The Drop Paperback – Deckle Edge, September 2, 2014

It all started with a puppy.Bob Saginowski is a sad-sack bartender, living in the house he grew up in, spending his time shuffling between work, home, and mass at his childhood church. He's a loner; his only real companion (and that's a bit of a stretch) is his cousin Marv, who used to own the bar Bob works at, although the bar is now really owned by Chechen mobsters. Bob spends his days wishing for a way out of his loneliness, and he's hiding a secret or two as well.One cold winter night while walking home from work, he finds a badly beaten puppy in a trash can. Although the responsibility of caring for something scares him, he rescues the dog and ultimately bringing it home with him. When he finds the dog he also encounters Nadia, a world-weary woman who has seen more than her share of problems. Without expecting it, he finds himself caring for both Nadia and the dog and is utterly unprepared for how it feels.But all is not rosy for Bob—not only is his church closing, but the bar gets robbed, he catches the eye of a dogged cop determined to make something of himself again, and the dog's original owner, an unstable ex-con with an agenda of his own, returns and wants what he believes is his. It's more than enough to make Bob wonder what path he should follow, and what the consequences of his actions will be.Dennis Lehane is one of my favorite authors of all time. While this isn't as good as Mystic River or a number of his Kenzie and Gennaro novels, I really like Lehane best when his writing leans more toward grittier, violent character studies than some of the historic material he's covered in his last two books. I love his use of language, both in dialogue and description, and while not everything that happens in the book is surprising, he still knows how to create some good tension.I learned after I read The Drop (in a little more than one day) that it is an expansion of a short story Lehane wrote in 2009, which explains why, even at just under 250 pages, I felt the book was a little short, and would have liked more time with Bob, Marv, Nadia, and even Detective Torres. There was a lot of intriguing material that could have been developed further, although I didn't feel as if the book ended abruptly or was too short.I forgot that a movie adaptation of this book is due out later this year. While I try not to read books that close to a movie adaptation (especially one with a little suspense in it), I'm looking forward to seeing how the actors bring to life the characters I've pictured in my head. If you're not planning to see the movie, and you enjoy crime novels, this is one to read. It's a fast read, it's well-written, and most importantly, it's good to have Dennis Lehane back in his element. (Of course, now I want another book, Dennis.)

Bob Saginowski "just tends the bar." Cousin Marv used to own the bar but has been bought out by bigger badder criminals and can't get respect from anyone around him. Eric Deeds considers himself a big bad criminal and wants Bob to return his pit bull puppy, which Bob claimed from a garbage can after Eric beat it nearly to death. These three characters (and the dog) fuel the plot of THE DROP, which revolves around Cousin Marv's bar, a "drop bar" where mob money is sometimes temporarily hidden from the police. It is unusual Lehane in its sparseness (only 250 pages), but it is classic Lehane in its characterizations, setting, and dialogue.I deliberately read this book before watching the film, though I realize the film existed first. I wanted to read it as a novel and not allow my experience to be colored by others' complaints that "it's like reading a movie." And I'm glad I did. Had I watched the movie first, I might have liked the book less. No arguing this book is short on the introspective character development found in other Lehane works. We don't know much about Bob for most of the story, although he has the most page time and we are ostensibly in his head. We don't know any of the characters from their thoughts; we only know them when they act. However, this removed point of view is no accident. Revelations about Bob's character wouldn't have been revelations if he'd have been as forthcoming internally as, say, Patrick Kenzie. Lehane wants us to be surprised by Bob. It's an interesting choice, especially from this author, but if you read the book through the lens of this choice, it works.So for what it is, I enjoyed the book. I also enjoyed the film (and Tom Hardy's genius). The final scenes are different in important ways, and I prefer the film's closing dialogue to the book's (for one thing, I respect Nadia more in the film, based on those ending exchanges). But both skillfully create a slow build of tension that culminates in a trademark Lehane explosion of violence at the end. Both ask questions Lehane often asks--about redemption, secrets, right vs. wrong and where the lines are really drawn between them.

Brilliant - brilliant - brilliant. You get romance, crime, mystery, an enigmatic and damaged lead character, a great twist at the end and a cute puppy thrown in for free. Intelligently written with fine drawn characters - I would highly recommend anything by this author and this is no expection. The only criticism is that it was too short (I understand it was originally written in a short story format)

A very clever book with terrific characterisation. It is superbly written, amusing in parts, chilling in others but always moving on keeping you wondering what is going to happen. There are some twists and turns but they are all well explained and in character and there are some surprises. Although it is a bit short it is definitely worth a read.

I saw the film before reading this. But the book was better as it took more time to develop the main characters. The small details that were not in the film were very useful to know and made the book really enjoyable.The screen play was written by Dennis Lehane and the film stayed true to the book.Recommended.

This book is a seriously good read and I enjoyed it very much, even though I saw the film a few months ago. Like most people, I like to read the book before I see the film and I wish I had done so in this case. I liked the characters and the twists throughout and can thoroughly recommend it. The only other Dennis Lehane book I have read is Shutter Island and I will be reading more of his books in the future.

Really enjoyed reading this book, another good book by this Author