Dennis Lehane - Small Mercies

What can we say about Dennis Lehane..? He's written some of the best novels of all time which people like Clint Eastwood and Martin Scorsese have seized upon for the big screen. Think MYSTIC RIVER or SHUTTER ISLAND. He was a staff writer on The Wire. He's now a major show runner for Apple TV+ with the likes of Blackbird and the upcoming Firebug, both starring Taron Egerton.

Dennis is back with his fourteenth novel SMALL MERCIES - and it's easily Phil's book of 2023. It's set amidst the School Bussing Riots in Boston of 1974 and tells the story of a hard as nails woman called Mary Pat Hennessy who's trying to find out why her daughter hasn't returned home, the same night that a black teenager is murdered in a racially motivated attack.

This is a rare opportunity to hear one of the 21st century's best story tellers talk about how he does his job; why he can't stand ego on Set and how this book poured out of him whilst he was having a nightmare shooting Blackbird...!