World Gone By: A Novel

by Dennis Lehane

Overview

New York Times bestselling author Dennis Lehane’s World Gone By continues the epic story of Joe Coughlin from The Given Day and Live by Night through World War II, as he struggles to navigate the criminal underworld between Cuba and Florida.

“Suspenseful, devious, well-constructed and as filled with ethical questions as it is with gangsters.” —New York Times

Ten years have passed since Joe Coughlin’s enemies killed his wife and destroyed his empire, and much has changed. Prohibition is dead, the world is at war again, and Joe’s son, Tomás, is growing up. Now the former crime kingpin works as a consigliore to the Bartolo crime family, traveling between Tampa and Cuba, his wife’s homeland.

A master who moves in and out of the black, white, and Cuban underworlds, Joe effortlessly mixes with Tampa’s social elite, U.S. Naval intelligence, the Lansky-Luciano mob, and the mob-financed government of Fulgencio Batista. He has everything—money, power, a beautiful mistress, and anonymity.

But success cannot protect him from the dark truth of his past—and ultimately, the wages of a lifetime of sin will finally be paid in full.

Dennis Lehane vividly recreates the rise of the mob during a world at war, from a masterfully choreographed Ash Wednesday gun battle in the streets of Ybor City to a chilling, heartbreaking climax in a Cuban sugar cane field. Told with verve and skill, World Gone By is a stunning work of historical fiction from one of “the most interesting and accomplished American novelists” (Washington Post).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063084889
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	11/23/2021
Series:	Joe Coughlin Series , #3
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	528,334
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 5.20(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Dennis Lehane is the author of thirteen novels—including the New York Times bestsellers Live by Night; Moonlight Mile; Gone, Baby, Gone; Mystic River; Shutter Island; and The Given Day—as well as Coronado, a collection of short stories and a play. He grew up in Boston, MA and now lives in California with his family.

Hometown:

Boston, Massachusetts

Date of Birth:

August 4, 1965

Place of Birth:

Dorchester, Massachusetts

Education:

B.A., Eckerd College, 1988; M.F.A., Florida International University, 1993

Website:

http://www.dennislehanebooks.com

Editorial Reviews

“Lehane, who has developed into a novelist of seemingly effortless power and command, is missing nothing in his delivery. Few writers can equal his ability to balance dark and light, casual and intense, here and then. More than a sequel, World Gone By seems lit by its predecessor and the events of the past as if through a prism—or maybe a black light. In the process, Joe Coughlin’s story becomes more epic still.”  — Chicago Tribune

“Lehane writes convincingly, tensely, tersely, powerfully, about the fatal tensions of daily Mob life without romanticizing it, without judging it. He steers the plot and its characters toward inevitable consequences. Everyone here is bloodied—splattered with either their own or someone else’s blood...This gangster novel is violent, graphic and guiltily compelling.”  — USA Today

“Lehane has Elmore Leonard’s ear for dialogue and a masterly touch with description... World Gone By offers a frisson like you get from the best gangster sagas from The Godfather to The Sopranos — entry into a world of complex characters who are operating within their highly risky world. And it serves a plot that drives relentlessly forward without ever feeling forced.” — Miami Herald

“Lehane is shaping a tragedy in World Gone By, along classic lines set in a seamy underbelly. The novel’s plot is as complex as its morality while both are fueled by searing betrayals.” — New York Daily News

“Lehane’s prose is muscular and lean, elegant and brutal, and his action scenes are cause to sit back and exhale when they’re over...World Gone By is a poetic conclusion to an accomplished American crime story.” — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“A textbook guide on how to end a series .” — Associated Press

“Lehane [is] a novelist of…effortless power.” — Chicago Tribune

“Lehane’s 12th novel is a classic gangster epic.” — Tampa Bay Times

From the Publisher

A textbook guide on how to end a series .

Associated Press

Lehane writes convincingly, tensely, tersely, powerfully, about the fatal tensions of daily Mob life without romanticizing it, without judging it. He steers the plot and its characters toward inevitable consequences. Everyone here is bloodied—splattered with either their own or someone else’s blood...This gangster novel is violent, graphic and guiltily compelling.” 

USA Today

Lehane’s 12th novel is a classic gangster epic.

Tampa Bay Times

Lehane is shaping a tragedy in World Gone By, along classic lines set in a seamy underbelly. The novel’s plot is as complex as its morality while both are fueled by searing betrayals.

New York Daily News

Lehane has Elmore Leonard’s ear for dialogue and a masterly touch with description... World Gone By offers a frisson like you get from the best gangster sagas from The Godfather to The Sopranos — entry into a world of complex characters who are operating within their highly risky world. And it serves a plot that drives relentlessly forward without ever feeling forced.

Miami Herald

Lehane, who has developed into a novelist of seemingly effortless power and command, is missing nothing in his delivery. Few writers can equal his ability to balance dark and light, casual and intense, here and then. More than a sequel, World Gone By seems lit by its predecessor and the events of the past as if through a prism—or maybe a black light. In the process, Joe Coughlin’s story becomes more epic still.” 

Chicago Tribune

Lehane’s prose is muscular and lean, elegant and brutal, and his action scenes are cause to sit back and exhale when they’re over...World Gone By is a poetic conclusion to an accomplished American crime story.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Lehane writes convincingly, tensely, tersely, powerfully, about the fatal tensions of daily Mob life without romanticizing it, without judging it. He steers the plot and its characters toward inevitable consequences. Everyone here is bloodied—splattered with either their own or someone else’s blood...This gangster novel is violent, graphic and guiltily compelling.” 

USA Today

Lehane, who has developed into a novelist of seemingly effortless power and command, is missing nothing in his delivery. Few writers can equal his ability to balance dark and light, casual and intense, here and then. More than a sequel, World Gone By seems lit by its predecessor and the events of the past as if through a prism—or maybe a black light. In the process, Joe Coughlin’s story becomes more epic still.” 

Chicago Tribune

Lehane has Elmore Leonard’s ear for dialogue and a masterly touch with description... World Gone By offers a frisson like you get from the best gangster sagas from The Godfather to The Sopranos — entry into a world of complex characters who are operating within their highly risky world. And it serves a plot that drives relentlessly forward without ever feeling forced.

Miami Herald

The novel’s plot is as complex as its morality.

New York Daily News

A textbook guide on how to end a series .

Associated Press Staff

10/01/2014
Lehane has won Edgar, Anthony, Barry, and Shamus awards for his blockbuster chillers, but this book is BISACed as literary fiction, which says something important about the latest from this vividly smart writer. Here, Lehane harks back to Joe Coughlin, protagonist of his Edgar Award winner, 2012's Live by Night, now serving as consigliere to the Bartolo crime family ten years after enemies murdered his wife. Moving between Tampa and his wife's native Cuba, Coughlin is enjoying himself even as world war rumbles onto the scene again. But of course the past comes knocking. With a 300,000-copy first printing.

Library Journal