Rating: 
Summary: But it's a hard 3 star book to earn.
Review: I bought this book to see if it's worth watching the movie on DVD later on. All I can hope for is that the characters portrayed in the movie aren't as dispicable and hateful as they are in the book!A case of kidnapping, escape, lost childhood, adulthood based on fear and violence, families in the balance, dysfunction of many varieties, murders, and oh yes, grief over the loss of a child! These aren't happy people to begin with and they aren't the type of people one feels sorry for either. Read this book if you feel your life sucks and need to read about people who lives suck even worse. The ONLY victim in this book is Dave Boyle. And possibly the people who bought it. I'll start a telethon soon.
Rating: 
Summary: WARNING: MAY CAUSE ALL-NIGHTER!
Review: As an English teacher and avid reader, I choose my novels carefully. Upon learning of the upcoming movie, I thought I had better read the book before viewing the film. My last words to my husband were "I'd better not start this tonight." That was at 10:30pm. Needless to say, at some point I left our bedroom and found another room to read this wonderfully well-written masterpiece. I tried several times to stop, but there was just no place to take a break. When I finally finished the novel, I knew it had to be at least 2:00 or 3:00am. Well... it was 6:15 in the morning! I am a reader who relishes every word, but I was flying over whole sentences because I couldn't get to the ending fast enough. I have only read 2 other books that I was unable to put down, and thus, spent the night reading: "Silence of the Lambs" and "Kiss the Girls". "Mystic River" is right up there with the best, and I must say, I enjoyed it tremendously. Incindently, the movie stays right on couse with the book, and the casting was suberb. Enjoy, but only if you have some time on your hands!
Rating:
Summary: read the book,, see the movie
Review: I absolutely loved this book, which I read way back when I first started hearing about the upcoming film version. It is most definitely a "page-turner" and nearly impossible to put down. I would recommend reading the book first and then seeing the movie. I think that almost anyone can appreciate this story, so don't think that it's a mystery or predominantly a police-type story: it's really about people and how they cope with what life can throw their way. A very original and well-done story.
Rating:
Summary: Mystic River
Review: Mystic River
Dennis Lehane
Paperback
496 pages
Reviewed by: Christopher - April 2004 Dennis Lehane, one of the best mystery writers of all times. Lehane's book, "Mystic River" deserving a five star rating is a prime example of Dennis's ability. This novel was a great story that had me literally on the edge of my seat. I was curious throughout the entire novel wondering what was going to happen next. I really enjoyed Lehane's willingness to expose the scars as well as the strengths of his lead characters. The only weakness I found was that it was a little slow and boring in the beginning. I was patient and it paid off. The book interested me because it made me think, and open my mind to many possibilities.
Dennis Lehane tells a dark tale about boys becoming men in an urban community. "Mystic River", is a true crime story, but it is also about people, family, friends and community. This story goes deep into real life issues and how we as human beings deal with our issues.
Childhood friends, Sean, Jimmy and Dave have their lives changed when a bizarre car turns up on their street. After Dave gets into the car and Sean and Jimmy decides against it, an awful event happens which concludes their friendship and changes their lives forever.
Twenty-five years later, Sean is a homicide detective, while Jimmy has chosen a criminal path. When Jimmy's daughter Katie is found murder, Sean is assigned to the case. And with his own personal relationships in deep trouble, he finds he is thankful to go back to the life he thought he had left behind. Sean comes to terms with his ex-friends and a disagreement with a human monster.
The three Childhood friends are thrown face-to-face again. In their own way, they each share in the tragedy of death of Jimmy's daughter as well as that dreadful day back when they were eleven years old. The questions emerge throughout their lives. What if Dave never got into that car? What if Jimmy and Sean got into that car with Dave?
It is apparent from the beginning that "Mystic River" has desires to be more than a straight murder thriller. The added layer of complication takes place through the psychological deepness of the characters and the essence of their past relationship. Although allot of time has divided the lives of these men, that single childhood event has developed a bond nothing can separate. The image of Dave, looking hopelessly through the backseat window as he is driven away, will revisit Jimmy and Sean to their final days.
There are no uncomplicated indications, no evident killers, no way for the sins of the past not to be revisited in the lives of those present. In specific, Jimmy and his wife, Anna, seem too able to walk off the pages of the novel to become two people caught in unexpected tragedy. The two who might very well be your own neighbors? Lehane does not timid away from brutality, and this makes his novels a little too vivid for some. However, with the brutality, you also get an author who is skilled at intertwining the past and present. Lehane reveals how the events of childhood and the shaping that occur based on your childhood surroundings eventually set the course you follow for your whole life.
