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Summary: River Flows Fast!
Review: Four hundred pages fly by in Denis Lehane's whodunit thrill ride. East Buckingham is a thinly disguised Charlestown, Massachusetts: a place where everyone knows everyone else, streets are tough, and secrets are kept. The story spans a generation and follows the tragic arc of lives damaged by mishap. Sean, Jimmy and Dave begin the tale as young boys, wrestling and roughhousing in the backyard, until something goes terribly wrong. We skip ahead a generation to find this wrong has permeated each man's existence.Despite having grown up and gone separate ways, their lives become strangely intertwined again as they are conjoined by this defining moment of their youth. Its consequences ultimately bring them together again, under the horrific circumstances (including brutal murders) of a new generation. As the central mystery unravels, the three former chums, and their closest loved ones, struggle with issues of self-doubt, trust, and loyalty. Time runs short and tragedy repeats itself. A clever, hardly obvious resolution to the mystery ensues. If the drama itself deserves four stars, Lehane's portrait of the tough, boozy, working-class side of Boston should draw a full five. One expects Charles or Matthew Stuart to pop up in a dark corner of the townie bar, or Whitey Bulger to resurface in the weeds under the Tobin Bridge. I recommend this to crime mystery fans, and particularly to Bostonians everywhere.
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Summary: I dissent -- INCLUDES PLOT SPOILER
Review: INCLUDES SPOILER -- PART OF THE ENDING IS REVEALED IN THIS RVIEW. I dissent from all the five-star reviews. I don't mean this was a bad book -- it wasn't. But a heartrending story -- an adult who was molested as a child and how that affects the hunt for the killer of a teenage girl -- was ill-served by pedestrian writing and an ending that destroyed most of the sympathy I had for Jimmy Marcus, father of the dead girl. The people I ended up caring about the most were poor Brendan and Sean Devine. Jimmy Marcus, at the end of the book, is just repellent. First he kills the wrong guy in vengeance for his daughter's murder. Then -- in spite of having got that wrong! -- he seems to decide to become a sort of Godfather to protect his neighborhood! You'd think having killed THE WRONG PERSON might give someone a few second thoughts about their actions!! For a really gut-crunching look at a father who adores his daughter but is totally unable to connect with her, see Elizabeth George's "For the Sake of Elena".
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Summary: Veritable tour de force
Review: Mystic River is a lot of things: thrilling, macabre, morose, suspenseful, invigorating, twisting, insightful, thought provoking, as well as disturbing. This eclectic mix, no matter how bizarre it may seem, makes for an incredibly engrossing novel that is seemingly impossible to put down. Mystic River explores the depths of the human psyche quite unlike any other mystery novel of late. The sometimes endearing, sometimes revolting characters are ingeniously crafted by Dennis Lehane. While you feel as if you know them and their tendencies, their mercurial impetuosity and guileful machinations will keep you guessing until the end. How far would you go to avenge a wrong? Would you keep a secret of dastardly proportions to protect your spouse or loved one? What is more important: one's conscience or one's loyalty? Can you truly right a wrong by a wrong? Mystic River provokes these and other profound quandaries. Lehane, sans facade, ensconces the reader within the spellbinding story and its prodigiously enigmatic characters. Mystic River, while it may be dark and disturbing at times, nevertheless maintains an amazing level of intensity throughout its entirety that makes it, without doubt, a truly great read.
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Summary: simply terrific; surprised other seem to disagree...
Review: 'Mystic River' is my third Dennis Lehane novel, and by a fair margin the best so far. Unlike 'Darkness, Take My Hand' and 'Prayers for Rain', 'Mystic River' is not about private investigators who use unorthodox means of capturing violent psychotics. Instead it focuses on the lives of three men, first as youngsters involved in an abduction, then as adults when the past catches up with them. This might all sound rather "Oprah-ish" but in fact it is tightly written, with terrific characterizations and a very compelling plot (yes, it involves murder). I suppose part of the reason I like 'Mystic River' is that it proves Lehane can write terrific stuff without resorting to sensationalistic scenes of violence. No gratuitous shock. 'Mystic River' reminds me very much of the works of Georges Pelecanos, except for the Boston setting (Pelecanos 'does' Washington). Bottom line: exceptionally good. Little wonder its film adaptation is a success.
