Shutter by Melissa LarSen
A young woman agrees to star in a filmmaker's latest project, but soon realizes the movie is not what she expected in this chilling debut novel.
In the wake of her father's death, Betty Roux doesn't allow herself to mourn. Instead, she pushes away her mother, breaks up with her boyfriend, and leaves everything behind to move to New York City. She doesn't know what she wants, except to run.
When she's offered the chance to play the leading role in mysterious indie filmmaker Anthony Marino's new project, she jumps at the opportunity. For a month Betty will live in a cabin on a private island off the coast of Maine, with a five-person cast and crew. Her mother warns against it, but Betty is too drawn to the charismatic Anthony to say no.
Anthony gives her a new identity--Lola--and Betty tells herself that this is exactly what she's been looking for. The chance to reinvent herself. That is, until they begin filming and she meets Sammy, the island's caretaker, and Betty realizes just how little she knows about the movie and its director
My Review
Starting this one felt like a feat at first. One that I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue with but I was pleasantly surprised by where it took me. By the end, I couldn’t tell who the villain was and my feelings on the protagonist changed drastically throughout.
At first it, Betty seems like a lost girl. Running from home across the country to an old high-school friend to escape the tragedy of her father committing suicide and leaver her judging mother behind. She had hopes of becoming an actress, of being someone other than herself. That’s exactly what she gets when she meets Anthony Marino. A movie director with one hit under his belt and a new movie idea in the works.
They meet through Sophia, Betty’s high-school friend and her boyfriend Ben. They both have nothing but good things to say about Anthony and seem to swept up in the idea of him more than the reality of who is really is.
Following the small movie group blindly, Betty find herself on a private island in Maine. Away from everything and everyone she was running from but not herself. As the movie takes shape, she realizes not only can she become her character but also that the image of her is directed by Anthony’s past.
Once on the island, the group finds an easy routine until Sammy arrives. A man from Anthony’s childhood that holds the key to the project, unknown to Betty. As things start to unravel, Anthony comes clean about his intentions with Sammy and believes he has to exact revenge on the man for his past transgressions. Little do they all know just how dangerous Sammy is and what Betty will do for the project and Anthony to save them all.