Shutter Island: A Novel
The basis for the blockbuster motion picture directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Shutter Island by New York Times bestselling author Dennis Lehane is a gripping and atmospheric psychological thriller where nothing is quite what it seems. The New York Times calls Shutter Island, “Startlingly original.” The Washington Post raves, “Brilliantly conceived and executed.” A masterwork of suspense and surprise from the author of Mystic River and Gone, Baby, Gone, Shutter Island carries the reader into a nightmare world of madness, mind control, and CIA Cold War paranoia and is unlike anything you’ve ever read before.
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Community Reviews
Even though I haven't seen the film adaptation of the novel, having just seen the trailer affected my ingestion of the plot. Had I gone into this novel with out any preconceived notions, I can only assume that it would have merited a 4+ star rating.
"...the way to the mind is not by way of ice picks through the brain or large dosages of dangerous medicine but through an honest reckoning of the self.”
I haven't seen the movie, so I was going purely on the book synopsis and wanting to create a spooky Halloween vibe for myself. I was listening to the audio (highly recommend btw) while on a road trip, alone in the dark on the 401 between Montreal and Toronto (if you know, you know). This set the perfect tone for what I can only describe as the mind-f*ck of the year for me.
Lahane masterfully crafts a tense, volatile atmosphere -- featuring an escaped psych patient turned axe murderer, a vengeance-driven US Marshal, an isolated inescapable location, and a relentless storm. His ruthless switching between eerie calm and explosive chaos kept me just the right level of off-balance, plunging me deep into a world of fear, grief, guilt, and unraveling sanity. While I did guess the plot twist (partially) early on, I was still fully invested and gripped the whole way through
This is good! Slow in the beginning but building up in between. Take it slow and enjoy the plot twist at the end
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