Mystic River

By: Dennis Lehane

Narrated by: Scott Brick

The New York Times bestselling novel 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.

About time!

It was about time I read this and it was excellent. The writing was incredible, the story gripping, and the character development was outstanding. This may have been one I should have read and not listened to because the narrator made every character sound the same. All of the characters' lowest common denominator is their grittiness, but not all of them have to talk like the are exasperated and have gravel in their throat. No matter, read it or listen to it!

One of the best books I've ever listened to/read.

Unless I'm so far out of the reading game that my opinions are completely irrelevant, I believe I'd be accurate and justified in saying that they don't make stories like this anymore. This is one of those rare books where you'll want to shush your friends and loved ones while you listen. You'll want to call in sick from work so you can concentrate on the rich character development. I can't believe I haven't read this story before now, but it was enough to keep me from canceling my audible subscription because I felt like I just couldn't come through the weeds long enough to find a book worth reading. What a masterpiece of storytelling and omniscient narrative this was! A definite top 5 favorite for me. 👏

So much better than the movie ...

As it adds a ton of character building and their thoughts. In fact, if I had read the book first, I would have been disappointed by the movie; the book and performance add so much more.

Great Book

I have always enjoyed the movie and found that the book was even better. The narrator was perfect for this book and did a very good job.

Great listen! One minor complaint in production.

Loved the storyline and performance.
The only thing I didn't like was that transitions between chapter sections were too fast. A few seconds pause would be nice to give the listener a chance to realize that there is a change in characters coming. Instead, I'd find myself having to rewind to find when the book transitioned from Sean to Jimmy, for example.