Shutter Island Mass Market Paperback – June 28, 2011

I saw the movie a while back but wanted to read the book. Even after seeing the movie it was worth the time. Great book and of course can go a lot deeper into the characters than a movie can.

Will keep you on the edge of your seat. This book will keep bending your mind till the end. So many twists.

I have to start by saying I never watched the movie. Embarrassing enough I never heard of it so, the story was new to me. I was NOT expecting that ending to happen. It was beautifully written and it had a way to keep you wanting to read even when you couldn’t any longer. The only thing I disliked was the authors choice of words in a chapter. I found it to be insensitive and not necessary to tell the story. I did appreciate how the author tied everything together so that ot answered most of the questions you’d have on the plot.

I watched the movie not long before reading the book and still found the book thrilling. The author manages a clever reveal to the mystery in the story along with well-placed plot twists. He created a welcoming atmosphere and this is a great book to read during a storm!

Shutter Island is the kind of scary that creeps up, slowly, taking its time, compounding the menace. Marshall Teddy Daniels and his new partner Chuck Aule come to Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane in 1954 to find an escaped murderess, Rachel Solando.There are varying levels of patients at the hospital, the worst of them in Ward C. While conducting their search, unaided by top hospital personnel, Teddy mentions the loss of his wife, who died in a fire two years earlier. The arsonist responsible for that fire is currently held somewhere in the facilities, possibly in Ward C. Chuck expresses his concern that Teddy hasn't told him everything about this visit, his possible desire to seek out and confront the arsonist, Andrew Laeddis. Add to the mix a hurricane bearing down upon the island and no outside communications and the stage is set. Then a patient slips Teddy a note that says, "run"...All this is merely window dressing, the bare bones plot. The truth of this terrifying novel is purely psychological and devastating. For this reader, visions of Jacob's Ladder and Carrion Comfort loom, novels equally as frightening in this particular, and exclusive, genre.Lehane is the master and the characters are his puppets, beautifully manipulated through the halls of an institution where mental patients run amok, friends become foes and nothing is what it seems. In a heady mix of possibilities, hallucinogens, Nazi surgical experiments, torture, death and the ready tricks of a damaged mind, Lehane navigates through a mélange of terror that uncovers the most basic of human fears. Teddy Daniels comes face to face with his own demons, realizing too late that he ignored the warnings all along the way. Quickly infected with Teddy's paranoia, the reader is helpless as the intrepid Marshall forges ahead, unstoppable.This is not a story for the faint of heart, but Shutter Island is unquestionably a must read. Just don't make the mistake of thinking you've figured it out...Luan Gaines/2003.

Oh my god. This book screwed with my head so hard.A friend of mine sent an explosion of all-caps texts when she finished and implored me to read this book, so I dubiously bought it on Kindle. It sat there for a while until I was on a trip with not much to do, so I started reading Shutter Island. Unintelligently, I started at 10 pm and therefore was up till 1 in the morning, because I kept telling myself I would stop after the next chapter and that just...wasn't...going...to...happen. About 70% of the way through the book--disappearances and psycho weather and government conspiracies and everything great--I thought it was almost at a resolution. There'd probably be a last tense scene, and then Teddy, the main character, would go expose all the conspiracies and torture experiments or whatnot, and it would end like that.No.No, instead Teddy becomes the most unreliable narrator I've ever come across, and I got more and more tense and freaked out, which ended with me up at 1 am, having just finished the book and lying there, heart hammering, thinking WTF.There are a lot of different ways to interpret the ending, and a lot of reason to want to yell at the author "how the hell can you just drop us here and leave it like this? what kind of literary monster are you??" I won't go into spoilers here. But I've got to say, especially from someone who doesn't read a whole lot of mysteries or psychological books (unless they're political nonfiction), this is one of the most gripping and memorable and thought-provoking and downright alarming books I've read possibly ever. The writing was also not skimped on--it wasn't dry or weak, but actually quite beautiful in places. (I have to say that since it was set in the 1950s, there seemed to be a little racism in some of the characters' mindsets or interactions or the way people were described...I think this may have been intentional, to give historical tone or whatnot, but it was a bit uncomfortable at times, if you're the type to be bothered by that sort of subtle non-PC-ness.)But altogether, I would give this book as many stars as I can.

