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Coughlin Trilogy

by Dennis Lehane

The Coughlin Trilogy series by Dennis Lehane has 3 known books (3 published). It is best read in publication order, starting with The Given Day (2008). World Gone By is the latest book with a fully recorded publication date. The series is complete.

Books
3 known books (3 novels)
Published
3
First published
2008
Status
complete
Shelved under
Historical Fiction
Start here: The Given Day (2008) — then read straight through in publication order.
Book one
Cover of The Given Day
The Given Day (2008)

Reading order

The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.

  1. The Given Day

    Novel
    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.
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  2. Live by Night

    Novel
    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.
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  3. World Gone By

    Novel
    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.
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Key facts about the Coughlin Trilogy series

Our list has 3 books in the Coughlin Trilogy series. Since all 3 are out now, you can read the whole list today.

Start with The Given Day, since it opens the publication order in 2008. Live by Night is book 2, from 2012. World Gone By is book 3, from 2015.

The list keeps the books in date order, while each title links to its own page. Each book page shows its dates and editions.

World Gone By is the latest book with a full release date, out on 10 March 2015. Since the catalogue marks the series as complete, we list no next book.

The books came out between 2008 and 2015, while their length runs from 320 to 720 pages. That is a run of 7 years.

Dennis Lehane has 14 books on our list. Additionally, they write Kenzie & Gennaro. We shelve the books under historical fiction.

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.

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