A Drink Before the War vs Sacred: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Détectives, Massachusetts, Boston, Private investigators, Mystery, Fiction
A Drink Before the War
Taking on a seemingly simple assignment to pinpoint the whereabouts of a cleaning woman who has allegedly stolen confidential State House documents, private investigators Patrick Mckenzie and Angela Gennaro uncover a…
vs
Sacred
“A piece of advice: If you ever follow someone in my neighborhood, don't wear pink.”
The master of the new noir, Dennis Lehane brilliantly interweaves beauty and violence, integrity and evil in this thrilling, powerfully resonant novel.A beautiful, grief-stricken woman has vanished without a trace. So…
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- A Drink Before the War has the widest readership — 1372 ratings behind its score.
- A Drink Before the War runs the darker storyline; Sacred stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Scores by source
| A Drink Before the War | Sacred | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 4.2 (1372) | — |
| Hardcover | 3.8 (96) | 4.0 (1) |
| Google Books | 4.0 (1) | 4.0 (14) |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (551) | 4.0 (444) |
Reception
| A Drink Before the War | Sacred | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 1372 | 444 |
| Editions | 26 | 25 |
| Citations | 1 | — |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 795 | — |
| Reading it now | 7 | — |
| Written reviews | 53 | — |
| Wikipedia attention | 1409 | 395 |
| Pages | 336 | 375 |