sevenspiders - reviewed on 2/9/2009 + 73 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

From Dennis Lehane comes an unusual and disturbing story, more of a psychological thriller than Lehane's typical mysteries. Shutter Island is the story of U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels and his new partner, Chuck. The two are sent to a maximum security asylum for the most violent patients on a remote island to recapture a missing patient. As it becomes clear that the patient could not have escaped without inside help, and no one on the island will give a straight answer, the mystery is far more complicated than either expected.

When Chuck disappears and Daniels begins to uncover secrets darker than anything he imagined, it seems that the two may never leave the island- and may never have been meant to.

Lehane weaves plot, character and atmosphere together seamlessly. He creates the spooky, isolated atmosphere of the island so well you can see it when you close your eyes. The lead characters are sympathetic and engaging, the supplementary ones shifty and mysterious. And the plot is peppered with the kind of clues that you see only in retrospect. Conversations and events that you never thought would be significant become glaringly obvious and reasonable once all the mystery is revealed. And the mystery itself is haunting, unsettling and unforgettable.

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