Shutter Island

By: Dennis Lehane

Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte

Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

The basis for the blockbuster motion picture directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Shutter Island by New York Times bestselling author Dennis Lehane is a gripping and atmospheric psychological thriller where nothing is quite what it seems. The New York Times calls Shutter Island, “Startlingly original.” The Washington Post raves, “Brilliantly conceived and executed.”

A masterwork of suspense and surprise from the author of Mystic River and Gone, Baby, Gone, Shutter Island carries the listener into a nightmare world of madness, mind control, and CIA Cold War paranoia and is unlike anything you’ve ever heard before.

©2003 Dennis Lehane (P)2003 HarperCollins Publishers

Keeps you riveted until the end

I am an avid reader and listen to a lot of audiobooks because of my long commutes. There are very few that I would recommend as highly as this one. The opening was a little slow but once the reader is ushered into Shutter Island,the narrative moves at a quick pace, taking you on a psychological thrill ride that keeps you guessing. The narrator does a great job of illuminating the characters. This is not a typical predictable read!

Great Listen!

I really enjoyed this book! The narrative was vivid and engaging, and I was drawn into the world on Shutter Island completely. I know that this is a popular movie, and normally I would read rather than watch the story but I do want to see what the movie version lools like -- the mood was so much a part of the story. The narration was wonderful -- would recommend to anyone for a great weekend read/listen.

Not bad, but not great

I had the same feeling at the end of this book that I did at the end of Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl: empty and frustrated. I realize it's because they didn't end the way I wanted them to, but still, that's how I felt. As such I wouldn't read it again. It was definitely entertaining and had me on the edge most of the time. 4 out of 5.

Creepy!

This was an extremely entertaining listen. Honestly, this is one of those books I'm glad I listened to versus reading. Very dramatic, lots of atmosphere, with plenty of good, creepy twists. The narrator was superb. My only complaint is the lack of depth. Defines scary ride. 3.5 stars

Can't miss

Lehane at his best! The story grabs you & won't let go. Completely engrossing. Add the best narrator in the business, Tom Stetschulte. I could listen to this multiple times ...and have!

Didn't quite do it for me

Didn't quite do it for me... it wasn't terrible but a little hard to get through. I'd see the movie first then read the book, fills in some movie gaps. I guess it's worth reading once, but probably wouldn't read it again. Narrator wasn't bad but since he spoke softly it was a little hard to hear while riding my motorcycle with headphones (normally not an issue).

Excellent!

I have read/listened to a lot of books, but I must say I was extremely impressed. The narrator is great. You think you know, and then you find out you have no idea. This is turn-off-the-phone novel. You always hear things described as "jaw-dropping", but this is the real thing, as I'm certain mine did for several seconds.

too much bad language.....

too much bad language. Don't like the Lord's name taken in vain. other than that its a good book.

Paranoia will destroy ya

This claustrophobic thriller about paranoia and conspiracies is set on an island prison-mental institution in the 1950s. Teddy Daniels is a U.S. marshal sent to investigate the escape of a patient at Ashecliffe Hospital, arriving with a brand-new partner just as a hurricane is approaching the island. Teddy and his partner Chuck are supposed to find the escapee and determine how she escaped - fairly routine.

Pretty soon, the story starts fraying around the edges. The doctors and the warden are as untrustworthy as the inmates. The prisoners claim they are being experimented on. And Teddy starts hearing whispers from his dead wife.

The point at which Teddy starts hearing voices and we learn that he has his own reasons for coming to Shutter Island is when this thriller takes a departure from what was previously a straightforward plot. And as the story becomes more and more improbable, involving Nazi doctors, Soviet brainwashing, lobotomies and drug experiments and every single person possibly not being who they seem to be, the reader will obviously begin to suspect that it's Teddy who's insane.

Dennis Lehane makes this claustrophobic book of paranoia-fuel work, despite increasingly incredible plot twists, by putting the reader in the mind of someone who has either uncovered a horrible, crazy-making conspiracy or is in fact crazy, or maybe both, and then keeping you guessing just as Teddy himself does. Of course a crazy person will claim to be sane, as Teddy recognizes. And of course a secret project to perform experiments on mental patients would be covered up by making anyone who tries to expose it look... well, crazy.

Aided by the atmospheric description of the island and its hospital, enhanced by a timely hurricane, Shutter Island has its eerie moments and is solidly entertaining. I won't tell you at what point I made up my mind about what was really going on, but while I can't say I found the ending surprising, it wasn't completely predictable either.

Great book

This was a good read. I have to check this movie out. Came together pretty good!