Rating: 
Summary: A great read with one major flaw **SPOILER***
Review: ***SPOILER***Loved the writing and the story. I figured out who did it relatively early in the story, but I had the reason wrong. I thought that Brendan's brother had figured out that Brendan was going to leave him with their awful mother, and that drove him to kill Katie. It seems hard to believe that the beating would have been so vicious just "because". However, I can let that go because it was a really great story.
Rating: 
Summary: A masterpiece!
Review: I recently finished reading "Mystic River". I had to read the book after I saw the equally excellent film version of the Dennis Lehane book. Although Clint Eastwood made some slight alterations in the film, overall he remained quite faithful to the haunting book which not many directors do nowadays. I found the book itself to be thoroughly engaging and compelling. Although a murder occurs, the whodunit question takes backseat to the drama of the psychological effects and human emotions in the three major characters in the book; Dave Boyle, Jimmy Marcus, and Sean Devine. Abducted by a couple of perverts as a child, Dave Boyle is the most psychologically damaged of the three men. The reader is taken to a place in the human psyche that is dark and scary. Jimmy Marcus and Sean Devine are the two boys that didn't get into the car with Dave Boyle, and for that they have had to face with the guilt of not joining Dave in the car. Years later, the three men are adults. Jimmy is an ex-con who owns the corner grocery store. Sean Devine is a cop. And Dave Boyle is a father and husband. This is my first Dennis Lehane novel, I thought the dialogue and his storywriting abilities were nothing short but brilliant. What really made me choke up was his in depth characterization of Jimmy Marcus. His love for his daughter Katie was so heartbreaking. Sean Penn as Jimmy is worthy of an Oscar. He made the character of Jimmy Marcus his own. I found the role of Jimmy's wife Annabeth quite refreshing. She was not the emotionally weak spouse that a lot of writers tends to make women to be. Annabeth was strong and tough. She had an edge to her. What she says to Jimmy towards the end of the book about not being weak and that Jimmy is the king and can be anything he wants to be sent chills down my spine. Dave Boyle is the perfect role model for what happens when one's personal demons consumes you. His past finally takes over him and he becomes a completely different person. Dennis Lehane does a wonderful job at fleshing out Dave Boyle's character as did Tim Robbins in the movie. Sean Devine is pretty much the clean-cut, good guy in the book. Not as dark as Dave and Jimmy, Sean was still an intersting character to read about. Kevin Bacon did a marvelous job as Sean. Overall I loved "Mystic River". I haven't read anything as compelling and riveting as "Mystic River" in years. A must read for people who enjoy a good thriller and intense drama.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent writing, poor choice of characters. Disturbing.
Review: An extremely dark and disturbing story about sick people.
Low lifes all, except the cop Sean, who deliver their thoughts and their lines out of some pathetic emotional selfishness, devoid of honest conscience or respect for fellow humans. I have read 5 of LeHane's books. This is the only one I regretted reading.
Rating:
Summary: Boring!
Review: I don't know what the other reviewers see in this book. I was bored beyond belief. I didn't care much about the characters and the story was predictable. It was first Dennis Lehane book and will be my last.
Rating: 
Summary: Curious Ending But A Great Read
Review: Liked this book a lot. Words were written in a way that you could savor which is something unique for a book of this genre. My only bone to pick with this book is the ending of which I obviously cannot give away. Actually it wasn't the ending that bothered me, it was Jimmy's transformation at the very end of the book. It seemed of out of synch with the his character. In fact it was so at odds with his character that I went back a couple of chapters and reread them to try to understand more about his character. What Jimmy does at the end the book is horrible and yet when he realizes that he has made a terrible mistake, it seems he almost just shrugs it off. Is it deial? Is it irreverance? For a guy who sends money to a widow and children of the man he killed earlier in his life, his ultimate immoral position at the end of the book simply doesn't makes sense. Hopefully it will make more sense in the much lauded movie.
Rating:
Summary: Couldn't put it down!
Review: It took me less than a week to read this book. Lehane had me wondering and guessing the whole way through. One of the best mysteries I've ever read---I highly recommend it!
Rating:
Summary: A Book that Beats the Movie
Review: Dennis Lehane's Mystic River has been made into an excellent movie by Clint Eastwood. Believe it or not, Mystic River, the book, is better than Mystic River, the movie. Try it. You'll like it!
Rating:
Summary: Astonishing!
Review: Prior to reading Mystic River I'd read the first three Kenzie-Gennaro books but none of those prepared me for this. Mystic River is nothing short of an astonishing accomplishment! This is Dennis Lehane all grown up. It's really an incredible achievement and I had to keep reminding myself that, in fact, I was reading Lehane. The characters are all wonderfully and richly drawn and the story and the working class Boston neighborhood it's in are perfect. Ultimately this is a story of consequences and virtually no one comes out unscathed. It's tragedy on a grand scale. I absolutely loved this book and can't express enough how impressed I am with this mature Dennis Lehane. I can't think of many other books that I've liked more than this one, it's truly fabulous.
Rating: 
Summary: Too Dark !
Review: 1st half too slow, much too dark of a novel. I think the movie will be much better
Rating:
Summary: A Dark, Gripping Book
Review: East Buckingham a generation ago was a place of cramped corner stores and butcher shops with blood dripping off the carcasses in the windows. There was a right and a wrong side of town, sure as if the town had been separated by tracks, and Jimmy and Dave, who lived in the Flats, were from the wrong side. One day the boys were arguing with Sean, who came from the right side, when a car pulled up and two guys got out. They clamed they were cops, asked the boys, who were in the street in front of Sean's, if they were from the Flats. Jimmy lied, pointed to Sean's, said he lived there. Sean did too. Dave couldn't lie, so the men told him to get in the car, they were going to take him home.Instead they took him to a cellar where the used and abused him until he managed to escape four days later. Dave's life was never the same, shunned by his classmates for something that hadn't been his fault, he turned bitter. Years later Dave sees Jimmy's daughter drunk and dancing in a seedy neighborhood bar. She leaves, someone follows, she is slaughtered and that night Dave comes home covered in blood. He tells his wife he'd fought and bested a mugger, but she can tell he's lying. Sean, now a cop, is investigating the case. Dave's wife goes to Jimmy and tells, as she believes her husband is a murderer. And everything points to Dave. That pent up rage, turning to revenge. Makes sense to Jimmy, and in the Flats you take care of your own, settle your own debts, right your own wrongs. You won't burn your fingers ripping through the pages in "Mystic River." You won't finish it in one night either. You'll read slow, take in every word as Lehane draws you into the heads of his characters. You won't want to miss a thing, that would be criminal. You'll probably even find yourself rereading, the writing is that good. Lehane takes us down to the dark side of human nature, then takes us even deeper, so deep you wonder if you'll be infected, thank God, it's fiction. Ken Douglas, Underpaid Writer
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