Shutter Island

This book will grab you from the opening chapter and ceases to release even after the cover is closed. As you travel with Teddy through the asylum you soon find there is more than meets the eye. The place holds a multitude of secrets, each terrifying and the twists just keep turning. There is no telling what will happen next yet each event falls perfectly into place leading to the ultimate climax. Shutter Island is well-written, it's beautiful words at odds with the horrific story line yet somehow resulting in balanced tale. This book is impossible to predict and equally as difficult to put down. It will have you reading into the wee hours...just be sure to leave all the lights on. I can only imagine how terrifying the movie must be.

DL sets a wonderfully imaginative (sinister, brooding) scene in SI. The writing is fast-paced; the characters well-drawn; the story interesting throughout. That said, the reader knows to expect some great twist in due course. And whatever certain book-jacket critics may say about having been blown away when it was revealed to them, I find it hard to believe they really were. All roads lead, pretty early on, to one likely shocking ending for SL, and the likeliest shock is the shock you get. It's a credit to DL's gift for storytelling that this reader, at least, did not feel cheated for having predicted the ending of this entertaining novel long before it got there. My guess is most readers have done the same. I can't give LS 5 stars, but I enthusiastically give it 4.

The whole novel is completely given away very early on. It really isn't a mystery at all for those of you who enjoy a good Who-dunnit. If you've ever completed a simple anagram puzzle in your life, please save your $7.99 and read something else.

Now I don't generally read a lot of mystery/suspense thriller type stories unless they are heavy on the psychodrama, so I wasn't entirely sure what I was getting into with this one. I heard the movie was lousy, and to me, the trailers almost made it seem like it had some paranormal aspect to the story. I wasn't sure if it was a horror, a mystery, or what, but, as a general rule, I always like to read a book before I see a movie. I found the ebook price to be reasonable, so I decided to give it a shot. I was familiar with Lehane by way of Mystic River, which I enjoyed immensely, so I thought it was a safe bet that I wouldn't be too disappointed. What I found was a plot so tight and so tense you could bounce a coin off of it. What started out feeling like a detective story turned into one of the most frightening psych dramas I have read in a while, and I didn't see the end coming: it just slams into you out of nowhere. But what was even more frightening was the very up close and personal look we get at the psychiatric field in the 1950s, back when lobotomies were standard practice and homosexuality was treated with shock therapy, which they innocuously termed "conversion therapy." Our book starts it's tangled rather deceptive plotline as a Detective Story. It's 1954 and US Marshals Teddy Daniels and Chuck Aule are assigned to Ashcliffe -- a small island Mental Hospital in the Massachusetts outer harbour -- to investigate the issue of a missing patient. Actually, Ashcliffe is more of a federal prison for the criminally insane. During the course of the investigation, it becomes apparent that the staff of Aschcliffe are hiding something and that the lives of Marshals Daniels and Aule are very much in danger. There is a lot going on in this story. Teddy Daniels is suffering over the loss of his wife to a house fire, and his ulterior motive for getting himself assigned to the island is that he heard the pyromaniac/arsonist who burned his house down currently resides at the facility. Also, after much covert investigation, Teddy has come to conclusion they the staff at the hospital are using their patients for experimental research reminiscent of the Nazi regime. However, everything is mere illusion, when the real story comes slamming into you about two-thirds of the way into the book, you will stand up and shout, "No freakin' way!!!" like I did. The critics called it a mind-bending plot twist, and I have to agree with them on that. Lehane's writing is typical for the genre. It's about storytelling, so most of the mainstream writing you find in this genre can't be considered great prose styling, but then again, it isn't meant to be. Shutter Island is a plot-driven thriller for most of the book. Even so, it adequately explores a wide range of emotion: fear, obsession, paranoia, and so the complex plotline plays into those emotions. It's very disorienting, and there is a solid reason why, but I won't spoil it for those who have not read it. Beyond the psychology, what really stood out for me was how the story explored the social attitudes of the time. It was Cold War USA, and there was a lot of prejudice against minorities, more specifically, the mentally ill. There is a scene in which Teddy finally runs into the elusive Warden for the first time and the conversation they have is so truly frightening I got the chills. For those who are sensitive to the "N" word, in this scene we get a rather graphic view of humanity's less than compassionate attitudes with regards to race, poverty, and the mentally ill, so be prepared for it. Some of America's historical attitudes are not pleasant. Unpleasantness aside, there is something insightful and telling on just about every page. Even after reaching the end of the book where all the "realities" of the story are exposed, the author still draws the reader back into the delusion in the final pages. The intricate plotting was quite brilliant. You will think you know what's going on, and then, just like our main character Teddy, you will find your entire world turned around on you. There were some spots where the writing felt a bit clunky to read, mostly in the dialog, but it was easily overlooked, and I actually loved how Lehane worked in the rather lengthy exposition in the end. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes psychodramas, cop stories, and thrillers. It hits all the marks.

