Shutter Island

What a twist in the plot! Saw the movie many years ago. Now I need to see it again!

I’m obviously late to the game with this one since it came out when I was 5 years old. This book was SO good!!!!

Starting with an epilogue by Dr Sheehan, we walk the life of the book through the eyes of U.S Marshal Edward Daniels (Teddy) who was called to investigate the disappearance of a criminally insane woman on an island that's set up to contain those who are criminally insane. Without much help from the director, it appears that there is more to the case of the missing woman and the existence of the hospital than there really is.It is a fast pace book, with things happening one after another and another, leaving me breathless at times and unable to put down the book willingly. So, thankfully, it was a pretty short book compared to some of those I have been reading recently. what kept the reader going is the constant mini-cliffhangers and twists in the plot that sometimes makes you come up going "what the.... how?!?!"Even at the end, you wonder what is real, what happened there but you will be left with only your own theories and answers (thus my 4 stars, rather than a 5), because the author isn't about to easily explain answers away for the reader.If you like psychological thrillers (and this one became a movie with just about everything intact from the book), this is the one for you - but don't expect answers at the end of the book or you will be left feeling terribly frustrated.

Amazing book! One of my favorites! Love the movie as well.

Great audiobook! Excellent voices, good pacing, easy to listen to and follow along with!

Teddy Daniels and his partner Chuck Aule head to Shutter Island to investigate the disappearance of one of the criminally insane inmates. During his time on the island, Teddy encounters a hurricane, a secretive staff, and his own demons.Had a friend not handed this book to me, I would have stopped reading it. It just didn't appeal to me most of the way through. The characters were indistinguisable for most of the story, and it wasn't until the last 30 pages that I felt 'hooked.' I liked the twist, but then the last few pages didn't live up to it.

the actor who reads the book, he is amazing. I highly recommend it, even you have already seen the movie.

I absolutely loved this until the ending. I'm still not sure how I feel about that. But before that it is certainly is a page-turner, although a bit creepy.

I love a good mystery, and nothing is more exciting than reading a great book that keeps you guessing. Never in a million years would I have guessed the ending, and for this I applaud this book. Raging storms, isolated islands and mental hospitals - this has all the makings of your average stereotypical thriller - but in no way was this book average. I have just found out it is being made in to a movie - I can't wait.

A riveting read but still don't know if he was Andrew or Teddy at the end.

Shutter Island is fairly unique and contains many twist and turns through out the story. You totally believe everything Teddy is going through, then start doubting the same things he does, and eventually question him. There is so much going on and you can come up with many theories on your own and that is all part of the fun. The 4th day part is well done and explained very well, so the reader can follow along. The reason why this book got a 4 star and not a 5 star is simply because of the last few pages. I understand what Lehane was going for, but I felt it was rushed and not set up properly to have much of an affect. I don't expect him to explain what happened, that's an open ended and left to the readers imagination, but the set up and the last few lines made it feel corny and left me thinking, well of course it would end that way. Even with the disappointing ending this book was well written and though out, and overall was a good read.

Two marshals go to an island off the West coast housing criminally insane inmates. The isolation, location, stormy weather, and a major plot twist made this a big favorite.

Excellent. I am so glad I read this before I saw the movie - the book is excellent and just what I expect from Lehane. I am forever thankful my BFF introduced me to this author!

Shutter Island (2003) by Dennis Lehane. This book has more twists than Chubby Checker on his best day. Well, that is not true, but the twists it does have are doozies.
What starts out as a sort of standard police investigation rapidly spirals away from the detectives assigned to it. Actually the are U.S. Marshals sent to look for a missing patient at an asylum for the criminally insane, A woman seems to have become invisible, walked through locked doors, passed many orderlies and security guards and wondered off into the wilds of Shutter Island where the prison/facility resides.
Teddy Daniels and his new partner Chuck Aule have taken the ferry from Boston out to the remote and rugged island to not only find the killer/psycho/escapee but to discover what went wrong with the entire system. To add a little angst, there is a massive hurricane bearing down on the island, prepped to hit in a day or two.
The time is 1954. Teddy and Chuck each served in Europe during WWII and each has their own demons with which to contend. Both are strong men who witnessed too much during the war, and participated in much they wish they hadn’t. And Ashecliffe Hospital is more than a storage facility for the small select assortment or the worst criminals in America. The Marshals soon discover it is a place of terrible surgeries, horrible experimentation and things that would have the worst Nazi doctors wondering why they hadn’t thought of them.
As the hurricane strikes the island Teddy starts to unravel the true mystery behind Shutter Island, and his own nature. There had been slight twists and passages that should have alerted the reader, but by the end of the book you will have devoured a very tasty pretzel of a book.
There was a movie taken from the book that I saw many years ago. If you have the opportunity, watch it, but only after poured the book.

I saw the "abridged" too late. I don't even understand why do people make abridged versions.

