Dennis Lehane - top 10 best books

It is always a pleasure to read novels written by american writer Dennis Lehane. I like his style of writing, the ability to create a interesting and memorable stories. That's why I think that any fan of mystery and crime novels should know Lehane's books.

If you've never read his novels, maybe you may heard about or even watched their adaptations? The two most popular film adaptation's are: Shutter Island directed by Martin Scorsese with Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role (more about the book and the film in the text) and Mystic River directed by Clint Eastwood, with actors such as Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon.

Bestsellers by Dennis Lehane
This American author began writing after a literary success of his Kenzie and Gennaro series of novels. Lehane presented the pair of detectives in his debut novel A Drink Before the War in 1994. Since then, those two private investigators have appeared in five more of his books.

Why you should know Dennis Lehane? With a couple of reasons. Here are some of them: original stories, surprising twists, memorable characters and great dialogues. And the perfect writer's workshop.

This is my top ten books by Dennis Lehane
So if you are looking for interesting novels to read, here's my ranking of the best of novels written by Dennis Lehane. Below is a book list:

1. Shutter Island (see description)
2. The Given Day (see description)
3. Mystic River (see description)
4. Prayers for Rain (see description)
5. Gone, Baby, Gone (see description)
6. Darkness, Take My Hand (see description)
7. Live by Night (this is Dennis Lehane new book - see description)
8. A Drink Before the War (see description)
9. Sacred (see description)
10. Moonlight Mile (see description)

What's your favorite Dennise Lehane's novels? The best of the best book written by Lehane? :)

Shutter Island – should you read a novel or watch a movie first?

Recently a friend of mine asked me what to do first - read a book by Dennis Lehane or watch the movie by Martin Scorsese with Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role? Since I know both, I could honesty advise him.

I answered - read the novel and then watch the movie. Why? First of all, because you won't be limited in any way. You will be able to create in your own imagination everything what Lehane portrayed in his writing. Otherwise the film will eclipse the novel, because it's simply great, with superb creations of actors Leonardo DiCaprio (as Teddy Daniels), Mark Ruffalo (as Chuck Aule) and Ben Kingsley (as Dr. Cawley).

Of course, adaptation is not 100% perfect. But if anyone of you watched the movie first, don't be discouraged. You won't be surprised by unexpected changes in plot, but you will certainly appreciate the language, scenes which are missing in the film, and generally - the climate of the novel.

In my opinion this is one of those movies and books to remember and reminisce for many years. Definitely you will give thought about the story and ending.

If someone doesn't know anything about Shutter Island, I publish some brief information below:

Shutter Island is a novel by Dennis Lehane, published in April 2003. A film adaptation was released in February 2010. Laeta Kalogridis wrote a screenplay of the movie and it was directed by Martin Scorsese, who in my opinion is one of the best directors alive today.

Description from Amazon.com: "The year is 1954. U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his new ­partner, Chuck Aule, have come to Shutter Island, home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane, to investigate the disappearance of a patient. Multiple-murderess Rachel Solando is loose somewhere on this barren island, despite having been kept in a locked cell under constant surveillance. As a killer hurricane bears relentlessly down on them, a strange case takes on even darker, more sinister shades—with hints of radical experimentation, horrifying surgeries, and lethal countermoves made in the cause of a covert shadow war. No one is going to escape Shutter Island unscathed, because nothing at Ashecliffe Hospital is remotely what it seems".

In a nutshell – it's a great novel and a good psychological thriller :).