Rating: 
Summary: too long
Review: this author definitely has talent; his writing is exceptional; only problem with this particular book is that it is too long; in my opinion, about 100 pages could have been taken out of this and the story would have been just as good.
Rating:
Summary: Great book until the last few chapters.
Review: This is the first book by Dennis Lehane I've read, and was very impressed with his imagery, characterization, and 'real-life' dialogue. The beginning starts out slowly, but the novel heats up before long with faster pacing. It's the end I had problems with. Seemed to me as though Lehane was under pressure to 'just finish it already!' and zipped through the resolution. This is the only book to my knowledge I've read that I truly wanted to chuck at the wall when I turned the last page. : (
Rating:
Summary: Recommended with reservations.
Review: Dennis Lehane's Mystic River takes us into the world of three former friends, Jimmy Marcus, a one time thief who now owns a small market, Sean Devine, a Massachusetts State Police Officer, And Dave Boyle, a psychologically damaged man who lives with the scars of being sexually molested as a young boy. The novel begins with the incident which influences all the later action in the story. The three friends are playing on the streets of Boston when a car drives up and one of the men in the car, posing as a police officer, orders Dave to get in the car. Dave complies and is not seen for four days. During that time he is molested by the men. Dave finally escapes and makes his way back home. He will never recover completely from his ordeal. After the kidnapping, the three friends go their separate ways and are only reunited as adults when Jimmy's nineteen year old daughter is brutally murdered. Sean is one of the investigators assigned to the case and he promises his old friend Jimmy that he will find the killer. Jimmy has ties to the criminal community in Boston and begins to conduct his own investigation with the help of some hoodlums. Dave quickly becomes a suspect in the investigation. He was one of the last people to see Sean's daughter alive at a local pub. That evening he gets home late and he is hurt and bloody. He tells his wife that he nearly beat a mugger to death. She does not believe him, but helps him dispose of his bloody clothing. As Dave's lies begin to unravel, his fragile emotional health deteriorates. We watch uncomfortably as the State Police put pressure on him to tell the truth. Unfortunately for Dave, truth and fantasy exist side by side in his mind and he has difficulty telling them apart. Lehane describes well the confusion and torment Dave feels. His confusion adds to the mystery of the story. Both Dave and Sean act consistently according to their personality and character. Not so with Jimmy. We know he was the leader of a gang of thieves when he was just a teenager and he was sent to jail for his crimes. Yet the picture Lehane draws for us is not consistent with this information. The reformed Jimmy is a loving husband and father who owns a business and appears to be a model citizen and a good man. He is neither of these things as we will discover. I was reminded of Michael Corleone of The Godfather. Evil can masquerade convincingly as normal and good. Enough hints are provided in the story to prepare us for the tragic ending which awaits us. Jimmy's actions show us his true nature. Lehane leaves open the possibility of a sequel because clearly this story is not yet over. Mystic River is a psychological murder mystery which is long on murder and mystery and short on psychology. Dennis Lehane is no Dostoyevsky and Mystic River has the Crime, but no Punishment. Additionally, Lehane has difficulty keeping the plot flowing forward. Jimmy, Sean, and Dave each have their own story and the bridges needed to connect the various plot strands are sometimes missing. Also, the pace of the story is slowed significantly as Lehane follows the lead of his three main characters. Mystic River is good enough to recommend with the noted reservations.