I am not a scary book/movie kind of person. I hate being scared and generally refuse to indulge in things that make me jump, except around Halloween when I allow myself to watch one scary movie. I don't mind suspenseful things, but even then I'm not the first one to jump on board. Which explains why I waited until 2011 to read Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane (and I still haven't seen the movie).The story is set in 1954, when two U.S. marshals are sent to Shutter Island, a hospital/prison for the criminally insane. A patient, Rachel Solando, has gone missing without a trace. In fact, no one can figure out how she got out of her locked cell, past three guard checkpoints, and a group of guards playing poker without being seen. It's up to Teddy Daniels and his new partner Chuck Aule to find her before she harms herself or someone else. But Teddy quickly realizes that things aren't as they appear, and as he falls deeper into the mystery of the missing patient, he becomes caught up in the secrets of the hospital itself: there are rumors of illegal brain surgeries and doses of toxic drugs that dull a patient's senses. And on top of everything, does Teddy have an ulterior motive for being on the island in the first place?Part mystery, part psychological thriller, this book is sure to please anyone looking for an escape from everyday life. And, while I thought this book was good, I have to dock it two stars. The first mainly because there were times I didn't know if I could finish it without hiding it in the freezer (anyone else seen the episode of Friends where Joey hides The Shining in the freezer when it gets too scary?) and because when I started explaining the plot to my husband, he guessed the major plot twist ending. So perhaps it's a bit predictable, at least to those who aren't wrapped up in the details. 3 out of 5 stars, but definitely worth a read.

Shutter Island is a very well placed suspense novel. The tone, atmosphere and characters created by Lehane bristle with a familiarity which immediately causes the spine to tingle and the mind to wander. Made into a well driven film by Martin Scorsese, which is almost to the letter recreated from the novel, it moves with good pacing and is a rapid read. It is highly suggested though, that the book be read before watching the film. As good as the novel is it is slightly out of place among Lehane’s catalogue.
A young man fresh from the horrors of the Western Theater of WWII and the liberation of the concentration camps is haunted by the death of his wife and children. In place of that vacuum he turns to diligence and the importance of his job as he investigates a missing person on a island housing the criminally insane. All is not as it seems or as it the young Federal Marshall would have it be. As he questions the methods of the facility and a possible link to Hitleresque methods of treatment he finds they may be directly linked to his own sanity.

I understood the premise of the book, an investigation at an insane asylum. However, I could not follow the book. I would understand 3-4 pages and then the next 3-4 did not follow logically and I was unable to piece it together. To me, this book was a lot of mumbo-jumbo.

I understood the premise of the book, an investigation at an insane asylum. However, I could not follow the book. I would understand 3-4 pages and then the next 3-4 did not follow logically and I was unable to piece it together. To me, this book was a lot of mumbo-jumbo.

Very well paced story line, the big reveal in the end ruins it all. I don’t like books where at the end it turns out that everything was a dream or that the main character is insane and imagined it all.

I left it halfway through the book. It reminded me too much of the movie. Later on, I will try to give it another chance. (Translated from Spanish)

The less you know the better can be truly said about this thriller that takes the reader on a stumbling journey through the battlefields of the human mind with an epic storm and setting that may well ruin a good night’s sleep. This book has been made into a movie that I confess I watched many years before ever reading he book. Personally…I liked the movie better. The story is one that is best seen to get the entire horror and hopelessness of the hospital and the dreary atmosphere surrounding the entire place. The author is a brilliant writer and manages to combine the complexities of the past and the present to create a world that stays with the reader long after the book is closed or the movie runs to credits.

It's been a good six years or so since I saw the movie so I had pretty much forgotten all about the twist. This psychological suspense novel has pretty good build. It keeps leaving you with more questions. US Marshal Teddy Daniels is sent to Shutter Island to look for a missing woman. The island houses the Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane and all of the inmates are violent and crazy. Teddy and his partner are having a tough time getting answers and everything is getting jumbled. Are they doing illegal treatments on the patients? How could this woman have escaped? What are they hiding? Dark, disturbing, and the twist will leave breathless!

Wow. Read this book slowly and deliberately and enjoy every word of it. An amazing thriller.

Super captivating (Translated from Spanish)

This a good beach read, or a good audio book for a road trip. It’s entertaining and the story moves right a long keeping the reader interested and guessing. The ending is a bit far-fetched, but overall a good piece of storytelling.

I somehow forgot to review this back when I first read it. I honestly can't remember the details of the book as well as I recall the mood of incredible tension as I read it. It is the kind of book that makes you forget to breathe as you read it, the kind of book that will cause you to jump at any little sound that disturbs your reading. I'm not going to give it 5 stars only because I can't remember whether anything about the book really bugged me, but I know it was at least 4 stars for me so I compromised.

I liked it, the author does a great job of outlining the psychological profile of the main character Teddy Daniels, showing the fragility of the human mind under stress. If you enjoy puzzles and want your head to spin while you read, this is the book. (Translated from Spanish)

I didn't find it as thrilling as "Mystic River," which is the author's best novel, but I liked it quite a bit. However, as the novel progresses, it becomes more interesting up to the surprising final part. But I want to point out that the author refers to a massacre of German guards by the American soldiers who liberated the Dachau concentration camp. In this massacre, more than 300 guards were killed, and the main character was a witness to it. Although this rumor circulated as true for a time, it has been proven false for many years now. It would be advisable for Mr. Lehane to do a bit more research on the topics he discusses in his novels. (Translated from Spanish)

This book was published in 2003, and I finally got around to listening to it. I've not seen the movie, and I think if I had seen it before I read the book, the book would have lost some of its luster. It has the noir fiction feel, and it's set in the 50s, and fits into that period quite well.

A federal marshal, the protagonist of the story, comes to an island with another federal marshal. The island is an isolated and secretive institution for the criminally insane. And there is something hinky going on there. The marshals have to investigate, but not reveal our protagonist's more personal reason for the visit. A hurricane makes everything more difficult.

I was not expecting the ending I got, and the book was all the better for that. Perhaps readers more astute than I will have guessed what happened, but I didn't.

The plot was strong, and I loved the noir pulp fiction flavor. If you like a bit of retro writing with your psychological thrillers, I think you'll enjoy this one.