This novel was a great story that had me literally on the edge of my seat. I was curious throughout the entire novel wondering what was going to happen next. I really enjoyed Lehane's willingness to expose the scars as well as the strengths of his lead characters. After reading "Mystic River", one will gain an enormous sense of people and mystery. It starts off slow, but once you get into a couple of chapters there's no turning back.
Rating:
Summary: Good book.
Review: Mystic River is a good read. Anyone who reads it definitely will not be disappointed. While I was reading this book I was trying to figure out how it would end and who done it. Usually I am very good at guessing endings, but this one I just could not get. When I finished the book I was shocked. Good points about the book were that I really felt for the characters and there were a bunch of different view points. All of this which made it a good read. The only bad thing was it was a bit to long. I think maybe I have a short attention span, so that's probably why I felt the book was much longer then it needed to be.
Rating: 
Summary: Fizzle
Review: Started out okay, but a puerile ending. And deceitful. Lehane strings us along, letting us think Dave bludgeoned Katie -- strings us along as, granted, all whodunits do. Trouble is, Lehane gets deep into Dave's head and allows the reader to know his most secret thoughts -- in which case we'd have known from the beginning the truth about what Dave did. Also far too much digression and explanation. Lehane should've borrowed Basil Exposition from the Austin Powers movies. But the ending (aka who killed Katie): just unbelievable.
Rating:
Summary: Mystic River
Review: A book review of Mystic River, by Dennis Lehane Mystic River is a very entertaining novel. Throughout the novel there are several twist and turns that keep the readers on the edge of their seats. The novel portrays the betrayal of family and friends. This novel is told from many different viewpoints, from all of the characters involved. Mystic River is by far the best book that I have ever read.
I would recommend this book to anybody who is interested in murder mystery, and suspense novels. There are several twists and turns that will keep them interested. This would also be a good book to those who enjoy reading novels on family life. Throughout the book Dennis Lehane shows how important love is. He shows that with love, almost anything is possible, but he also shows how love can ruin trust, in certain circumstances.
Rating:
Summary: One of a kind
Review: If you look up "Excellent character development" in the dictionary, it will undoubtedly say, "See Mystic River." Of all the books I have ever read, this one tops the charts with not only that aspect but also for plotting and suspense. With character-driven scenes on the same level as Jackson McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD or Leonard's GET SHORTY, this stellar novel "moves." It's like a combination of Raymond Chandler and some of the past literary greats in that it is not only riveting, but extremely literary-a rarity nowadays. The material alone is extraordinary, but what the author does with it is even more so. Buy it, read it, pass it on, and then buy yourself another copy as you'll want to read it more than once.
Rating: 
Summary: 4 1/2 stars for a thriller with real substance
Review: In transparent prose that carries this page-turner from first line to last, Dennis Lehane spins a mesmerizing story about three childhood friends who grow apart because of changing economics and an incident that occurred in 1975. When a car stops as the eleven year olds brawl in the street, two men get out to break up the fight. Because of a single lie, one boy gets into the car, leaving the other two free and safe on the street. The abduction leaves scars on all three boys, and they carry their separate wounds with them into adulthood. When Jimmy's beloved teenage daughter Katie is found brutally murdered, they are unexpectedly reunited. As with all good murder mysteries, nothing is simple, and every act is suspect. Once I started reading this novel, I didn't want to put it down. The plot has terrific momentum, and the writing is tightly wound. The most refreshing element in this book is Lehane's characterizations which mark even the most admirable characters with lapses of ethics and the most despicable with redeeming traits. The complexities allow for shifting reader loyalties, thereby giving Lehane a greater range in navigating in a less-than-straight path to the truth. Lehane's theme of karma - of one act leading to another and yet another until a misdeed is repaid - is skillfully developed and provides a strong connection to seemingly unrelated events, thus making sense out of the senseless. What these boys-turned-men are capable of, and what they deserve, becomes the force behind the plot. MYSTIC RIVER is a well-written, thoughtfully evoked murder mystery that is grounded in moral ambiguities. The complexities of character and issues give a heft to this novel despite its genre's traditional emphasis of plot over everything else. Lehane's skilled but undemanding style makes this novel great weekend or vacation reading. Don't start it at bedtime unless you want to be reading late into the night.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Greatest Books Ever Written
Review: I loved this book. I loved everything in it. I loved the suspence, the thrill, the ride it invited me on. It is one of the greatest books ever written. I could never put this excellent book down. I would take it everywhere with me. It was about three boys. When they were young, something happened that changed their lives and friendship forever. When a murder occurs, their lives get tied back together. Every page has surprises in it. I can't watch the movie, because of the rating and my parents won't let me, but I bet that the book is 10 times better than the movie. That's how good it was!
| 
