Rating: 
Summary: A Story For Reflection
Review: The gamble Dennis Lehane took when he wrote this novel without his successful detective pair Angela Gennaro and Patrick Kenzie has paid off. Mystic River, a crime story that covers the themes of loss, revenge and destiny tells about a young boy abducted in front of his two friends, his release four days later, and the effect on all three as they interact in an emotional, sorrowful and brutal adult world 25 years later.The excellence of this story is found in the creative way Lehane interests us in all three main characters as their lives intersect. Each have qualities and flaws we've seen before, but they are put into a situation that most only have nightmares about. We are able to see how the abuse of the young stays with them into adulthood. In some instances the results of that abuse has tragic results. Lehane is a pro and holds a mirror for us to see the underbelly of human behavior. This is highly recommended for anyone looking for a crime novel with a story that causes reflection.
Rating: 
Summary: What a disappointment.
Review: I eagerly waited for my chance to take this book out of the library. I loved Mr. Lehane's previous books. I didn't like this book. I enjoyed the first 50 or so pages, and thought the book was going somewhere I wanted to go. I thought the idea of exploring the way in which a tragedy in childhood can effect the lives of the children involved over the course of their lives was intriguing. However, somewhere along the line the story lost interest for me, the writing began to become repetitive and the 3 main characters were never fleshed out into real people. The book became weaker more contrived as it plodded to the conclusion. The ending seemed as if it had been planned ahead and the middle of the story written to fit it. Or, perhaps Mr. Lehane couldn't figure out where he wanted the story to go, and threw in a twist for effect, without considering the continuation of the story line. I had a hard time finishing the book and started to skim pages. What a disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Kids to adults...love it!
Review: My love for a child's life related to adult life goes way back to the early 80's. I was intrigued by Thomas Thompson's "Celebrity" and later Stephen King's "It". There have been others. Somehow those childhood friendships came back to haunt them in another time and place. It was with this fascination that I read "Mystic River." Seering memories plague the three main characters, young boys growing up. When their lives mesh 25 years later, tragedy has struck. Dennis Lehane has become one of my favorite authors. I could not put this book down...sorry, so cliche. However, when I asked my dad how he was liking the book, he said, "I wish it wouldn't end." That's just how I felt while reading it. Then you have to try to find something that is just as enticing. I wish Lehane could come out with a new book every week... then my reading pleasure would be complete.
Rating:
Summary: Lehane does not disappoint
Review: Although "Mystic River" lacks some of the intensity of the Patrick Kenzie/Angie Gennaro series, I was thoroughly involved in this novel. Dennis Lehane is the consummate storyteller, and "Mystic River" definitely lives up to Lehane's fine standard. About halfway through the book, I could see where it was leading, but yet I was torn--while I wanted to reach its conclusion to see my suspicions confirmed, half the fun is getting there and I hated for this book to end. Thanks, Dennis, for another winner!
Rating:
Summary: What's the point?
Review: I read at least one book a week. It's been a long time since I didn't read a book through to the end, that is, till I picked up Mystic River. I couldn't get past page 70. Wish I could return this book and get my money back.
Rating:
Summary: Not a mystery, really, but something better
Review: This is by far Lehane's best book. It is a textbook example of a character driven story; even minor characters are fleshed out better than the protagonist of a John Grisham novel. One thing that should be said is that "Mystic River" is much more of a "moral dilemma" book than a straight out mystery, which is good, because I figured it out about half way through. If you're looking for a whodunnit, you may be better off looking elsewhere. But if you want character development, excellent writing that keeps you involved and just a ... great story told without a false note in 400 pages, this is the one.
Rating:
Summary: Warning! Addictive reading!
Review: This book is so good I'm having withdrawl symptons since I finished reading it. Yes, it may sound trite, but I just did not want the book to end. This read has everything. And the what makes it so incredible is the author's talent for bringing it all together in a style rarely if ever seen before. Reading Mystic River is like watching a good magic trick. How did the magician do that? In this case, it's how did the writer do that? Other reviews will give you a fairly good idea of the story line, but nothing I could add could do justice to Lehane's masterful and inimitable crafting of this marvelous, poignant and haunting story of three men and those who love them.
