Staff Reviews & Reader’s Guides
Recent Reviews:
Message form an Unknown Chinese Mother
Rating:
The Book of Lies: A Novel (P.S.) by Mary Horlock
Rating:
The Magician's Elephant
Rating:
The Tiger's Wife
Rating:
Enduring Love
Rating:
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
Rating:
A Massachusetts thriller...
Marshals Teddy Daniels and Chuck Aule travel to Ashecliffe Hospital on Shutter Island to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Rachel Solando. The hospital is home to the criminally insane, and Solando is accused of drowning her three children. As Teddy and Chuck investigate, they become suspicious of the hospital and its ways of treating patients. To add to the suspicion, Teddy and Chuck meet the head doctor, Dr John Cawley, who is mysterious in his own right. What was supposed to be a quick trip turns out to be more than the two marshals had hoped, since a hurricane traps them on the island. As the investigation continues, Teddy begins to believe that there is more to the island that a first glance reveals; that the mystery may not involve Rachel Solando, but the whole staff as well. I thought this book was great, since I love thrillers. But this is more than a thriller: this is an experience. I’ve never read anything of Lehane’s before, but I must say that he is one gifted writer: in one instance, the reader will think they KNOW one thing, and then in the next instance, they find out they were wrong; you guess right up until the ending, which has an unlikely twist. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Lehane, but mainly to someone, like myself, who enjoys a great psychological thriller; one that you won’t want to put down and one that you actually feel involved in the storyline, trying to help the marshals figure out the mystery. Also, don’t forget to see the movie coming out this fall, with Leonardo DiCaprio starring as Teddy Daniels and Martin Scorsese (The Departed, Goodfellas, Gangs of New York) directing.
