groups aimed at college students, and, of course adults. The novel offers characters readers will want to talk about.

Set in South Boston prior to court-ordered busing, this is the story of one woman's relationships with her family, her community, and her self. Levane explores the internal conflicts of his characters battling with love, hate, hope, loyalty, humanity, and change.
Mary Pat has been a "Southie" all of her life. When her daughter goes missing, Mary Pat tries to locate her. Her investigations lead her into the depths of the underside of her community. She is faced with turning a helpless blind eye to injustices or confronting her neighbors and exposing the lies that she and her community have held sacred.
Lehane does a masterful job of taking the reader to this time and place and exploring the thoughts and feelings of his characters. He personalizes headline events by exploring where those events would take an individual and what is at their heart of their feelings when battle lines are drawn.

Another masterpiece by Lehane. I'm not an historical fiction lover, but the way Lehane does it is addicting. This is about Mary Pat and her search for her missing daughter amid chaos of de segregating their neighborhood schools and dealing with those powerful entities that rule the neighborhood and projects. Bobby is the detective trying to solve a homicide and he's a great character. His scenes with his sisters (they all still love at home) are perfect. It's got all classic Lehane ingredients: dark, mysterious, powerful people, poverty, and funny.

I have enjoyed reading this novel by Dennis Lehane, and so far it appears to be another wonderful effort by one of the finest authors in all of America! The man (Lehane) really knows how to weave a classic story! Love the twist and exciting turns.
I've now read half a dozen Lehane novels and the one thread that seems to bind all of them is great characters within a great story that always provides me with three or four days of spellbinding fun & suspense!
Thanks for another wonderful tale, Mr Lehane! I love Netgalley so much and my life would be empty without it honestly.

Small Mercies is a difficult book to read. The language is harsh and often offensive, but all appropriate to the era. Mary Pat Fennessey is a mother in Southfield Boston in the mid-seventies, when busing was mandated and not too many were happy about it. Her son, a Vietnam vet, died from an overdose after returning stateside. Her husband has left her and all she has left is her only daughter, Jules. Then Jules goes missing, after a young African American man is found dead at a train station. Mary Pat’s quest to find out what happened to her daughter and seek revenge on anyone who might have harmed her is the backbone of the story. But Dennis Leanne manages to mesh the very emotional family story with the white South Boston culture of the time that is both infuriating and heartbreaking. Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed this one. The school busing riots as backdrop were really interesting and I felt every character was fleshed out well.

Hard to adequately describe this book and the thoughts I have on it. Disturbing, violent yet a giod description of Boston and especially the Irish enclave ruled by Whitey Bulger and his cronies during the early 70s although Whitey per se isn’t mentioned here. The message that those who rocked the boat experienced consequences -but someone had to do it as the area kept shrinking and running against outside forces. The overwhelming theme is never ever underestimate a mother’s love for her child. Definitely can see this made into a film or mini series.