Rating: 
Summary: Stronger Medicine Than You've Come to Expect
Review: I read my first Lehane "Patrick & Angie" novel just a few weeks ago, and, while it was fun, it reminded me of Crais' Elvis Cole books -- light on character development, more tricky than intricate in its construction and a little too Rockford Files to suit me (although I loved the Rockford Files). I really prefer Elroy and Burke. They're so much better at character, mood and letting a story unfold. Still, I went right out and bought all Lehane's books, including his newest, Mystic River. Mystic River is definitely a cut above what the author has written before (at least above Sacred and A Drink Before the War). The characters are still pretty thin, which makes the motives and actions uncertain and inconsistent, but the emotions are vividly, beautifully conveyed. I don't think I have ever read more palpable descriptions of the emotion of parental grief at the loss of a child. And that emotion powers the book forward, making it very difficult to put down. I recommend the book without hesitation. Within the first few pages, you are actually surprised by a certain sense of relief that you're not watching Patrick and Angie do their little dance.
Rating:
Summary: this one came out of his bottom drawer...
Review: I grew up in the Boston area and have lived in Dorchester, Southie, Brighton and Roslindale. Okay, big deal, but I'm just stupefied by the hype about Lehane's "ear for Boston dialogue." The Kenzie novels are fun, don't get me wrong. But gimme a break! His characters are cartoons of the kind of people you do meet in Boston. His plots are movie-of-the-week derivatives--but the books are fun because of Kenzie's style and his relationship with Angie. That's entirely missing from Mystic River, a plot idea that Stephen King probably dismissed just before he decided to go with the one that became Stand by Me. It seems to bother a number of readers that the main characters here are white-trash low-lifes. Not me. Jimmy could have been unforgettable, but what kills this book is the over-writing: this is a 150-page novel dragged out to almost 400 pages. By page 200, I already knew what was coming. And talk about purple prose! How many different ways can we be browbeaten with metaphors about the "pain" in Jimmy's face? And then the stupid baseball glove, a metaphor for...well, we're never exactly told because (mercifully) Lehane dumps it about two-thirds of the way into this paper-weight and lets it hang, like a lot of the other loose ends. Lehane has said he's going to write another story about the (non) world of Buckingham...Why? I'm still trying to figure out why he couldn't have simply set Mystic River in a town that's, you know, along the Mystic River? Charlestown, Somerville, or a neighborhood in Chelsea?
Rating:
Summary: A New Level of Excellence
Review: Dennis Lehane is no longer "up and coming." He has arrived as a major novelist. "Mystic River" is not only a fine example of the Mystery & Thriller genre, it is a true stand-alone that can be judged on its literary merits. I welcomed a Lehane book without Kenzie-Generro. As much as I enjoyed the previous books, they were stylized mysteries. There are many good mystery writers out there who have the private detective with a love interest set in an individualistic locale. The setup is almost a cliché. Mystic River breaks new ground, and the reader has no familiar signposts to mark the territory. Three boys, not so much friends as accidental acquaintances, are threatened with abduction by two phony "policemen." One lives in the right place, one is silent and guarded by nature, and one tells the truth and is taken away by the molesters. Four days later, the abducted child returns from a horror he never reveals. The event was the collision the three could never quite escape. Twenty-five year pass and their lives again collide with the murder of one of the boy's daughter. Sean, who lived in the "right" place, is a state policeman; Jimmy, silent and guarded, is the father, and a reformed ex-con; Dave, the abducted child, has a marginal job, a son and is related by marriage to Jimmy. The murder has a profound effect on the three men, as if before they had been dormant chessmen. The chess master arrived, animated them and played the game and them to a draw. Who murdered Katie Marcus? All of them and none of them. You will see for yourself.
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