Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant and Frustrating
Review: This whole story deserves a five star rating but for the ending. I guess in some peoples' opinions that is where the real brilliance lies, but to people like myself I don't like untidy endings. I could not put the book down, no doubt about it. I was consumed by it, just like all his novels. When I reached the last page I had to reread it because I could not believe it. I felt cheated somehow because I could not understand it. Who am I fooling? I was just plain angry. I wanted a different ending. Now, looking back, I realize that perhaps I was wrong. I am still thinking about this book that I read almost 4 months ago! How many books stay with us like that? It may be a little like the "Twilight Zone" but this book makes an impression, and is not that a sign of a great novel?
Rating: 
Summary: I'm not crazy about his book, or am I?
Review: This was my first time with a Dennis Lehane novel, and it won't be the last. Shutter Island is a page turner from the protaganist's arrival on Shutter Island, site of an Alcatraz/ Maclean Hospital style fortress, to the hairy, twisted ending that follows some three hundred and thirty pages later. Heroic federal marshals, nefarious psychiatric ward surgeons, and a host of colorful inmates at the asylum decorate this mystery that occurs on a small spit of land at the far end of Boston Harbor, and takes place over four days in 1954. Bostonians will recognize references to the Cocoanut Grove fire, Deer Island pollution, and to nearby locales of Attleboro, Hull and Nantasket Beach.Whereas 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' describes a similar era of mental institutions and delves much more deeply into comic/tragic experience of the inmates, Shutter Island is straight ahead detective work with a psychological twist. The pages will rush by as you race ahead with the federal marshall and his partner while they hurry toward solving the mysterious secrets of Shutter Island. I recommend this as a great weekend read...oops, they're coming to take me away! They're coming to take me away. Have to go.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and powerful
Review: Federal Marshal Teddy Daniels arrives at Shutter Island looking for proof of a terrible conspiracy--he has evidence that the doctors at the Island's mental institution are engaging in experiments similar to those undertaken by the Nazis. Together with his partner, Chuck Aule, Teddy begins by investigating an impossible escape. Although the doctors seem compassionate, Teddy knows that something isn't right. And when he begins feeling physical symptoms, he suspects that he will not be allowed off the island again. Yet, the escaped woman seems to be sending him messages in code, messages that might reveal what he needs to escape and to reclaim his own life. Author Dennis Lehane writes a compelling suspense novel. War hero Teddy Daniels is a fascinating character, haunted by the death of his wife and the man who killed her--a man he knows to be on the island. He soon learns that, with drugs, the boundary between sanity and insanity is not always clear--and may be controlled by others. SHUTTER ISLAND is a fascinating examination of a man. Daniels's questions about sanity, about government research, and about the line between justice and revenge are fundamental issues both for the character and for everyone, adding depth to the story. Lehane's strong writing propells the reader through the story just as Daniels is propelled from one danger to the next. The novel is a quick read, but it is one of those stories that sticks with you, repaints your memories--and the way you see the world. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Good but definitely not "shocking"
Review: Before this book, I read two of Dennis Lehane's previous books, "A Drink Before the War" (very disappointing) and "Mystic River" (good, but not great). Based upon some reviews, I anticipated liking this book much more than the previous two. I was right. I liked "Shutter Island" much more than "Mystic River" but I gave them both the same scores (4 out of 5). The only thing that kept "Shutter Island" from garnering a 5 was that I figured out the major "mystery" halfway through the book. Frankly, I'm surprised that not too many other people seem to have caught onto what was happening. To me, it was quite obvious. Regardless, knowing the major "twist" didn't prevent me from enjoying the book. Although it won't have you on the edge of your seat desperately anticipating each turn of the page, it's a fairly fast read and an enjoyable one. Out of the three Lehane novels I've read thus far, this is easily his best one in my opinion (though it's quite different in style from the previous two I've read). Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: The Inmates Aren't the Only Crazies in the Asylum
Review: During hurricane season in 1954 U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels, a war-weary widower, and his partner go to Shutter Island to search for an escaped prisoner, child-killer Rachel Solando. The facility is filled with mad folks and seemingly evil psychiatrists and no one can throw any light on how Solando escaped from her locked room. Though Teddy is supposedly trying to find Solando, he has two additional secret missions. One, he's searching for the arsonist who took his wife's life. The killer is rumored to be an inmate on the island, but no one has heard of him. And two, he is doing intelligence-gathering for a U.S. Senator about the rumors of secret experimental treatments being funded by the House Un-American Activities Committee. That the investigation is taking place amid complete insanity we know from the get go. But the extent of the craziness is only gradually made clear, and Teddy is forced more than once to take stock of his own sanity. By the end, he'll find himself very much alone. SHUTTER ISLAND has plenty of chills, but the real pleasure is in its persistent tightening of the vise on Teddy and on how the lines between the sane and the insane begin to blur. And don't forget, it's hurricane season and one is on the way. Jeremiah McCain
Rating:
Summary: Straightforward investigative mystery
Review: This book is a major departure from Lehane's Mystic River, which was so studded with metaphorical allusions that it became not a mystery, but instead a literary novel. I enjoyed the prose, but at times the excessive description almost got in the way of the story.
