Audiobook review: Dennis Lehane's Live by Night - find out whether Joe Couglin is a gangster or an outlaw, or whether there's really a difference.

I listened to the Audible Audiobook of Live by Night over three weeks whilst out on my morning walks.  Apart from The Godfather, this is the only gangster thriller I’ve ever read/listened too, and was really pleased that I did!

Joe Coughlin is the youngest son of a Boston police captain.  He’s chosen a life of crime as Prohibition provides incentives for a lucrative life outside the law.  Joe’s career in crime moves from Boston to Florida and finally to Cuba, as he moves from city to city, falls in love and tries to answer the question of whether he’s an outlaw, his preferred view, or a gangster, or whether there’s a real difference, because both are underpinned by violence, murder and rejection of the law.

I really liked listening to Live by Night – Lehane creates a strong atmosphere throughout the novel, not just by creating a compelling picture of individual people and places, but by showing how people’s lives were affected by the impact of Prohibition, which created so many opportunities for crime to flourish, as well as the violence, corruption and double crossing that comes with it.  There’s wealth, an awful lot of it, but also distrust and ultimately murder as people who are always looking over their shoulder, resort to the ultimate crime to maintain their position in the pecking order. 

Joe tries to portray himself as an outlaw rather than a gangster – perhaps he’s too soft to do the real dirty work, but his hands aren’t completely clean and however much he tries to “do good”, he’s a criminal whose life is always at risk from someone, no matter how much he thinks he’s covered all the bases or protects himself. 

Final verdict – Great to listen to as an Audible Audiobook.  I’d say Live by Night isn’t just a novel, but an epic, with a broad sweep of people and places, life and love, good and evil – so many people in the book “live by night”, but perhaps what the book shows is that there is no black and white, only shades of grey.

Romancrimeblogger