Date: August 17, 2025
Author: Dennis Lehane
Title: The Drop
I had to sleep on this book. I’m torn on how to feel about the material.
Apparently, in Boston, the Chechen mob has a network of bars where money is dropped to in Manila envelopes to be held until the mob arrives for their payment. While the money is in the bar’s possession, the bar is responsible for the contents of said Manila envelope. So, when Cousin Marv’s bar gets held up and the drop is stolen, the moneys still had to find their way into the mob’s pocket.
The mob manages locate the stolen cash and drops the moneys to Cousin Marv in a bag along with the bloody arm of one of the thieves. This was known because the thief wore a broken watch that read 6:15. The bloody arm was wearing a watch that read 6:15. So 1 +1 = a bloody appendage.
My issues were with the language Mr. Lehane used in the scenes where the bad guy, Eric, was down south doing some dirty work. I understand the language was meant to fit the characters he was portraying. But the same results could have been achieved without using the N word. Especially with the author being a blond haired, blue eyed, American man. It couldn’t even be explained away with the time period this book was released. 2014.
Other than that, I really enjoyed this novel. If you’re able to look past some of the language, then I’d say this story is thoroughly entertaining. I read it in one sitting because I could.