Review: 'Small Mercies' offer a little hope

Over his long career Dennis Lehane has authored a dozen books and produced an impressive body of work for films and television. I believe that his latest novel, “Small Mercies,” is his best effort yet. Like most of his other work, “Small Mercies” is set in his native Boston – not in the exclusive enclaves of Back Bay or Beacon Hill, but the gritty housing projects of South Boston, or Southie” as it’s known to its mostly Irish, working-class inhabitants. The book’s action unfolds over a few days in the summer of 1974, as the Irish of Southie are mobilizing against the court-ordered integration...