Live by Night

Summary

Joe Coughlin, the son of a Boston police captain, rises from petty crook to powerful rum runner across Prohibition era New England, Florida, and Cuba. Lehane writes a sweeping gangster epic about ambition, love, and the cost of choosing a life outside the law, tracing how Joe's choices shape and finally undo him. The novel's scope, period detail, and moral reckoning mark it as one of Lehane's most ambitious works.