"Before you, Bella, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars, points of light and reason. ...And then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn’t see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason, for anything."

~ Edward Cullen

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Review: Shutter Island


Title: Shutter Island
Author: Dennis Lehane
Pages: 368
Rating: 5/5

The year is 1954. U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his new partner, Chuck Aule, have come to Shutter Island, home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane, to investigate the disappearance of a patient. Multiple-murderess Rachel Solando is loose somewhere on this barren island, despite having been kept in a locked cell under constant surveillance. As a killer hurricane bears relentlessly down on them, a strange case takes on even darker, more sinister shades—with hints of radical experimentation, horrifying surgeries, and lethal countermoves made in the cause of a covert shadow war. No one is going to escape Shutter Island unscathed, because nothing at Ashecliffe Hospital is remotely what it seems (Cover Blurb).

Wow.

Not much of a review there, I know, but I am in such amazement of this book, I can hardly think of anything to say but wow.

I stayed up late to finish this because I couldn't stand to go one more night without knowing the truth behind Shutter Island. From the minute I started this book on Monday, it crawled under my skin, seeped into my brain, and stuck. It's all I could think about.

Shutter Island is the home of Ashecliffe Hospital - an institution for the criminally insane. Federal Marshall Teddy Daniels and his new partner Chuck Aules are sent to the island to investigate the disappearance of patient Rachel Solando. Solando is a war widow who killed her three children by drowning them in a lake. Daniels becomes convinced that her disappearance has to do with Andrew Laeddis, the man who killed Teddy's wife - Dolores.

From there, the story becomes a quick web of secrets tangled with the truth. Just what is going on at Shutter Island? Should it be stopped? Just who is Rachel Solandis? And finally, what is happening to Teddy Daniels?

Shutter Island was not really a genre that I would regulary read, but I am so glad I went "out of the box" and gave it a try. It was one of the best books I have read this year, and I cannot recommend it to enough people. I'm hoping to see the movie in the next week or two, and I can't wait to see how it compares to the book!

Here's a sneak at the trailer:



7 comments:

Bobbie said...

I really want to read this book and after your review I really want to read it more. I am going to see if my local library has it. Thanks so much for the review!
Bobbie
http://tilwereadagain.blogspot.com

Hannah said...

I have wanted to see this movie since it came out but I still haven't found anyone to go with me. I may just have to go alone. LOL.

As for the book...if I can find a copy at my library I will be reading it!

Cathy Ikeda said...

Great review! You have a blog award here

Tammy said...

Okay that trailer freaked me right out! I am currently reading Shutter Island also and can't turn the pages fast enough.
Thanks for the excellent review!

Unknown said...

I didn't realize that this movie was based on a book-I thought the trailers looked really good, but now I want to read the book first! Off to Amazon I go! Great review!

Sheila (Bookjourney) said...

I read this book a long time ago and I was so thrilled to see it being made into a movie. Like you I loved the book thought it was beyond fantastic. Being made a movie now means we were not alone i our opinion. :)

I seen the movie on Sunday and will write a review of it this week. I am anxious to hear your thoughts on the movie as you just finished the book. My memory of the book is dim so what I think were differences in the movie may just be things I have forgotten.

Anonymous said...

The trailer does look wonderfully creepy. Just got my hands on this one and can't wait to sit down and read it. Great review!

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