Rating: 
Summary: Agatha Christie meets Cuckoos Nest
Review: The thing about Dennis Lehane is that he had it made. Those two guys, Patrick and Angie, were fighting crime, falling in love, falling out of love, fighting crime, and it could have gone on forever (as many of the "format" authors do). But what separates Lehane from the rest of the pack is his unwillingness to settle for the easy way.He wrote "Mystic River," which distanced himself from many, and now follows that up with "Shutter Island." Shutter Island . . . . imagine a mystery set in the venue of Ken Kesey's Cuckoo's Nest? What is real and what is memorex? Who is lying, who isn't? When U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels goes out to Shutter Island off of Boston Harbor to investigate the disappearance of a patient, Rachel Soldano, we're just not sure what we're in for. Both him and his partner, Chuck Aule, are there to resolve the Rachel Soldano case. But reluctantly, the close mouthed Teddy acknowledges that there is another issue. There's a man incarcerated (treated?) there that was an arsonist and set fire to Teddy's apartment, killing his wife. He's lived with the hatred, remorse, despair, rage and sadness for several years. What he plans to do is never resolved in his partner's mind. But murdering him isn't out of the question. When things add up and then don't add up, the reader is hanging together with Lehane but not sure we know where he's taking us. That's an infrequent pleasure, a brilliant novelist getting us to the last 20 pages with NO idea of what's going to happen. The ending will knock your socks off.
Rating: 
Summary: Could've been great.....
Review: "Shutter Island" was a lot of fun - until I could see where it was going about 2/3's through...and even then I thought that Lehane was going to pull a final-final twist, something fantastic to reward the reader. But no!!! Extremely unsatisfactory ending. I suppose some readers may think it's "brilliant" or "mind-blowing" but to others like me it was one big "Oh brother...". Hey Dennis - how about putting 2 endings onto the paperback version? The mediocre one you already wrote, and then a brilliant double-flip-flop that we fans know you're capable of!!! C'mon, you can do it!
Rating:
Summary: Best "Locked Room" Mystery I Have Read
Review: I ususally do not write reviews, not because I do not like the books I read, but because I don't like to give a lot away, as
I have seen some do.
BUT........for those of you who like the old "locked room" mysteries, this is the best.
Rating:
Summary: Just read the book!
Review: i don't know where to start. I am a faithful Lehane devotee and i must admit that this book was such a stretch for him as a writer that it would have been either a total disaster or a work of genius. I am glad to announce that it was definately the latter!! What an ending! I can't really say that i got it completely but Lehane certainly managed to keep me up all night wondering how he managed to fool me so easily! I can't recommend this book highly enough!
Rating:
Summary: Go For A Ride!!
Review: Take a little trip this summer across Boston Harbor to Ashecliffe Hospital. It's a trip you will find very difficult to forget. An absolutely stunning (and quite unpredictable) ending will leave you reeling.
Rating:
Summary: WOW is right!
Review: Terrific, pages turn themselves. Story of US marshall and partner traveling to Shutter Island to investigate patient gone missing. This DEFINITELY DOES NOT turn out to be your average investigation.....
Rating:
Summary: Shutter Island
Review: What an excellent read, I read Mystic River, my first Lehane and then Drink Before War, but, this was definitely the best, I mean the best!!!!! My husband was talking to me and toward the end, I said, hold on, I got to read! I have never been so intrigued by the ending! Yes, this needs to be a great movie! Some 40ish actor to play the role, and what a climactic ending! Great going author! clap hands!
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as thought it would be...
Review: After reading a number of good reviews, including the ones on here, I picked it up and read it today (it's a very easy read). While it was entertaining, I did find it to be quite predictable and an amalgamation of other stories of this type. It's understandable the characters were not developed too well because of the twist in the story and too much emphasis might have given the game away but I found the book to lack depth in all descriptive areas from locations, characters and the dream sequences. I don't mean to discredit the author as I have not read any of his other books but I found Shutter Island to be a very trashy piece of pulp and having just finished reading Mike Davis' "City Of Quartz" and John Krakauers' "Under The Banner Of Heaven" I found this to be quite a step down in quality... Oh well, that's just my opinion! If you want a quick and easy pulpy thriller I guess this would rank along with the best Dean Koontz and Stephen King but if you're looking for some depth, I'd move on.
Rating:
Summary: I don't even like mystery novels and this was good!!
Review: I'll be brief: a good read to lay down with before you go to bed. You'll forget about your day and enjoy what comes next. Pick it up - I don't even like mystery novels and couldnt put this down.
Rating:
Summary: The Sixth Sense Effect
Review: The only other Lehane I've read so far is Mystic River, which I loved in every possible way. And so with much anticipation, I stepped into Shutter Island. And was relieved. Here was Lehane again, writing about people I recognize, writing a novel full of mystery, psychology, and violence. I loved this book -- until I got almost to the end. At that point (the "twist"), it did a "Sixth Sense" on me (or perhaps "A Beautiful Mind" is more accurate) and I was reeling. All that intrigue, all that mystery, just gone. Lehane led me to love Teddy's world too much -- and then he took it all away from me. I know it was by design, but I can't help what I feel -- that I was cheated, taken for a ride. The book makes perfect sense, no doubt about it -- but for me, on an emotional level, Shutter Island failed.
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