An epic tale set at the end of World War I follows the experiences of a family whose lives mirror the political unrest of an America caught between its well-patterned past and an unpredictable future. Police officer Danny Coughlin, the latest in a long line of cops, is a fresh face on the force and anxious to impress his father. Thus, he agrees to go undercover to infiltrate a group of anarchists involved in labor strikes. As Danny penetrates this underground world, however, he befriends people such as a beautiful Irish immigrant and a black servant-turned-criminal who force him to re-evaluate his beliefs. Incorporating real historic events, such as the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic and the 1919 Boston police strike, the author "captures the sense of a country coming of age."
Coughlin Series
Journey through the tumultuous life of a man who rose from a beat cop in 1920s Boston to the heights of a criminal empire. This saga chronicles his evolution across decades and continents, from the gritty streets of Beantown to the vibrant allure of Ybor City, Florida, and the exotic landscape of Cuba. Explore a narrative of ambition, loyalty, and the inescapable consequences of one's choices. It's an epic portrait of rise and fall set against the backdrop of Prohibition and beyond.



Recommended Reading Order
- 1
- 2
Live by Night. In der Nacht, englische Ausgabe
- 416 pages
- 15 hours of reading
From New York Times bestselling author Dennis Lehane comes this epic, unflinching tale of the making and unmaking of a gangster in the Prohibition Era of the Roaring Twenties—now a Warner Bros. movie starring Ben Affleck, Elle Fanning, Zoe Saldana, and Sienna Miller. Meticulously researched and artfully told, Live by Night is the riveting story of one man’s rise from Boston petty thief to the Gulf Coast’s most successful rum runner, and it proves again that the accolades New York Times bestseller Lehane consistently receives are well deserved. He is indeed, “a master” (Philadelphia Inquirer) whose “true literary forefathers include John Steinbeck as well as Raymond Chandler” (Baltimore Sun). And, “Boy, does he know how to write” (Elmore Leonard).
- 3
World Gone By
- 400 pages
- 14 hours of reading
'The best gangster novel since The Godfather' Stephen King Joe Coughlin is untouchable. Once one of America's most feared and prominent gangsters, he now moves effortlessly between the social elite, politicians, police and the mob. He has everything he could possibly want; money, power, a beautiful mistress, and anonymity. But in a town that runs on corruption, vengeance and greed, success can't protect Joe from the dark truth of his past -- and ultimately, the wages of a lifetime of sin will finally be paid in full . . . Chilling, heart-breaking and gripping, this is the most complex and powerful novel to date from Dennis Lehane, writer on The Wire and author of modern classics such as Shutter Island, Gone, Baby, Gone and The Given Day.