Mystic River

The novel picks up 25 years after Dave’s abduction.

Katie Marcus, Jimmy’s 19-year-old daughter, plans to elope in Vegas with Brendan Harris. Jimmy, 13 years after leaving prison, now owns a corner store and has a wife and three daughters; Jimmy’s first wife (Katie’s mother) died when Katie was five years old. Dave is also married and has a young son. On this particular Saturday night, he decides to go out. Driving through the flats, he considers how the neighborhood is changing; that younger, hipper “yups” have moved in, turning the bars and pizza shops into cafes. Soon, Dave and his wife Celeste won’t be able to afford to live there. Ever since someone tried to carjack Dave while his son was in the car, he’s kept a gun under the seat. Staring at two young people eating frozen yogurt, he fantasizes about holding the gun up before them.

That night, Katie goes out with her friends for one last celebration. They end up at a “dump in the worst section of the Flats” (45). There, Katie sees Roman, a friend of her ex-boyfriend, Bobby O’Donnell. Roman approaches Katie, reprimanding her for being so drunk. He threatens to tell Bobby, and Katie and her friends leave in a hurry.