Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

ISBN-13: 9780061807404
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: August 2009
400 pgs
Source: Personal Library

I have seen this book around when it was first released, but did not get it at that time, and looking back now I really regretted for not picking it up earlier!

Anyway, Shutter Island is a story about two US Marshals who are on a mission to investigate the disappearance of a patient named Rachel Solando in Shutter Island, where the Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane is situated. Rachel is considered as one of the dangerous patients at the Ashecliffe Hospital, for she is a multiple murderess and not to mention very mentally disturbed. No one knows how she managed to escape barefooted from a locked cell, and what most puzzled is where could she go in the remote island? That is where Edward "Teddy" Daniels and his partner Chuck Aule come in, and they will have to find every means to uncover the missing person case.

However, it is definitely not easy to solve the case with the threatening hurricane but what is most challenging is getting the hospital staff to cooperate, and some cryptic clues which Rachel has left behind before her disappearance. To make things more complicated, Teddy is still deeply traumatised by the days during the Cold War when he was a soldier, but what most affected him is Andrew Laeddis, the man who set his house on fire that led to the death of his wife. He believes Andrew is in Ashecliffe Hospital and hence this is another reason why he is set to find all the answers in Shutter Island.

As Teddy and Chuck continue to track down clues, it began to dawn on them that things might not seem what it is at Ashecliffe Hospital, and they might not be able to leave the island in the end.

Shutter Island is one of the most intense psychological thriller I have read in a while. It is a suspenseful read, one filled with twists and turns and more questions are raised than answered. I totally enjoyed the reading journey as every page I turned, the anticipation kept on growing until I was totally blown away by the ending. The most thrilling part of this story is, you just could not know who to trust, considering the setting is at Ashecliffe Hospital where they kept the dangerous and mentally disturbed patients at bay. Anyone could be a threat or are lying, whether or not if they are sick in the mind or not, and to me that is the scariest part.

After reading this thriller, I am definitely going to look out the other releases by Dennis Lehane. And of course, I have to watch the film adaptation which is opening next month. I hope it will not disappoint.

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