Olivia Savitz studies psychology at New York University and has a particular interest in the psychology underpinning marketing strategies. Previously attending Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, Olivia Savitz found a detective fiction course interesting as she read classics of the genre such as Silence of the Lambs and Mystic River.
Published in 2001, the latter work represented a departure for author Dennis Lehane, as he replaced the graphic violence and crime depictions of books such as Gone, Baby, Gone with a more introspective penetration of the dark corners of the human psyche.
Mystic River takes place in a blue-collar neighborhood of Boston and brings focus to unspoken acts that come to haunt childhood friends decades later, when one of them experiences the loss of his 19-year-old daughter, who is murdered in a park. Grieving turns to a thirst for revenge, yet events are murky and the tangled web that unravels tests the bonds of friendship. Lehane’s breakthrough novel was applauded for its psychological acuity and willingness to address taboo subjects in a realistic way.
