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2013 selection · Mystery & crime

Live by Night

by Dennis Lehane

Edgar Award for Best Novel · Winner

Boston police captain's son Joe Coughlin becomes an outlaw during Prohibition and rises through organized crime from Massachusetts to Florida and Cuba. His ambition brings wealth and influence alongside betrayal, racial violence, and lasting personal loss.

01

Why it matters

Lehane expands the gangster saga into a historically grounded account of reinvention and the moral price of power.

02

Read this if…

You enjoy sweeping historical crime epics with flawed, charismatic protagonists.

03

Ideas inside

ProhibitionOrganized crimeAmbitionBetrayal

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