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Summary: Great literature disguised as a mystery
Review: If it were just the surface tale of the mystery of who killed Katie Marcus it would still be a page-turner. But Dennis Lehane accomplishes so much more. This is a profound story of loyalty, regret, love and betrayal. Lehane invests every character with a wonderful depth and complexity. The story begins with the childhood abduction of Dave, one of a trio of boys whose friendship at first glance is clearly doomed to not survive adulthood. Dave escapes from his abductors but is never the same. He grows into a haunted under-employed man, who nevertheless has a wife and child now whom he loves as best he can. Jimmy becomes a brilliant thief who reforms after he is sent to jail and loses his first wife to cancer. Sean becomes a detective with a broken marriage. When Jimmy's daughter is killed, the three are pulled together once again. All have secrets that Lehane brilliantly hints at and reveals in page-turning pieces. What caused Sean's suspension from the force? What violent secret from his past is Jimmy hiding? What exactly happened to Dave the night Jimmy's daughter Katie died and whose blood was he covered in when he came home? What is Jimmy's connection to Katie's fiance? Therein lies the surface of the tale but it's in the pained hearts of the protagonists where the tale really lies. He lays bear the contents of their souls and while it's not always pretty, it feels heart breakingly true. So many great moments in this book: Jimmy's love for his daughter, how Dave's wife handles her part in events, the relationship Sean has with his father, how his mother keeps saving newspaper clippings for his wife since she simply must be returning to him, every character struggling in his own tormented way to be the best man he can be, the tragedy of thoughts left unexpressed and then the moment passes forever. I wish I had the ability to express how wonderful this book is. This is a must-read even if you aren't a mystery fan.
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Summary: Could not put it down
Review: I purchased the book at the airport as I was preparing to board for a long flight from Manchester, NH to Portland, OR. I had seen the advertisements for the movie and, as I am a single mom of 2 young children, figured I'd stand a better chance of reading the book than getting to the theatre to see it. I started to read just as our plane took off and did not put the book down once on the flight. I finished it just as we touched down in Portland and all I can say is WOW! The suspense, even though if you are paying attention you know who did it early on, is wonderful. The complex story of human relationships will grab hold of you and you will find yourself thinking about the characters long after you close the cover, shaking your head clear. Having grown up in Boston, I did love the familiarity of place but more so the people and how they 'fit' into their environment; how they were universal and yet so Dorchester specific .... how their emotions were so multi-layered and played off their surroundings, off each other, in a very real way. I wanted more ... I wanted to know what happened after the parade, to Camille, to Jimmy, to the neighborhood .... and I guess that is what makes a story a good read - feeling fulfilled at it's conclusion but yet ready for another tale, another aspect of the lives of these people. I think you will enjoy reading this book ... and I hope the movie is as good.
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Summary: A metamorphosis of a neighborhood & its denizens
Review: Dennis Lehane in an extremely effective manner creates a gritty and emotional account of the events surrounding three boys growing up in a working class suburban Boston neighborhood. Two of the boys Sean Devine and Jimmy Marcus become friendly as a result of a friendship between their fathers who work together. Sean and his family live in the more affluent part of the neighborhood called "The Point", whereas Jimmy's family live in the seedier area called "The Flats". The area was built around a penitentiary which was since been torn down. The Flats represented the section in which the families of the prisoners lived, the Point where the guards and prison officials lived. The third boy in this group was Dave Boyle, who was a hanger on, a fifth wheel who came from a fatherless home with a bizarre and doting mother in the Flats. Sean, who attended a private school was a parents dream, handsome, staid and a good student. Jimmy was a larcenous daredevil always coaxing Sean into dangerous situations. One day the three boys were playing in the street when a car containing two guys posing as cops abducted Dave. Although missing for four days and ultimately escaping, he had been molested creating a terrible psychological impact. We fast forward 25 years. Sean is now a decorated Massachusetts state trooper separated from his wife. Jimmy, an former reknowned cat burglar who ran his own crew at the age of 17 now is a successful owner of a local coffee shop. While serving a two year stint in prison his wife tragically died from skin cancer leaving him to rear a young daughter Katie. He remarried a loving wife Annabeth, a sister of a local crime family and has two more daughters. Dave, a former high school baseball hero, is married with a young son. Although employed in a menial job, he has managed to cobble together a meaningful life while trying to harness the inner demons resulting from his horrible childhood experience. Having drifted apart in that 25 year span, their lives get thrust back together when Jimmy's daughter Katie is found murdered in a local park. That same evening Dave returns home from a night of drinking covered in blood. Sean naturally gets assigned with his partner to investigate the case. What results is a riveting and moody expose of the effects that environmental factors have in the shaping of people's lives. Lehane does an excellent job in his creation of a worthy psychological thriller
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