History Creator / DennisLehane

** ''Series/{{Castle}}'', where he appears AsHimself several times.

!!Other works by Dennis Lehan contain examples of:

Dennis Lehane is a Boston-area author and well known writer of thriller novels, several of which have been adapted into film. He's also written for ''Series/TheWire'', and in fact he was the one to write Omar Little's death scene, specifically because no one else wanted to do it.

* ''Literature/TheGivenDay''

* ''Literature/LiveByNight''

!!His works include:
* The ''Literature/KenzieAndGennaroSeries''

** ''Literature/GoneBabyGone'' (1998) adapted into a film directed by Creator/BenAffleck in 2007.

** ''Literature/TheGivenDay'' (2008)
** ''Literature/LiveByNight'' (2012) adapted into [[Film/LiveByNight a film]] with Creator/BenAffleck released in January of 2017.

** ''Literature/MysticRiver'' (2001) adapted into a film directed by Creator/ClintEastwood in 2003.
** ''Literature/ShutterIsland'' (2003) adapted into a film directed by Creator/MartinScorsese in 2010.

!Tropes present in many of his works

* ActionSurvivor: He intentionally makes his protagonists normal people:
-->I decided, I do not want the people [in my books] to be veterans of any war I don't want them to know some sort of obscure Eastern kung fu philosophy that'll help them whoop ass. I want them to be regular, vulnerable people. They're not braver than most people, but they stick with it.
* BittersweetEnding or DownerEnding: His books rarely end on completely positive notes, if there's anything positive to begin with.
* BlackAndGreyMorality: There are several villains who have sympathetic motivations, and the "good" people are rarely completely clean themselves.
* BlackComedy: Present in many of his stories, which he relates to his Irish heritage.

* NotQuiteTheRightThing: A running theme in many of his stories is that it's not so obvious what the "right" thing is, if it even exists.
* RealityIsUnrealistic: Some aspects of his books are criticized for being unrealistic, but nine times of ten he's based it on something that really happened.

* WhamLine: His stories often have at least one, which he explains as being the result of his love of the dramatic.
* WriteWhoYouKnow: He advocates this, but also says that people need to focus more on the overall human experience than specific events.

* AsHimself: He made several guest appearances on ''Series/{{Castle}}'' as one of Rick Castle’s poker buddies. All members of the group were RealLife crime writers with the exception of Castle and a one episode character Alex Conrad.

* HurtingHero: Most of his protagonists. He even admits that he's not sure how much Patrick Kenzie is capable of dealing with.
* IJustWriteTheThing:
** He explains the 11 year gap between ''Prayers for Rain'' and ''Moonlight Mile'' as being because Patrick Kenzie wouldn't talk to him.
** He's also said that Joe Coughlin gaining main character status in ''Live by Night'' wasn't intentional so much as discovered by him near the end of writing ''The Given Day'':
-->I’d been thinking about doing a gangster book my whole life, but I hadn’t been thinking about the specifics of this one until, near the end of writing “The Given Day,” I realized, “Oh, I’ve got my gangster! There he is: the kid, the younger son.

* {{UsefulNotes/Boston}}: Where the majority of his stories are set. He also cites [[Literature/{{Spenser}} Robert B. Parker]] and Andre Dubus as major influences on his style.

* {{UsefulNotes/Boston}}: Where the majority of his stories are set. He also cites [[{{Spenser}} Robert B. Parker]] and Andre Dubus as major influences on his style.

** ''Literature/LiveByNight'' (2012) being adapted into a film with Creator/BenAffleck set for release in January of 2017.

** ''Literature/LiveByNight'' (2012) being adapted into a film with Creator/BenAffleck set for release in October of 2016

* IJustWriteTheThing: He explains the 11 year gap between ''Prayers for Rain'' and ''Moonlight Mile'' as being because Patrick Kenzie wouldn't talk to him.

** ''Live By Night'' (2012) being adapted into a film with Creator/BenAffleck set for release in October of 2016

* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: He's been mistakenly referred to as the author of several different Boston-based stories, including ''TheDeparted'' and ''The Town,'' by both the media and people who actually live in Boston. He's mentioned that sometimes he corrects them, [[SureLetsGoWithThat other times he doesn't.]]

* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: He's been mistakenly referred to as the author of several different Boston-based stories, including ''TheDeparted'' and ''TheTown'', by both the media and people who actually live in Boston. He's mentioned that sometimes he corrects them, [[SureLetsGoWithThat other times he doesn't]].

** ''Literature/TheGivenDay'' (2008)
** ''Live By Night'' (2012)

** ''World Gone By'' (2015)

Dennis Lehane is a Boston-area author and well known writer of thriller novels, several of which have been adapted into film.

* BadassNormal: He intentionally makes his protagonists normal people:

* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: He's been mistakenly referred to as the author of several different Boston-based stories, including ''TheDeparted'' and ''TheTown'', by both the media and people who actually live in Boston.

** ''The Drop'' (2014) made concurrently into a film staring Creator/TomHardy and Creator/JamesGandolfini.

** ''The Drop'' (2014)

[[redirect:DennisLehane]]