Terror Behind the Lens .. SHUTTER (thriller book review)

Look, we’ve all been there. Something major—life-shifting, even (a breakup or divorce, a death, losing a job, etc.)—suddenly happens, out of the blue, and just like that we’re smack-dab-in-the-middle of a fight-or-flight response… and we choose flight. 

[If you haven’t ever been there, consider yourself lucky. Or not. I mean, how do you ever grow, or really find out what you’re made of— underneath that carefully-managed facade you show to the world—unless you experience some sort of monumental shift (which is usually some sort of trauma)?]

Author Melissa Larsen takes her protagonist on just such a journey in Shutter. 

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Betty Roux is that timeless, could-hail-from-anywhere kind of young woman: somewhere in her early 20s, still trying to find herself, and her response to her father’s suicide? Unceremoniously dumping her longish-term boyfriend, then spontaneously catching a flight from northern California to New York City (a place she’s never been), to… well, she hasn’t exactly worked out what the rest of that particular plan is.

But, the fates smile kindly on nice, pretty Betty. A one-time friend of hers from junior high, Sophía, is now married and living in Manhattan, so Betty rings her up, and—in no time flat—finds herself bunking with the happy couple in their small apartment. She gets a part-time job as a dog walker. (None of it is “glamorous”, but what it is, most assuredly, is different from her previous life… which is enough for Betty, for now.)

So, when Sophía and Ben invite her to meet a semi-famous (of the one-hit-wonder, thus far, variety) actor/director buddy of Ben’s at a bar one night, Betty goes along with it (just another part of what passes for “normal” in this new life she’s carving out for herself)… equal parts excited, nervous, and curious; why would someone who once wrote, directed, and starred in an acclaimed indie film even want to meet her? (And does that even matter?)

Anthony Marino is everything Betty could’ve dreamed and more… handsome, interesting, smart, and oh-so-different. And, way more importantly… he wants her to star in his (long overdue) second film.

The fact that he refuses point-blank to tell her what it’s about, or whom she’ll be working with, or really anything—and that there isn’t a script? (Wait, did I mention she’s in her early-to-mid-20s? Yeah, you can work out how long it takes her to say yes, I’m pretty sure.)

Things take a decided turn for the even-more-bizarre pretty soon, though… when Anthony, she, Sophía, and Ben pile into a little van and drive (and drive… and drive) to the middle of nowhere… stopping only long enough at some podunk train station to pick up another actor—Mads, the younger man who co-starred in Anthony’s (only other) film—before hitting the road and driving some more.

As for their destination? It’s a cabin, on a tiny, remote, private island, which apparently belongs to Anthony’s family. Also, it’s a place which only a couple of long-term local staff ever boat over to, to help out. That’s where the five of them will be, for the next month or so, filming… well, the movie. (Remember, no script.)

It’s only when Anthony springs it on her that she WILL be changing her appearance—cutting and bleaching her hair, and wearing a very different wardrobe than how she normally dresses—and that she will henceforth be called “Lola”, that Betty starts to worry.

But she’s already said yes, and accepted the first payment for her “acting” role…

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There are probably reviews or write-ups out there that give spoilers as to what happens… but trust me, you don’t want to know what happens, ahead of time, because that would ruin the uneasiness that you really need to feel, for this story to actually work. There is a genuine sense of unease, when reading it, putting yourself into Betty’s shoes… and that’s the self-same reason you’ll find, like me, that you may not really want to put it down.

But. (Ah, the power of that tiny word, right?) What you’ll make of what happens, in Shutter, is the thing which really interests me. 

Is it possible to like a book, in which you don’t really like any of the characters… not to mention, kinda-sorta hate the ending? (That’s a rhetorical question, for which I have yet to come up with a complete answer.) Because here’s the thing: I really do NOT like the characters in Shutter. None of them, not one single little bit. 

Betty is juvenile, to the nth degree (and why she pretends to be unfamiliar with Anthony Marino and his previous movie--when she's actually a huge fan to the point of obsession--is... never explained, so that's also annoying). Sophía and Ben are basically wallpaper; in other words, they’re not really given enough page time to be anything more than “the friends”. Mads, in the role of protege, is  merely a derivative he-man type filler. Anthony (oddly enough) may be the most believable of this sorry lot—what? I know A LOT of actors—but that doesn’t make him sympathetic, interesting, or, you know, likable. And the final couple of characters, that you’ll meet, well… I suppose they’re best given the title “plot devices”. 

As for the ending [again, a reminder that you’re in a spoiler-free zone, here, so no worries], I really, REALLY didn’t care for it. For me to buy that finale—and to feel good about it—I really would’ve needed to find someone (anyone!) here, charismatic and compelling, and… I didn’t.

All of that said, though, am I upset that I read the entire book, only to be disappointed (as detailed above)? No, surprisingly, I’m not. There was suspense—maintained throughout—and perhaps the larger issue is that I’ve met too many of these people IRL… self-absorbed, or childish, or obsessed, or… whatever, for the work to really strike a chord with me. Also, as always, YMMV, so Shutter winds up a 50/50 recommendation, from me; you might like it, and you might not… but at least you’ll probably make it through on suspense, alone.

~GlamKitty