Who Is Patient 67? Our Heroine Knows.

I have a list of novels comprising my Top 10 Reading Experiences. All the novels on the list are made of awesome, so much so that I can still remember the total experience of reading them, like how old I was, where I was, and how I felt turning the pages. The books are not especially fancy either. For example: The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park? Totally on the list. So are Gone With the Wind and The Mistress of Mellyn (note to self: one day must write blog post on the pulp-romance awesomeness of TMOM.)

Anyhoodle. There hasn't been a new addition to the list in a while, until this past Spring, when I picked up Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane and it rocked my face off.

This book was so thrilling, and made me so paranoid, that I read it in 5 hours. Could. not. put. it. down. The thought of going into my dark bedroom and going to sleep was simply not an option once I'd started.

It's not fancy, and not like Mystic River, but it is perfectly constructed to accomplish one thing: suck you in and freak you out. It's not gory either. It's just the best, most taut psychological thriller I have ever read. Period.

The great man, Martin Scorsese, apparently agrees with me, because he's made a movie out of it, and the trailer is below. The trailer appears more slasher-flick than the book, but I think that's just to create the dark unease of the book quickly. But just in case the movie ruins the story, I highly recommend you read it first. Even if the movie is great, you'll feel confident going in that you can watch with your eyes open.

I present the trailer, which I am so excited to share that I am willing to mess-up my column alignments for you:

You're already feeling a little paranoid now, right? Toldya!