Review: Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

Synopsis:

This New York Times bestseller from Dennis Lehane is a gripping, unnerving psychological thriller about the effects of a savage killing on three former friends in a tightly knit, blue-collar Boston neighborhood.

When they were children, Sean Devine, Jimmy Marcus, and Dave Boyle were friends. But then a strange car pulled up to their street. One boy got into the car, two did not, and something terrible happened — something that ended their friendship and changed all three boys forever.

Twenty-five years later, Sean is a homicide detective. Jimmy is an ex-con who owns a corner store. And Dave is trying to hold his marriage together and keep his demons at bay — demons that urge him to do terrible things. When Jimmy’s daughter is found murdered, Sean is assigned to the case. His investigation brings him into conflict with Jimmy, who finds his old criminal impulses tempt him to solve the crime with brutal justice. And then there is Dave, who came home the night Jimmy’s daughter died covered in someone else’s blood.

A tense and unnerving psychological thriller, Mystic River is also an epic novel of love and loyalty, faith and family, in which people irrevocably marked by the past find themselves on a collision course with the darkest truths of their own hidden selves. 

Rating: 5-stars

Review:

Mystic River by Dennis Lehane is a riveting thriller about tested loyalties and friendships. Three young boys who are friends have their lives changed forever one day. Since then, their friendship has never been the same. Now, as adults each one has a different life. One is a crime boss, one is a detective, and the other is crazy. Life was going as normal for them as possible until the crime boss loses his daughter. Suspicions fly high. Regret, lies, and tensions build as the detective and the crime boss’s paths cross in finding the truth. The truth is out there but emotions are running deeper. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this fantastic suspense novel. Every page built up the tensions, and it was getting worse as the pages were turned. There was both trauma and drama at the center of the book. I was entertained and engaged with the characters’ lives. Dennis Lehane is a superb writer. Overall, I highly recommend this book to all who enjoy crime thrillers. Plus, there is a movie based on this novel!