This book was waaaay too long for the simple story it was telling. I've read similar ones that are told more concisely, even stylistically, and those are far more engaging. The author would hint at making a point, then refer to his hinting for hundreds of pages until something actually happened to make it real or to make it have a consequence. The characters were nearly indistinguishable. Their voices all sounded so similar that I was surprised at dialogue tags indicating it was someone else. This is a bland character study. Somehow I expected far more of a mystery. I wanted to feel emotion for these people, and instead I waited for the book to end. Disliked it, but decided to read the whole thing.. ( )

I've never seen the film but was always curious about both the book and the film.

Although well written, very depressing and fatalistic in a negative way. ( )

Life, as Dave had known it, died when he got into that car. Jimmy and Sean were lucky.

Hard to read as a father of a girl myself. I could very much feel what Jimmy was going through. And I don't really even fault him for what he did. It's not an easy predicament, even though Dave didn't deserve it.

A very good book that I'm glad I read, even though I had already seen the movie. As good as the film was, this book is even better! The inner thoughts of Dave and Jimmy really make things more clear than the movie did. Life is just never black and white. And it's in the grey area where so many mistakes are made. ( )

Goed verhaal en een grandioos geschetste sfeer. ( )

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Dennis Lehane - Mystic River: The pacing bothered me (as did 1/2 of the ending), and yet Lehane is a master at creating thoughtful characters. #cursorybookreviews #cursoryreviews ( )