I liked both Shutter Island and Mystic River, but a general mystery reader will probably prefer this one. It is a straightforward tale of investigation by the protagonist, with internal conflict and flashbacks thrown in. The story builds well, although predictably, with the stakes increasing constantly.
I was expecting more of a shocking climax at the end, but I don't see what the big deal some readers are making about the ending. I thought it was obvious what happened. I also think that it completed the book well and wasn't a "disaster" at all.
It depends on what you are looking for, but to me this was an engaging and satisfying mystery read. It's nice to see an author with a large enough reach to write in different styles and be successful at all of them.
Rating: 
Summary: Quite dissapointed
Review: I had never read a Dennis Lehane book until this one. I saw Mystic River, and thinking the book was probably much better than the film, I went to the bookstore to look it up. I saw this new novel there and decided to give it a try. I found the book to be a very pedestrian "page turner." I didn't believe the dialogue or the situations. It seemed to be predictably confusing, and all the way to the end I was hoping I wouldn't get the anticipated "Shocking twist ending." It's a gimmick that's overused. And in fact, something similar was written by William Peter Blatty; "Twinkle Twinkle Killer Kane." Which he made into the film "The 9th Configuration."
It felt like the author took the easy way out to conclude the book, instead of figuring out a way to make all the convoluted goings on pay off in a less predictable way.
I won't judge the rest of Lehane's work based on this one, but I wish I had read something else of his first.
Rating:
Summary: Reality or Dream?
Review: Small Shutter Island is a facility for the violent criminal insane. No escape from the island possible, and no release granted. Rachel Solando, one of the inmates, has escaped from the dormitory. US marshals Teddy Daniels and Chuck Aule are sent to find her, The marshal's work is hampered by the administrator, Dr. Cawley, and head nurse Marino. Is there something strange afoot? Maybe even illegal? Rumors of some treatments line up with the experiments the Nazis did in Germany. Are patients tortured? Marshal Teddy has his own health problems. He gets violent migraines and suffers from recurring nightmares about his wife Dolores and her death two years before. His dreams get more frequent and begin to include episodes of his work in the mental facility. Dream and reality begin to blend. Is any of his work real? Is it all a dream? One gigantic nightmare? Is he really a visiting marshal, or is he perhaps a schizophrenic patient with delusions? Lehane knows how to write this book and to keep the reader guessing. It is quite a story.
Rating:
Summary: Predictable but engaging
Review: Just finished reading my first Dennis Lehane novel and will now defintely hunt down Mystic River et al. As a self confessed mystery buff (adore Pelecanos / Mankell/ Dibdin / Connelly)I found the quality of writing and plot line very satisfying in this novel but as per a few others here guessed the 'real' situation about a third of the way in. I dont care about that as its not the ending I read the book for but how the author gets me there, and Mr Lehane has a delicate yet powerful voice that held me through the night. The setting is disturbing and the final outcome convincing and affecting. I am still thinking back over the troubled life of Teddy Daniels, and his problems on reflection ring true - and truely horrific. A quick and high quality read from a my new favourite author.
Rating:
Summary: HE'S BACK!
Review: What an excellent read this was. I had almost given up on Lehane after Mystic River, which I found HORRID. But, with Shutter Island, he proves just how wonderful a writer he is. The end is an absolute GAS!! You will definitely feel duped. Hey, Dennis, are you EVER going to bring back Kenzie and Gennaro? I'm still wondering what happened to Bubba. . .and, although Shutter Island is pretty close to a modern masterpiece, I do miss the fun of the Kenzie/Gennaro series. Man, this guy can write.
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