Book Review: Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

Book: Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
Genre: Mystery/Thriller
Published: August 2006
How I Got the Book: Bought

Synopsis (from b&n.com): Summer, 1954.
U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels comes to Shutter Island, home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Along with his partner, Chuck Aule, he sets out to find an escaped patient, a murderess named Rachel Solando, as a hurricane bears down upon them.

But nothing at Ashecliffe Hospital is what it seems.

Is he there to find a missing patient? Or has he been sent to look into rumors of Ashecliffe's radical approach to psychiatry; an approach that may include drug experimentation, hideous surgical trials, and lethal countermoves in the shadow war against Soviet brainwashing ...

Or is there another, more personal reason why he has come there?


My Thoughts: Wow! I loved this book. The tone is absolutely tangible. I bought it on a whim before the movie was released. It kept me up all night reading! The first book I read all year that was 100% unputdownable. When I finally did manage to pry my eyes away I had nightmares that I was on Shutter Island! I don;t think I've dreamed about a boom since I read Uglies by Scott Westerfeld. But I digress...Shutter Island is just as much a character as Teddy or Chuck. This novel kept me guessing the whole way. I have my theories that differ from the the slant of the movie. Basically the ending (no spoilers) could go one of two ways and the movie chose one way and I believe in the other way (there's proof in the pages). There are so many twists and turns, smoking guns and dead ends. I would pretty much recommend this book to anyone.

Characters: Everyone is suspicious and not who they seem. You literally cannot believe one of them which make its intriguing but also you can't really sympathise with any of them. Teddy, the lead, is the best but still as a reader I found I kept him at arm's length.

Cover Art: I don't care for this cover. The lettering bothers me I think. The picture is okay...I think I will say that the movie edition cover is better...what a rarity!

Overall: ★★★★★