Originally this was going to be the book club pick of the month, buuuut we finished it in six days. It was gripping! So here are my thoughts:

You may recognize the title because it spawned a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio, so you may already have an idea that Teddy Edwards, the protagonist, is an unreliable narrator. I did but it’s been awhile since I saw the movie so I couldn’t remember why Teddy was insane.

Let’s back up a bit. Marshal Edwards has been assigned to capture an escaped inmate on the infamous Shutter Island, home of Ashcliffe Asylum where only the most violent and deluded criminals reside. But as he ventures deeper into the mystery of how one patient could escape the most secure institution, he starts to suspect there’s a conspiracy hiding what’s really going on, and he may never leave.

Like I said, I think the movie is well-known enough that you already know going in that Teddy isn’t reliable, but the reasons he isn’t reliable aren’t quite clear and Lehane does a wonderful job in creating scenes that can be interpreted one way as a completely valid truth in Teddy’s mind while also seeming completely sane when the reveal is explained. Each character, while innocuous at first end up playing a part to the real reason why Teddy is trapped on the island.

It is part psychological thriller, part WW2 trauma coming home to roost and it was a fun puzzle as a reader to figure out what parts of Teddy’s past were distorted to create this elaborate, false narrative.

I do have questions about the choice to “kill off” Teddy’s partner since it don’t see how it could aid the reality breakthrough that they were trying to achieve. By gaslighting a man who is already paranoid and distrustful and telling him the hoax is a hoax, isn’t that going to dig him deeper in his delusion?

Plus the ending is either heartbreaking or a surprising twist as you must decide the newfound state of Teddy’s sanity and whether he is conscious of what he’s doing or not.

Wow, it’s hard trying to discuss this without spoilers. But I’d recommend this book for anyone who is a fan of Gone Girl or The Women in White.