Started it Thursday night and finished it Saturday morning, fast read. The twists and turns grab you. I said ha a couple of times, never saw that coming. This ending is rather spectacular. Love a good Thriller.

'Shutter Island' is gripping & holds your attention from the start. Its very confused main character, Teddy, is fascinating while his companion, Chuck, appears to perform the role of Tonto. Both inmates & staff on Shutter Island are just weird & its geography somewhat confusing.However, at the end I felt CHEATED by the twist and - even worse - confused. Without giving the game away, I hope, here's why.The Prologue is told by Dr. Shehan, remembering the island, its secure hospital for the criminally insane and, therefore, a Deputy-Marshal called EDWARD DANIELS (aka Teddy)who cme there in 1954. Chapter 1 starts as a narrator's view of Teddy's childhood and then slips into things as they appeared to Teddy. So the perspective has changed but throughout the book it slips between Teddy and an external narrator (presumably Dr.Shehan).Teddy's fellow-deputy, Charles Aule (aka Chuck), is somewhat in awe of Teddy & certainly more ignorant of how to proceed. Teddy is troubled by dreams of a dead wife (DOLORES CHANAL), convinced she was killed by an arsonist, ANDREW LAEDIS. The deputies are to there to investigate the escape of a patient /prisoner,RACHEL SOLANDO, who had murdered her 3 children. However, it becomes clear that Teddy believes Laedis is a patient / prisoner there & aims to kill him.The deputies find the staff generally uncooperative & the patients uncommunicative. The deputies are forced into a car-&-mouse game with the institute's Principal, Dr. Cawley, & the creepily enigmatic, Dr. Jeremiah NaehringThe whole book is littered with codes, visions, false starts & growing unease that the surroundings are definitely awry. If you can see the link between the names in CAPITALS you may be on the wayy of solving the mystery of Shutter Island - or yhou may not.

I watched the film years ago not realising that it was a book originally. When I rewatched the film recently I thought it would be fun to compare the two. The movie seems to follow the book quite faithfully - some of the script is actually word for word the same. It's quite well written - it probably would have been better to first read the book and then watch the film - if you still had that choice I would recommend it in that order. The book has some details and insights not covered in the film adaptation, but I think both are great in their own right. I found the book a little bit difficult to follow in places but that could be just me - it's quite slow moving and broody so it may not be to everyone's taste. Even though I know what's coming at the end it's still an enjoyable read and makes me notice details I may have otherwise missed.

Really great story and I loved the book but the quality of the print is not really superb. Many pages sticked together and I had to gently tear them apart which still left annoying marks where the paper is ripped. But I think the book is still one of the best looking one’s I have, the format is pretty unique being quite stretched.

Two cops from Boston head over to a remote island far from the mainland. They're there to investigate a case as a patient from the asylum on that island has gone missing. It's supposed to be a top security asylum for the most dangerous patients and there's no way off the island apart from the ferry so where is she? There's also nowhere to hide as the rocky coastline will see to that.The cops continue to lead a complex investigation and you just know something is going on. The patients tell them one thing and the guards another. From the start, you know this is going to be weird. The asylum, the island, the fact that someone is missing, the fact that one cop has a personal reason to be on this case....The build up, the sense of foreboding and that elusive voice whispering in your ear as you read. What can you believe and what can't you? The ending is very clever. I read back to see if I'd spotted the clues. It's a treat of a reveal and it's a great journey getting there.Not sure if I would ever want to go there for a booktrail though so thank goodness this island is fictional (although it is inspired by a visit the author did once).