Set in 1954, Teddy Daniels and his partner are both FBI agents investigating a missing persons report on Shutter Island, a psychiatric facility for the criminally insane. The missing person is a mass murderer who has escaped the mental hospital on the island. Knitting together clues, Teddy becomes convinced that the doctors and patients are all setting him up for something, but he has no clue what, until the end. And what an ending!

The graphic novel is based on the book (not the film) written by Dennis Lehane. The muddy brown & yellows are thanks to French artist Christian De Metter. The art is important to the story, to convey the depravity and depression often associated with places like this.

I have not read the book nor seen the movie, so I can only assume the ending is the same. The panels are written out like a standard comic book, with no splash pages or excitement of a thrilling ending. The story plods along in some places – the parts with no dialogue and just pictures is especially interesting and leads you on a merry mind-bending chase.

If Dennis Lehane is making some kind of commentary on psychiatric methods, he's doing a good job. Is it "therapy" to lock someone up, possibly for life, filling a patient with drugs and arcane and at times evaluative silly advice that does nothing to forward sanity?

Interesting subplots: Who is this girl that disappeared from her cell? Why are there guards around a "sanitation facility?" And what's the meaning of a code found in the missing girl's room? All artfully done, all suspenseful in reading.

There are some murder scenes, some craziness and some blood but not graphically so.

Check out the publisher's websites, at Tokyopop.com and HarperCollins.com for more info on the book and its critical reception.
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Set in 1954, Teddy Daniels and his partner are both FBI agents investigating a missing persons report on Shutter Island, a psychiatric facility for the criminally insane. The missing person is a mass murderer who has escaped the mental hospital on the island. Knitting together clues, Teddy becomes convinced that the doctors and patients are all setting him up for something, but he has no clue what, until the end. And what an ending!

The graphic novel is based on the book (not the film) written by Dennis Lehane. The muddy brown & yellows are thanks to French artist Christian De Metter. The art is important to the story, to convey the depravity and depression often associated with places like this.

I have not read the book nor seen the movie, so I can only assume the ending is the same. The panels are written out like a standard comic book, with no splash pages or excitement of a thrilling ending. The story plods along in some places – the parts with no dialogue and just pictures is especially interesting and leads you on a merry mind-bending chase.

If Dennis Lehane is making some kind of commentary on psychiatric methods, he's doing a good job. Is it "therapy" to lock someone up, possibly for life, filling a patient with drugs and arcane and at times evaluative silly advice that does nothing to forward sanity?

Interesting subplots: Who is this girl that disappeared from her cell? Why are there guards around a "sanitation facility?" And what's the meaning of a code found in the missing girl's room? All artfully done, all suspenseful in reading.

There are some murder scenes, some craziness and some blood but not graphically so.

Check out the publisher's websites, at Tokyopop.com and HarperCollins.com for more info on the book and its critical reception.
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I loved this book. It was suspenseful all the way through. There was a strong psychological aspect to it. There was a twist at the end that I didn't see coming at all. I thought the twist made complete sense - it wasn't just thrown in for surprise value. I did not like the movie. It seemed rather hokey and did not capture the pain and difficulty the main character felt. ( )

This is how you write a thriller. A fantastic book. Taut with suspense and the ending will leave you stupefied and although you might be able to predict the climax it will still shock you when you get there.
The previous work I tried to read by Dennis Lehane was Mystic River and I was just unable to get through the first few pages but Shutter Island is a totally different beast and it grabs you from the get go.
I had seen the movie before reading the novel but this only served to make the book better. I couldn't help recollecting scenes from the movie and Caprio's performance as Marshall was the one I kept coming back to.
One of the finest thrillers I have read in recent memory. ( )

I confess, I struggled with this book for the first few chapters. It had a nasty effect of putting me to sleep! However, as the story progressed, I became engaged in the plot and never in my wildest dreams expected the ending to be as it was! Talk about blindsided! I have not yet, but I intend to re-read this one to see what clues I missed! ( )