But those consequences are not all bad. Luther and Danny become improbable, but real, pals. Where is Babe Ruth in all this? He's here in Boston in 1918, but Harry Frazee's sent him to New York the next year. We all know about that. But Lehane puts a most-human face on Ruth - self-centered, egomaniacal, talented, reckless, drunk - and his story is woven throughout the book. He encounters Luther early on in a pickup game while the train the Sox are traveling on is repaired - then later he spots him with Danny in the seats at Fenway. Fenway - then especially - was not a place for, well, let's say "coloreds." (Warning: Lehane's characters use the vernacular from the era, words either deemed more commonplace or less offensive than nowadays. You kind of have to get used to racial epithets. Not all of them directed toward blacks, mind you.)
There's a big broad story here, but a lot of subtlety as well. There's a first wave of Irish immigrants who resent the thugs that comprise the second wave; there are immigrants (Jews, Italians, Russians, etc.) who get severely beaten just because they might be anarchists or Bolsheviks. There's a stream of alcohol flowing throughout that would impress Shane MacGowan. Everybody - cop or criminal - seems to drink all the time. Needless to say, like in real life, this doesn't always make for lovely results. Did we mention this is a love story, too? Yep, Danny has a buried love for someone deemed not proper for him - and this causes great familial conflict, familial conflict being another wing of this massive, sprawling epic. It's about Boston at, what might be its worst. The great Molasses Flood, riots, extreme prejudice, corruption at most every level. There's death, blinding, beatings, people being tossed from roof-tops. Is there redemption? Ah, we'll leave that one for you to discover. Lehane reads and talks at the Coolidge Corner Theatre Tuesday Sept. 23 at 6 p.m. Tickets across the street for $5 by the sponsoring Brookline Booksmith. (Lehane has more readings down the road in the fall; we'll get to those eventually.)

290 Harvard St., 617-566-6660 www.brooklinebooksmith.com