I’ve been a fan of Dennis Lehane’s private eye novels about Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro for years. I keep wishing Lehane would write another book about them. Instead, he’s written a couple of stand-alone books, one which became a movie (Mystic River) and one that will become a movie (Shutter Island).

Gone, Baby, Gone stands out not only as the first Kenzie/Gennaro book to become a film, but is also Ben Affleck’s first turn as a director. His brother Casey (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) stars as Patrick Kenzie.

Both the Afflecks grew up in Boston, and the choice to use Lehane’s background for the series, Dorchester, was a no-brainer. Ben Affleck, when drawn to the project, stated that he wanted to make that microcosm of Boston come to life on the screen, and he used several people from the neighborhood in roles. In my opinion, he succeeds admirably. The background has a unique feel and rhythm to it that he couldn’t have gotten while shooting somewhere else.

Another thing that really rings true is the language. The dialogue is coarse and explosive, the way it tends to be in crowded metropolitan areas. And no matter where you put them, areas of cities that are in disrepair always stand out and offer their own views of the world. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small town or a large town, people tend to be desperate, trapped, and unhappy while living there. Since they’re not strong enough, mobile enough, or brave enough to take on people outside their neighborhood, the bad ones tend to prey on people inside the local environment.

I liked the motivation for Patrick and Angie to get involved, the fact that Patrick knew the mother whose child was kidnapped. They’d gone to high school together, and no one gets out of high school without a history and usually scars to show for it. Angie is reluctant to get involved with the case because she doesn’t want to find a dead kid, which is how things like this normally work out.