Adina (way behind)'s Reviews > Mystic River

I wanted to start the year with a 5* rating and I am so happy to share this amazing dark novel with you. It is masterpiece as a mystery novel but also as pure literature. I’ve wanted to read Lehane since I’ve seen the amazing movie with Leo di Caprio, called Shutter Island. It is made after the book with the same name and I was sure that I would love the author’s writing, if the book was anything like the movie. I finally chose to start with his other most popular novel, which also got two movies, Mystic River,

Three young boys, Jimmy, Dave and Sean, are playing on the streets. Two men who pretend to be cops take Dave away in their car. The others do not get in the car. The kid escapes four days later but he is no longer himself. Years after that event, Jimmy’s daughter is killed and in in the same night Dave comes home with someone else’s blood on his shirt. Sean is now a cop and is the person investigating the crime. The three former friends meet again but in totally different circumstances.
Yes, at first glance it is a very well-crafted murder mystery but it is so much more. It is a novel about life in the poor neighborhoods of Boston, about trauma, about love, lost, redemption and rage. The writing was really exquisite and the author was an excellent creator of characters, especially damaged ones. All the characters in this novel were complex, had real thoughts, aspirations and hurts. I could really feel what they were feeling and was able to understand them and their actions. One scene where Jimmy mourns his daughter will remain forever in my heart as one of the most harrowing and true passages about loss.

Mystic river is dark, suspenseful and yes, sometimes depressing but also tender and compassionate. It deserves all the prizes it got and more.