Rating: 
Summary: Perfect twist
Review: For the first two thirds, this is a way above average suspense mystery. Then there's a twist that you won't see coming, but it's so perfect you feel like you should have. Finally, when you're getting used to looking at everything in a new way, there's a last page ending that's heartbreaking, but also just right. Robert Cormier's "I Am the Cheese" is the only time I've seen something like this pulled off. Reading it the second time through, knowing what's coming, should be fascinating. Even without all this brilliant plotting, the characterizations are enough to keep you interested. Also, I highly recommend the booktape version published by HarperCollins.
Rating: 
Summary: who is to know
Review: Having read the majority of D. L's books, this one did not seem to fit into any of his previous categories. It was excellent, albiet, stupefying. Upon finishing the novel, it still isn't clear what has actually happened. It's rather Kafkaesque. Bless good old Teddy. He's the only one who does his best to make sense of an extemely contrived and impossible situation.
Rating:
Summary: Real Pager-Turner
Review: If you start Shutter Island, be prepared to spend sleepless nights until you are finished. Once I reached the halfway mark, I couldn't devour the pages fast enough. And the ending is absolutely mind-blowing. A great, fun summer read.
Rating:
Summary: Another great book by LeHane!
Review: I read Prayers for Rain and really enjoyed it; this book is even better! LeHane is a master at writing dialogue. This book has so much punch and is a very gripping, compelling read. LeHane plays head games with you up until the end where you feel as crazy as the patients at Shutter Island! I had a great time reading it, hopefully it will be made into a movie. For some reason I see Tom Cruise in the role of Teddy Daniels....
Rating:
Summary: Dennis Lehane is an author who never disappoints his reader!
Review: Shutter Island, the latest from Lehane is worthy of all the praise it receives & if you are looking for a page-turning read that keeps you guessing right up until the head-scratching last page, this one is for you! I highly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing, cop-out ending
Review: The first 3/4 or more of this book were very good. I was quite engrossed. The ending is exceedingly weak -- to the point that I feel cheated. Without revealing the nature of the ending, let's just say that it made the entire novel up that point completely meaningless. I think Lehane took the easy way out.
Rating:
Summary: A tale to convolute the convolutions in your brain
Review: Dennis Lehane's latest is a can't-put-it-down fast read. It digs below the surface even moreso than the author's other books. You may end up spending more time thinking about the story than reading it.Parts have a surreal or impressionistic (on the ferry taking them to Shutter Island) feel to them. I can't put my finger on it, but, to my mind, this aspect of the book is not as strong as it could've been; I sense (maybe incorrectly) that the author pulled back some. I like what he was going for and wanted more! The last part of the story gets into heavy-duty paranoia, delusion, dangerous drug experimentation on unsuspecting victims, betrayal and all kinds of fun 1950s stuff. Apparently, Mr. Lehane was inspired by Lord Byron's THE PRISONER OF CHILLON, of which a line is quoted. Motifs and concepts in SHUTTER ISLAND are found in or perhaps mushroomed from Byron's poem: Where do you draw the line between the imprisoned and the free; how much of freedom and imprisonment is a state of mind; how much do dreams blend into 'reality'; can the dead warn us of danger; is freedom any less important to animals (the rats! the rats!); can you be free to roam an island -- as, say, an orderly or nurse -- and still be imprisoned? If you like to have every detail spelled out and every question clearly answered, this book might not be for you. If you don't mind an author leaving his readers mysteries to ponder and puzzle over, grab it! After you've read the book, re-read the first section; it'll take on a whole new meaning. I believe it also gives a clue to the ending (which, by the way, is a total zinger!).
Rating: 
Summary: Trying on Stephen King's shoes.....
Review: I have read all of Mr. Lehane's books, and all demonstrate that he is a terrific writer, capable of pulling you in with well-developed characters, great imagery, and page-turning plots. Unfortunately, he seems in this novel to be trying out a different genre, something more from the Thomas Harris or Stephen King line. That's not a "bad" thing, but it is not only entirely unnecessary but, in this case, unsuccessful. Mr. Lehane throws in everything but the kitchen sink - a 150 mph hurricane, a mental institution worthy of Dr. Channard, explosions, swarms of rats, nightmares, migraines, hallucinations: a veritable "Castle of Otranto". The whole book turns into one big "booga booga booga", without any REAL tension, scares, or surprises. The ending is entirely predictable - we've been there before in ANY number of similar novels, and therefore I was forced to ask, "Just WHAT is this all about? WHY did he write THIS?" A very minor nit to pick: at one point, the protagonist is escorted into a large sitting room where a phonograph is playing music with piano and strings. The music sets a mood and triggers a flashback as a plot device. When questioned, a doctor volunteers that the music is by Mahler. I don't believe Mahler ever wrote anything for piano and strings, and if he did, it is not only REALLY obscure but it undoubtedly wouldn't be "tinkling". Poor research, pretension, or laziness? Your call, but that small scene, to me, was indicative of an author not at the peak of their form and probably coasting a bit. I still look forward to Mr. Lehane's next novel, but I hope that he will go back to what he does best, rather than poach other authors' turf.
Rating:
Summary: Will make a better movie
Review: With Dennis Lehane's excellent Mystic River soon to be a major motion picture, the author obviously got giddy with the big paycheck and wrote this "novel" as more of a movie treatment than anything else. As a book, it's just "okay." The ending leaves you thinking for a few minutes anyway -- but thinking more about who's going to play who in the movie. Appropriately cast, the movie will be a surprise-ending big hit, on the lines of "Presumed Innocent." I see Matthew McConaughey as the lead and, well, I don't know who else in supporting roles because, due to a lack of interest, I quit thinking about after a few minutes and went looking for a good book. In any case, this book apparently marks the end of a decent novelist and the beginning of a movie plotmaker. I won't look forward to the next one from Lehane.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting reviews for this book.
Review: Readers seem to go immediately to one of the two extremes - they
either really LIKE it or really DISLIKE it. I bought the book
because the plot synopsis sounded intriguing to me, and I thoroughly
enjoyed it. The "dark and stormy night" approach worked for
me in this case, and I felt myself drawn to finishing the story and
finding out what happened to everyone. Bits and pieces of the
story seemed to push off each other in a strange and weird way
until everything came together in the end.
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