This book was really difficult for me to get into, but once I finally sat down to read it, I couldn't put it down. The ending is what makes it the best...the twist is awesome! If you love a mystery....this is great! ~Michelle Teaching countless ways to save at: [...]

I am a big fan of this author having read all of his previous books - the Kenzie/Gennaro series, Mystic River, The Given Day - and was "saving" this one until another Lehane book hit the shelves. I wasn't disappointed. This is truly a "suspense" novel so I'll keep my review general so as not to spoil any of the plot twists. In 1954, U.S. Marshalls Teddy Daniels and Chuck Aule are assigned the task of finding a female patient who has escaped from Ashcliffe Hospital, a federal institution for the criminally insane located on the isolated Shutter Island, in Massachusetts' Outer Harbor. Upon their arrival, Daniels and Aule soon realize two things - Shutter Island and Ashcliffe Hospital are not what they appear to be and that an impending hurricane is about to lengthen their "day trip" to the island significantly. This is the stuff nightmares are made of and Lehane handles it expertly. If One Flew Cuckoo's Nest got under your skin, Shutter Island will make it crawl but in a much more subtle manner. The lines between staff, patients, wardens and doctors all become blurred with our two US Marshalls stuck - literally because of the storm - right in the middle of this dilemma. The escaped patient "case" soon grows into a game of "Who can you trust?" and with Teddy Daniels' past haunting his every step, the story soon becomes a test of reality. The conclusion may disappoint some - not this reader - there is a "Lady or the Tiger?" aspect to it - regardless, you can't fault it for creativity and originality. Highly recommended.

I read the book in two days and couldn't put it down. The ending was brilliant. Until the very last few pages I didn't know which way it would go and I'll say no more about that. The evening I finished the book I watched the movie. I was so excited... and so disappointed. The movie was pale and uninspiring. Was it because the book was so excellent? I highly recommend this book.

Took a while to get going, but the middle was wonderfully written, suspenseful and mysterious in that wonderful dream-like way. Then the whole experience unravels into disbelief. The author, Dennis Lehane, broke character and scene far too often to provide clues and red herrings--so proud of his big reveal--which was anything but. After so much potential, I hate to say it left me bored, eager to get to the last page just so I could put it away. There are many amazing psychological thrillers out there--but this is not one of them.

I have a problem when the kindle version of a book costs more than the paperback. Less costs more. No paper, no ink, no shipping, no handling, no warehousing, more money: make any sense to you?

I thought the book was very good--I read it in two days. If you haven't read this book yet, my review contains spoilers.... When I started reading the book I actually thought Teddy was a US Marshall. In fact, I was pretty sure he was until I got to chapter 17/18. When I started reading chapters 17/18 I first thought he was delusional and Chuck didn't exist--that he only existed in Teddy's mind. Especially in chapter 18 when he was talking w/ Crawley about leaving the island...Crawley said something like, so you'll be leaving...the first ferry...and Teddy said, "As long as someone wakes US up. When Crawley questioned "US" Teddy said, yeah, my partner. When Crawley said to Teddy that he didn't have a partner and that he came alone; that's when I knew that something was up. Again, I simply thought that Teddy made Chuck up in his head and that he never existed. I stopped reading for a while and went back to the beginning of the book to see if my theory was right, but I realized I was wrong because Chuck interacted with everyone too, so he did exist. Then I thought maybe Chuck was his real partner, but he was taken by the guards. I was totally floored when Chuck appeared in the lighthouse as Dr. Sheehan. (I actually forgot all about him) I knew something was up at that point. My first inclination was that Crawley and Dr. Sheehan wanted to admit Teddy as a patient...they were trying to make him crazy so they could say that Teddy went bezerk during his time at the hospital. I was actually getting annoyed at Crowley. However, when Teddy woke up and admitted he was Laeddis I figured it right then and there that he was all along a patient there. I liked how they ended the book though with "Teddy" and "Chuck" at the end. In a way I felt happy for "Teddy" because for him life was normal and Chuck was still his partner. He didn't have to undergo all of the treatment (and Crowley didn't want to do that to him either) and he can still go on freely (well, free as I mean he's not stuck in Ward C) and be somewhat happy. So, that's just my opinion of the book. No harsh remarks if you don't agree...I'm entitled to my own opinion. I'm going to watch the movie later. I'm hoping that the move stays true to the book. I read some review...people hated it and some loved it.