“Which would be worse: to live as a monster, or to die as a good man.”
If you loved Shutter Island, chances are you’re not quite ready to leave the world of unreliable narrators, psychological twists, and stories that make you question everything you’d just read. Dennis Lehane’s psychological thriller is the sort of book that gets under your skin. From its isolated setting and deeply troubled characters to its increasingly unsettling mysteries, Shutter Island keeps you guessing until the very final page. And if you’re looking for your next read after finishing it, there are plenty of books that offer a similar blend of suspense, paranoia, mystery, and mind-bending twists. Whether you’re searching for another unreliable narrator, a sinister institution, a mystery that refuses to make sense, or just a thriller that will leave you questioning what is real, these books like Shutter Island need to be on your TBR pile.
Shutter Island Summary
The year is 1954. U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels and his new partner, Chuck Aule, have come to Shutter Island, home to Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane, to investigate the disappearance of a patient. Multiple murderer Rachel Solando is loose somewhere on this remote and barren island, despite having been kept in a locked cell under constant surveillance.
As a killer hurricane relentlessly bears 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 as it seems. But then, neither is Teddy Daniels.
The Silent Patient – Alex Michaelides
We’re kicking off our list of the best books like Shutter Island with another one of our all-time favourite thriller reads, Alex Michaelides’ The Silent Patient. Alicia Berenson’s life is seemingly perfect. A famous painter married to an in-demand fashion photographer, she lives in one of London’s most desirable areas. One evening, though, her husband returns home from work, and she shoots him dead. From that moment on, she refuses to speak another word.
Theo Faber is a criminal psychotherapist who has waited a long time for the chance to work with Alicia. His determination to get her to talk and unravel the mystery of why she shot her husband takes him down a twisting path into his own motivations – a search for the truth that threatens to consume him…
Check Out Our The Silent Patient Book Review
The Last House Guest – Megan Miranda
Littleport, Maine, has always felt like two separate towns: an ideal vacation enclave for the wealthy, whose summer homes line the coastline; and a simple harbour community for the year-round residents whose livelihoods depend on service to the visitors.
Typically, fierce friendships never develop between a local and a summer girl – but that’s just what happens with visitor Sadie Loman and resident Avery Greer. Each summer for nearly a decade, the girls are inseparable – until Sadie is found dead. Similar to Shutter Island, The Last House Guest is a smart, twisty read that brilliantly explores the elusive nature of memory and the complexities of female friendships.
The Sanatorium – Sarah Pearse
An imposing, isolated getaway high up in the Swiss Alps, Le Sommet is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. But Elin’s taken time off from her job as a detective, so when her estranged brother, Isaac, and his fiancée, Laure, invite her to celebrate their engagement at the hotel, Elin can’t refuse. Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge – there’s something about the hotel that makes her nervous.
And when they wake the following morning to discover that Laure is missing, Elin must trust her instincts if they hope to find her. With the storm closing off all access to the hotel, the longer Laure stays missing, the more the remaining guests begin to panic. Yet no one realises that another woman has already gone missing. And she’s the only one who could have warned them just how much danger they are all in…
Check Out Our The Sanatorium Book Review
I’m Thinking Of Ending Things – Iain Reid
In this smart and intense literary suspense novel like Shutter Island, Iain Reid delves into the depths of the human psyche, questioning consciousness, free will, the value of relationships, fear, and the limitations of solitude. Tense, gripping, and atmospheric, I’m Thinking of Ending Things pulls you in from the very first page… and never lets you go.
The Drowning Kind – Jennifer McMahon
When social worker Jax receives nine missed calls from her older sister, Lexie, she assumes that it’s just another one of her sister’s episodes. Manic and increasingly out of touch with reality, Lexie has pushed Jax away for over a year. But the next day, Lexie is dead: drowned in the pool at their grandmother’s estate. When Jax arrives at the house to go through her sister’s belongings, she learns that Lexie was researching the history of her family and their property. A history that is far darker than Jax ever imagined.
In 1929, thirty-seven-year-old newlywed Ethel Monroe hopes desperately for a baby. In an effort to distract her, her husband whisks her away on a trip to Vermont, where a natural spring is showcased by the newest and most modern hotel in the Northeast. Once there, Ethel learns that the water is rumoured to grant wishes, never suspecting that the spring takes in equal measure what it gives.
The Other – Thomas Tyron
Enchanted and terrified, the reader of The Other is swept up in the life of a Connecticut country town in the thirties, and in the fearful mysteries that slowly darken and overwhelm it.
Originally published back in 1971, The Other is one of the most influential horror novels ever written, and a perfect go-to if you’re wondering what to read after Shutter Island. Its impeccable recreation of small-town life and its skilful handling of the theme of personality transference between thirteen-year-old twins led to widespread critical acclaim.
The Devil And The Dark Water – Stuart Turton
It’s 1634 and Samuel Pipps, the world’s greatest detective, is being transported to Amsterdam to be executed for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. Travelling with him is his loyal companion, Arent Hayes, who is determined to prove his friend’s innocence. But no sooner are they out to sea than devilry begins to blight their voyage. A twice-dead leper stalks the decks. Strange symbols appear on the sails. Livestock is slaughtered. And then three passengers are marked for death, including Samuel.
Could a demon be responsible for their misfortunes? With Pipps imprisoned, only Arent can solve a mystery that connects every passenger onboard. A mystery that stretches back into their past and now threatens to sink the ship, killing everyone on board.
The Drift – C.J. Tudor
Hannah awakens to carnage, all mangled metal and splintered glass. During her escape from an isolated boarding school, her coach spun over a hillside road during a snowstorm, trapping her inside with a handful of survivors, a virus brewing and no means of getting help. Former detective Meg wakes up in a cable car suspended over a snowstorm, surrounded by strangers with no recollection of how she got there. Carter is gazing out the window of an abandoned ski chalet he and his colleagues call home. But as their generator begins to waver, the threat of something outside threatens to sever the fragile bonds they have established.
The Drift is the story of three ordinary people who risk everything for a chance at redemption. Audacious, ambitious, and gripping, it is one of the best C.J. Tudor books, and captures the same tense and claustrophobic feel of Shutter Island.
Check Out Our The Drift Book Review
The Last House On Needless Street – Catriona Ward
This is the story of a serial killer. A stolen child. Revenge. Death. And an ordinary house at the end of an ordinary street. All these things are true. And yet, they are all lies…
You think you know what’s inside the last house on Needless Street. You think you’ve read this story before. That’s where you’re wrong. In the dark forest at the end of Needless Street, lies something buried. But it’s not what you think…
Check Out The Best Books Like The Last House On Needless Street
Choke – Chuck Palahniuk
Needing to pay for elder care for his mother, Victor Mancini has devised an ingenious scam: he pretends to choke on pieces of food whilst dining in upscale restaurants. He then allows himself to be “saved” by fellow patrons who, feeling responsible for Victor’s life, go on to send checks to support him.
When he’s not pulling this stunt, Victor cruises sexual addiction recovery workshops for action, visits his addled mother, and spends his days working at a colonial theme park. His creator, Chuck Palahniuk, renowned author of classics like Fight Club, is the visionary we need and the satirist we deserve. Like Shutter Island, Choke is a book brimming with warped narration and deft depictions of psychological intensity.
Mystic River – Dennis Lehane
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. 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’s Dave, who came home the night of the murder covered in someone else’s blood. Another one of Dennis Lehane’s best works, Mystic River is similar to Shutter Island with its tense and unnerving atmosphere, through the lens of characters hurtling towards the darkest truths of their own hidden selves.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
