Gone, Baby, Gone (novel)
First edition
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| Author | Dennis Lehane |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Kenzie and Gennaro |
| Genre | Detective fiction |
| Published | 1998 (William Morrow and Company) |
| Pages | 256 (first edition) |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 38593676 |
| LC Class | PS3562.E426 G66 1998 |
| Preceded by | Sacred |
| Followed by | Prayers for Rain |
Gone, Baby, Gone is a 1998 detective novel by Dennis Lehane, his fourth in the series that features Boston private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro. In 2007, Gone Baby Gone was released in theaters, directed by Ben Affleck.
Boston-based lovers and private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro are hired by a woman to look into the case of her niece, Amanda McCready, whose disappearance has become an important local news story. They take the case despite the seeming reluctance of the girl's uncle, Lionel. During the investigation they quickly come to the conclusion that Amanda's mother, Helene, who has been prominently featured in the news stories about the case, is a degenerate and neglectful parent. At the time of Amanda's disappearance, Helene had left her alone for several hours while she partied at a local dive bar. In another incident, revealed later, Helene had once left her daughter unsupervised on the beach for several hours, resulting in the girl getting a terrible sunburn. While Helene has been pleading with the public for her daughter's return, in private she often seems more concerned about her own life and the possible benefit the publicity might have on it. In perhaps the most irresponsible act of parenting, Patrick and Angie discover that Helene had taken Amanda along while she and her then boyfriend Skinny Ray stole two hundred thousand dollars from men working for the imprisoned drug dealer Cheese.
Patrick and Angie begin working on the case with police officers Remy Broussard and Nick "Poole" Raftopoulous, members of the Boston Police Department's CAC (Crimes Against Children) Division. In investigating the missing money from Helene and Ray's drug deal, Patrick, Angie, Broussard, and Poole find the money along with two dead bodies, acquaintances of Helene's from when the money was originally stolen. The police receive an apparent ransom demand calling for a meetup at the Quincy Quarries to exchange the money for the girl. Under cover of darkness and with the area surrounded by police, Angie, Patrick, Poole, and Remy arrive at the quarry. Before they can meet the kidnappers, a confused gun battle breaks out, resulting in the death of a couple of gangsters working for Cheese and the disappearance of the ransom money. Angie finds Amanda's favorite doll, which had been taken along with her, in the water of the quarry, and they conclude that the little girl was likely thrown in and died.
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