Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane - Book Review

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 Shutter Island is a movie and a book. If I like the book, I may compare it to the movie. We'll see. Until then, I go in with high expectations, having read Live By Night and one other book by Lehane. Let's go. 


This book was mind-bending, and for that reason, I really will tell you to read it yourself before you read this review. This is here to warn you of spoilers, heavy spoilers. I need to talk about the nuances of the plot and it will not be a spoiler-free review. You've been warned. Proceed with caution. 

I said, read it yourself first. I'll wait while the ones who never read it or watched the movie leave. 

Now we can proceed. Thank you.

The review

From the beginning we meet Teddy, a US marshall, investigating a missing woman on an island institution with a his new partner, Chuck. This is the setup we get. Quite frankly, I already knew I couldn't trust Teddy because someone online did spoil one small part of the end. But it still hit me like a truck at the end, so even spoiling one small part of the end didn't ruin my experience. I looked for anomalies in Teddy's story because I knew he was not mentally stable. 

On that note, pay attention to his dreams and what he justifies in his head. His reality is not reality. In fact - and this is a major spoiler - he isn't Teddy and is no longer a US marshall. No one is missing. His name is Andrew Laeddis and he mentally broke after his wife drowned his three children and asked him to help her suicide (and all this after she had drank 6 months of laudanum), which is when he shot her. He's here because he's delusional and dangerous. The little detail about the guards looking at him in fear reveals that they fear him - and for good reason! Maggie Moonpie tells him "you've been here and you'll stay here", as well as telling him "that's how I want to remember you, laughing". She says that because he is one play-acting session from an orbital lobotomy. And this whole book was a therapy session played out to hopefully save him, a last ditch effort that failed. He says he's Andrew, then regresses back in the last scene, where orderlies come toward him with a sheet, as Chuck (Dr. Shaheen) sits with him on a bench. We can all infer that he was not saved. 

Why You Should Read Between The Lines

This is a book where you can see some of the truth in between the lines, as the narrative Teddy tells you starts to make less sense. Maggie Moonpie is only one example of an anomaly you can catch. Teddy is the 67th patient, and he wrote the code. His dreams say a lot - and I mean a lot - about what happened. Once you know, you could read this over again and point to little things he said or did, like why they won't give him Shaheen's file or why the Laeddis file is so vital. There is one conversation that can be read in two ways, but Teddy interprets it in a way that goes in line with his delusion. 

I suggested this to a friend. I told them to go into it assuming your narrator is unreliable, but did not say why. This will make my friend look at everything as if it might be half-true or a lie. Teddy has some half-truths in his delusion, such as the facility being for the dangerous and delusional. There were lobotomies happening, yes, but they were all last resorts. Was there a woman that killed her kids? Yes, his wife, but her name was not Rachel. There was an apartment fire, but his wife did it, not Laeddis (not him). 

Overall Thoughts

This was fives stars, loved it. While it is quite dark, I think it is one of the best suspense/horror I've read. Yes, this is light horror. There are distressing moments mixed into the book. Please note that this is not for kids, only adults. 

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Morrow is released! This novella is the story of two women writing a family history for the Morrow family. They find a nasty secret while researching. Will they survive their internship? 

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