DARKNESS, TAKE MY HAND by Dennis Lehane

There is no such thing as a bad Dennis Lehane novel, although I did like its predecessor, ADrink Before the War, better than this one.  Angie and Patrick are called into action again when a psychiatrist receives a photo of her son in the mail.  Recognizing this as a possible mob threat, Angie and Patrick begin surveillance of this young man whose regularly patterned college life yields no clues.  Actually, there is one clue in an event outside the norm, but it is such a blip on their radar that it doesn’t warrant immediate attention.  Soon, though, all hell breaks loose, as people start turning up dead, in very grisly fashion.  Similar murders that took place decades earlier offer a trail back to Patrick’s father, a man who, according to Patrick, was capable of anything, including murder.  (This is also not the first novel with scary clowns, nor is it likely to be the last.)  Lehane just has a way with words, with crisp dialog, and he endows his intrepid duo with traits and emotions that cause us to become attached to them, despite the violence that they can’t seem to shake.  The author doesn’t shy away from really dark stuff and recognizes how it can affect the personal relationships of those who have to face such evil on a regular basis.