Shutter Island
Dennis Lehane
“Maybe there are some things we were put on this earth not to know.”
I can honestly say that this book
was brilliant: the story line is one of the best that I have ever read.
It is set in they year 1954, and is
centered on Teddy Daniels, a recently widowed US Marshall who is called to
investigate the disappearance of a potentially dangerous female patient named
Rachel Solando, (convicted for murdering her three children) who escaped from Shutter Island - an island that cares for the
criminally insane. Said patient's disappearance is particularly unnerving,
since she managed to somehow escape not only the asylum, but also the
actual island itself, despite having been kept under constant supervision in a
locked cell.
Teddy's partner on the case is
another Marshall, Chuck Aule, who like Teddy also served in the army and helped
to liberate a number of concentration camps in Germany towards the end of World
War Two. However, it seems that Teddy is in some ways unable to recover from not only the traumas of the war, but also the tragic death of his wife in what he thought to be an act of arson by a patient whom he later learns is actually a resident on the island...
Throughout the course of the story, he finds codes, uncovers secrets, makes enemies and comes nail-bitingly close to what he thinks is the truth, but it is when Chuck mysteriously disappears, that he comes to question who he can trust, and whether he can even trust himself.
It is difficult to discuss the plot of the story without giving away the ending, but to condense it, I would say that the underlying question, is can he contain his own personal emotions and compunctions without unknowingly insinuating them into the case? Well, I found that the more I read on, the more unlikely it seemed, and through Lehane's intense descriptions and imagery of Teddy's actions, emotions, fears, dreams and hallucinations, it becomes apparent that he may in fact never leave the island, because someone is actually trying to drive him insane.
I would thoroughly recommend this book to everyone - there is no shortage of tension, drama, secrecy, mind games and paranoia, and it will have you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. There are some adult themes present and some frequent swearing, so if you feel uncomfortable about this, then you can watch the recent film version, which is a lot milder, but just as good at conveying the plot. If you read anything, let it be this book, since the ending is one that you will not see coming, and will have you shocked for days.
I would rate this book 5/5 stars.
