Dennis Lehane

U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his partner, Chuck Aule, come to Shutter Island's Ashecliffe Hospital in search of an escaped mental patient, but uncover true wickedness as Ashecliffe's mysterious patient treatments propel them to the brink of insanity.

Shutter Island

U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his partner, Chuck Aule, come to Shutter Island's Ashcliffe Hospital in search of an escaped mental patient, but Ashcliffe's sinister patient treatments propel them to the brink of insanity.

sin h.

Amna A.

An intense thriller revolving around an asylum on an island. All I can say that I never expected the ending to be as such.

In the year 1954, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his new partner, Chuck Aule, come to Shutter Island, home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane, to investigate an unexplained disappearance. Multiple murderess Rachel Solando is loose somewhere on this barren island, despite having been kept under constant surveillance in a locked, guarded cell. As a killer hurricane bears relentlessly down on the island, hints of radical experimentation and covert government machinations add darker, more sinister shades to an already bizarre case. Because nothing at Ashecliffe Hospital is remotely what it seems.

A Novel

Wynter

Marvelous novel full of twists and turns. That ending is absolutely fantastic, and reminds me a lot of Inception - in "what is real, what is not" kind of way. Excellent reflection on human psychology and sanity.

Emelie

It was a little slow from time to time but the last 50 pages was INTENSE! I truly think they Did a good Job Making the movie, since it's almost exactly as the book!

Tie-in to the major motion picture, released on 12th March 2010. US Marshal Teddy Daniels has come to Shutter Island, home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane, to find an escaped murderer named Rachel Solando. As a killer hurricane bears down on the island, the investigation deepens and the questions mount. How has a barefoot woman escaped from a locked room? Who is leaving them clues in the form of cryptic codes? And what really goes on in Ward C? The closer Teddy gets to the truth, the more elusive it becomes. And the more he begins to believe that he may never leave Shutter Island. Because someone is trying to drive him insane...

Sian Wadey

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

I read this book only because the film was coming out and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. It was amazing, the whole time Lehane keeps you guessing, unable to put the book down. You just want to know what happens and the twisted, noir plot keeps you reading. The setting, a mental asylum, makes you think that this will be a typical horror but it is far from it. Read this book! Now!

Fraser Simons

** spoiler alert **
           “Baby, why you all wet?

This story is almost tailored to me as a tabletop role-play game designer. If you’ve read it, you’ll know why. In the indie scene there has been many articles written about players (unintentionally) using role-play as a sort of therapy. It’s a safe space with psychic distance, and some games intentionally create a lot of player bleed, where people pour a themselves into their characters. But that’s not what role-play is equipped for. Not in the least. 

This makes this particular story even more fascinating to me. I’ve seen what role-play can do, as well as it’s limits. So the desperate bid to bring Andrew to himself by playing out his fantasy is very compelling to me. Perhaps making it even easier for me to suspend my disbelief. The ending especially made sense to me. It’s funny, because I think the story otherwise would have felt pretty contrived. 

What helps, of course, is getting along very well with the prose. The voice here is gripping, interesting, and insistent. And it’s far better than the movie at inserting plausible deniability. I first saw the movie and my date was particularly annoyed when I guessed what was happening in the first five minutes. But that’s because he literally spells it out for you right away. It was still a fun movie to watch, but I would have preferred by far some more deftness with the foreshadowing. The book is that. Before it tips the hat there is a bit of background on the character and some additional context. It’s still there, but it’s far better. What’s more, foreshadowing like that makes sense and is far more satisfying in a book rather than in a movie, in my opinion. 

“Teddy gave him nothing.”

Geoffrey Landward

The author of Mystic River (which I have not read) wrote this thriller about 6 years ago. I saw a preview for the movie and thought it looked exciting -- I was in the mood for exciting --so I picked up on the Kindle for $6. I loved it with one exception, the profanity was far beyond what I expected. Don't ask me what I expected; I should have figured it out given this author's past work. Anyway, I was so hooked into the mystery that I couldn't put it down (talk about rationalization). I do not recommend this to sensitive ears. But holy cow what an ending!

Tameka Young

I am a big chicken when it comes to mystery and suspense novels. I am always afraid of what will happen once I turn off the lights after reading them. I've only read one of Dennis Lehane's other books, Mystic River, and I absolutely loved it so I figured that I would love this one as well. Shutter Island is a thrill ride for sure. It takes a lot of twists and turns and you don't know what's real or what's imaginary. While the book is a thriller, it's not scary or gory at all, in fact it reads just like a movie.

