One weakness of Dennis Lehane's novels is that he always has his lead character fall in love with the wrong woman and the character loses his ability to think when mixed up with the woman. Enter Emma Gould, the girlfriend of gangster Albert White. It is his interaction with Emma that sets Joe Coughlin on his life's path.
Joseph Coughlin grew up in Boston, the son of a police captain. Instead of following in the steps of his oldest brother, a police officer, his other brother, a lawyer, Joe starts a life of crime. He begins with petty theft and ends up robbing a bank. He gets caught and spends 2 years in prison. It is the prison time that sets him on a path to become a gangster.
In prison he is taken under the wing of Italian mobster Maso Pescatore. Pescatore's angle is using Joe to get Joe's father, Thomas Coughlin, to go after his rivals while he is in prison. Thomas does his bidding until he is asked to murder a rival. Joe turns the tables on Maso and earns the man's respect. When Joe gets out of prison, Maso sends him to Tampa, Florida to run his rum running business.
As with all of his novels, Lehane has done his homework. He transports you back in time. The reader is placed in the Latin Quarter of Tampa, Florida. We learn about the Cubans, the Spaniards, racism, the fight for Cuba's freedom and how the illegal rum trade developed and flourished in Florida.
Like his other novels, Lehane creates complex characters. While other reviewers say Joe is the gangster "with a heart of gold", I found he didn't have much of a heart. He wasn't void of emotion, and he was able to keep some humanity. However, don't be fooled, Joe does some despicable things.
The novel, like other Lehane books, is well written and a page turner. If you are interested in historical novels and crime novels, I recommend picking up this book.
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