Mystic River by Dennis Lehane Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Mystic River
Book Review: Haunting Box of Treasures
Summary: 5 Stars
Wow, The Man (that's Lehane's name in my mind now) can tell a story! I saw the movie when it came out, so I was hesitant to read the book - feared that knowing the story, the book would lose some of its power. Not the case. Mystic River had me hooked from page one and did not let up on the psychological road trip till the very end. One of those rare books that you'll think about while standing in line at the grocery store. ("Damn this line; wish I had my book!") I cannot imagine NOT having seen the movie and reading the book first. I would think the ending especially would take your breath away. I'm now in search of everything Lehane has written and only hope the rest can measure up!Book Review: His worst book
Summary: 2 Stars
First time I tried this book it turned me off Lehane. Fortunately I ran across some of his other work later. I recently tried again and same reaction. Rambling, repetitive, etc. Like listening to a drunk telling a long story meandering story. Try Shutter Island or some other of his work.Book Review: Horrifying Waves Haunt Mystic River
Summary: 5 Stars
Dennis Lehane is nothing short of a genius! He's always had it in him to bring the darkest of characters to life. I'd read "Shutter Island," "The Given Day," and was always convinced that he could be a bestseller in any genre. With "Mystic River," he simply makes his case once again as being one of the best there is.
It starts with three children, Jimmy Marcus, Sean Devine, and David Boyle. They live in the blue-collar Boston community of East Buckingham. These young boys begin as friends. But when a certain car with two perverts takes away David for a period of four days, things change. For David does return, yet things are not the same. And things will never be the same with these three for the rest of their lives!
Into their adult lives, life should simply go on as it should. That is, until Jimmy's daughter, Katie, is found dead. Katie had plans of her own, to go to Vegas and elope the man of her dreams, a young man who Jimmy Marcus hates. And Sean Devine is now a cop, coming off of a week's suspension, and he is one of the men on the case. When the pages start to turn, you hauntingly realize that the trail will lead to the questioning of the troubled past that is David Boyle. And before all is said and done, will all really be as it appears? And justice served is as cold as it can get, when all is said and done.
I have never milked a book by Dennis Lehane. They have all been very quick reads, and "Mystic River" was no exception. I always look forward to the haunting waves that flood my mind as I flip the pages in eager anticipation. And I can only imagine that when I get to the next bestseller of this master, that the chill in the air will only deliver more icy thrill! Looking forward to more.
Book Review: It was good but I prefer the Kenzie/Gennaro series
Summary: 3 Stars
I've read two previous Dennis Lehane books, A Drink Before the War and Darkness, Take My Hand, and I really liked them. Like close to love kind of like. So, I automatically assumed that I would love Mystic River. Unfortunately, that didn't really happen. I did like it, but I didn't really love it.
Through the first 100 pages of Mystic River, I debated putting it down. It just wasn't catching my interest and it was taking way too long to get to the meat of the story. I usually like my mysteries to be pageturners right from the get-go. In fact, if I hadn't previously read Lehane and know that I enjoy his stories, I think I would've ultimately put down Mystic River. But after the initial 100 pages, it really started to pick up steam and became one hell of a pageturner (just the way I like them). But then I encountered another problem.
So, by page 100, Mystic River picked up steam. By page 120, I was 100 percent sure who the murderer was. That kind of sucked some of the enjoyment out of the book for me. Sure, trying to guess the whodunit is part of the fun of mystery books, but guessing is one thing. Being completely certain of the identity is another thing completely. Of course, then I started getting annoyed with the lead detectives/troopers on the case thinking "It's staring at you right in the face! How can you possibly not know or at the very least suspect?!" Sigh.
Besides all that, I did enjoy Mystic River. Dennis Lehane always brings the gritty to his novels and this one was no exception. It was dark, depressing, and very bleak. One thing that I can say about Lehane is that he knows how to create an atmosphere. Oh yeah, and he's a superb writer. Seriously, I'm in awe of him. Ultimately, I didn't love Mystic River. I did like it, but I didn't feel that sense of adoration that I usually feel with his Kenzie and Gennaro books. Either way, I think he is slowly becoming one of my favorite writers.
Book Review: MYSTIC RIVER
Summary: 5 Stars
Sean is the most level headed of the three friends. Jimmy is the bold and daring leader, the bad influence. Dave is happy just to be a part of the threesome, never quite feeling like he is worthy of their friendship and continuously strategizing to keep his place among the trio. They are all eleven years old.
One day two men posing as police stop the three boys from fighting in the street. It is no surprise that Dave is the one ultimately lured into their car. This incident had me thinking... Yes, the fact that Dave got into the backseat of that car certainly resulted in changing his life. However, if it wasn't that particular incident, there would have been another similar incident, because that was who Dave was. Hence this question: Can a minor decision change the entire direction of your life? Or, on the other hand, does who you are direct and mandate the changes and direction that your life takes?
Twenty-five years later, Sean is a homicide detective, Jimmy is an ex-con; married with three daughters, and Dave is married and trying to stay on the straight and narrow, striving to live up to the image of a good-husband and good-father. Over the years, like many childhood friends, they have taken separate paths and the three had lost almost all of their childhood connections. When Jimmy's nineteen-year-old daughter is murdered, that changes.
In my opinion, this was a terrific book, definitely worthy of five stars. I absolutely loved how Dennis Lehane got inside his characters heads; he brought them to life like no other author that I know of can. Was it the best book I've ever read? No. It was good, however, it could have been better, it could have been, Child 44 better, if it weren't such a downer. I'm not saying that I need 500 pages of sunshine and lollipops, but the end of this book left me with the same depressing feeling as the beginning. The boys themselves hardly changed at all as grown men. That may have been the whole point the author is trying to make: Life is a perpetual cycle of, poverty, abuse, hate and anger, and for the fortunate ones a cycle of love, luck, and abundance mixed with abuse, hate etc. The author leaves you with very little hope that these cycles can be broken.