Book Review: Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

Have you seen the movie Shutter Island starring Leonardo DiCaprio? If you haven’t yet, read the Shutter Island book first. It was originally published in 2003 by Dennis Lehane, and made into a movie not long ago, 2010 actually. I personally haven’t seen the movie either, but after reading the book I’ve decided I HAVE to see the movie adaptation.

Why was the book so good? Many people will already be familiar with Lehane’s work, he’s a famous thriller/crime novelist, so to start off the book is really well written. Not only that, but the plot is fantastic, with lots of twists that you never see coming, which always makes great for a screenplay as well. The copy of the book that I read was a lent to me by a colleague of mine, so it was an older, well-loved paperback from a while back; a nice change from the brand new books I typically get! Anyway, as mass market paperbacks typically do, it had quotes and blurbs from press reviews all over the cover, and a few of them described the book as ‘cinematic’, meaning the descriptions of the scenery and characters are so vivid that readers can easily imagine these scenes in their mind. Of course these were just predictions at the time, but the book was good enough for Martin Scorsese to take notice, as he was the eventual director of the film.

For those of you who like ‘spooky’ summer time reads, this book is definitely for you, so make some time for some ‘oldies but goodies’ on your shelf, and then clear away an afternoon to watch the movie when you’re done the book.