As a page turner this novel is amazing. It messes with your mind from the very first paragraph. As the layers of the plot unfold, the reader is taken on a suspense filled journey of intrigue and well you know, suspense. I admit that because of my well documented word nerdiness I figured out a lot of the puzzle before it was revealed, but this book was such a fun read, I couldn't wait to see how everything played out. I can't wait to see the movie!

Summer, 1954. U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels has come 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. And neither is Teddy Daniels. 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? As the investigation deepens, the questions only mount: How has a barefoot woman escaped the island from a locked room? Who is leaving clues in the form of cryptic codes? Why is there no record of a patient committed there just one year before? What really goes on in Ward C? Why is an empty lighthouse surrounded by an electrified fence and armed guards? The closer Teddy and Chuck get to the truth, the more elusive it becomes, and the more they begin to believe that they may never leave Shutter Island. Because someone is trying to drive them insane. . . .

Really enjoyable book! I was pleased to see that the movie followed the book incredibly closely.

I do find that it's hard to judge the book on its own, since I've seen the movie multiple times. I knew from the get-go what the twists and explanations were, so I was able to recognize the clues as they were given. In a way, I wish I'd read the book first to see how much I would have picked up on. I think reading the book for the first time would have been confusing, as many scenes (especially the dreams) seem like they'd be confusing to a first-time reader.

I do like one change the movie made: (view spoiler)[in the book, there's no indication that Teddy has accepted who he is and what he did on the very last page, but in the movie he says "Which would be worse, to live as a monster or to die as a good man?" which indicates that he HAS accepted it, but would rather get the lobotomy than to live as a monster. I find that a very poignant addition, though the ending of the book was fine as well. (hide spoiler)]

Jade Flynn

*3.5 stars.

I found the story really enjoyable and intriguing, but I knocked *1.5 stars off because I absolutely hated the writing style. This might be one of the rare cases that the film is better than the book.

Brandy Allen

Tanya Sutton

Having never read anything by Lehane before, I wasn't sure what to expect. However, I'm afraid my expectations were too high.

The novel alternated between a psychological thriller and a detective mystery, complete with puzzles. It was a pretty quick read, with engaging dialogue, and likable characters. However, about halfway through the book, I thought I had the ending figured out. I hoped that I was wrong and that I had fallen into a trap set for readers by the author. I prayed for a red herring. Unfortunately, I guessed correctly.

My only recommendation is that, if you're interested in reading this book, don't read the synopsis, don't try to think too much about the puzzles, and read as quickly as you can. Perhaps this way you can get to the end before Lehane ruins it for you.

Manish Narayan Pandit

I Read. Reread and Again I want to read..
This is so good

Chelsea Breher

A friend keeps wanting to watch the movie which made me have the urge to read this book. Overall I enjoyed this book, it is written almost as though you're in Teddy's mind, watching the story unfold! Though, never fully believe what you read.

Marina G

Most amazing book I've read for a long time.Will probablly be one of the best of this year

Sonia Flores

Este es uno de esos libros que debe leerse sin tener ni idea para garantizar el disfrute (y la conmoción). Aunque soy de las personas se conjeturan tanto como pueden de manera precipitada y tienen un montón de teorías antes de llegar a la mitad del libro, el final no me lo esperaba en absoluto. Algunos elementos del mismo los sospechaba, y no me sorprendí en exceso por esto mismo, pero sin duda no esperaba ese desenlace. Está muy bien planteado. Tanto que hay verdades que tienes por mentiras, y mentiras que terminas por creer.

No les voy a contar nada de la trama porque sería un spoiler de principio a fin, pero lo que yo puedo decir que es que la sinopsis no te da ni pista de lo que ocurre en este retorcido lugar. A menos que la escudriñes muy, pero que muy bien. Ahora la vuelvo a leer y digo que muchas cosas tenían sentido desde el principio.

Rachel

** spoiler alert **
           Shutter Island is fairly unique and contains many twist and turns through out the story. You totally believe everything Teddy is going through, then start doubting the same things he does, and eventually question him. There is so much going on and you can come up with many theories on your own and that is all part of the fun. The 4th day part is well done and explained very well, so the reader can follow along. The reason why this book got a 4 star and not a 5 star is simply because of the last few pages. I understand what Lehane was going for, but I felt it was rushed and not set up properly to have much of an affect. I don't expect him to explain what happened, that's an open ended and left to the readers imagination, but the set up and the last few lines made it feel corny and left me thinking, well of course it would end that way. Even with the disappointing ending this book was well written and though out, and overall was a good read.

Shutter Island

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