The Notorious Gentlemen
historical romance
Series · historical fiction
Coughlin Trilogy
The Coughlin Trilogy series by Dennis Lehane has 3 known books (3 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with The Given Day (2008). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is World Gone By. The series is complete.
- Books
- 3 known books (3 novels)
- Published
- 3
- First published
- 2008
- Status
- complete
- Shelved under
- Historical Fiction
- Last checked
Start here: The Given Day (2008) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
The Given Day
The Given Day opened the Coughlin Trilogy on September 16, 2008, its 720 pages -- by far the longest of the three -- weaving the 1919 Boston police strike and the influenza pandemic around the Coughlin family and real historical figures like Babe Ruth.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Given Day - Book 2:
Live by Night
Live by Night followed four years later, on October 2, 2012, tracing Joe Coughlin's rise from small-time hood to Prohibition-era rum runner across 432 pages, and went on to win the Edgar Award for Best Novel.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Live by Night - Book 3:
World Gone By
World Gone By closed the trilogy on March 10, 2015, at 320 pages -- its shortest entry -- following an older, more compromised Joe Coughlin through wartime Florida in 1943.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of World Gone By
About the Coughlin Trilogy series
The Coughlin Trilogy is Dennis Lehane's sweeping departure from contemporary Boston crime fiction into twentieth-century American history, following the Coughlin family -- Irish-American, Boston police -- and in particular Danny and later Joe Coughlin across three decades of Prohibition, organised crime, and social upheaval. The Given Day (2008) opens with the 1919 Boston police strike and the influenza pandemic, weaving Babe Ruth and real historical figures into a story about labour, race, and the limits of loyalty. Live by Night (2012) follows Joe Coughlin's rise from small-time Boston hood to a major rum-running gangster in Prohibition-era Tampa and Cuba, and won the Edgar Award for Best Novel. World Gone By (2015) closes the trilogy in 1943, with an older, more compromised Joe Coughlin navigating wartime Florida as an aging crime boss.
Each novel is a complete, satisfying story in itself, but read together they form a multi-generational portrait of American ambition and violence that Lehane researched as heavily as any of his crime fiction, grounding the fictional Coughlins in real Prohibition-era and Depression-era history.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in the Coughlin Trilogy?
Three: The Given Day (2008), Live by Night (2012), and World Gone By (2015).
Do the Coughlin novels connect to Kenzie & Gennaro or Mystic River?
No -- this is historical fiction set decades earlier (1918-1943), with its own separate cast of characters.
Did Live by Night win any awards?
Yes, Live by Night won the Edgar Award for Best Novel.
Is Live by Night the basis of the Ben Affleck film?
Yes, the 2016 film Live by Night, directed by and starring Ben Affleck, was adapted from the novel.
If you like the Coughlin Trilogy series
Reading order last verified .