Overview from Barnes and Noble:
Marriage can be a real killer.
One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time, New York Times bestseller Gillian Flynn takes that statement to its darkest place in this unputdownable masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong. The Chicago Tribune proclaimed that her work “draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction.” Gone Girl’s toxic mix of sharp-edged wit and deliciously chilling prose creates a nerve-fraying thriller that confounds you at every turn.
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?
With her razor-sharp writing and trademark psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller that confirms her status as one of the hottest writers around.
One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time, New York Times bestseller Gillian Flynn takes that statement to its darkest place in this unputdownable masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong. The Chicago Tribune proclaimed that her work “draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction.” Gone Girl’s toxic mix of sharp-edged wit and deliciously chilling prose creates a nerve-fraying thriller that confounds you at every turn.
On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?
With her razor-sharp writing and trademark psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller that confirms her status as one of the hottest writers around.
My thoughts:
I started this book as an audio book and then switched to print so that I could read it faster. (I also read it a few months ago so it isn't as fresh in my mind as it was when I finished it.) I just had to see what was going to happen. At first it seems like Nick is the worst husband in the world, making his wife leave the city she loves to come to his hometown where she has no friends and no hope of a job, but from there things change. Amy is missing, and has gone missing on her fifth wedding anniversary, Nick is having an affair with a younger girl and working at a bar he owns with his sister, the police think he is responsible for whatever befell his wife.
From the beginning I wondered if Nick could really be that self centered and cold and if Amy could really be as perfect and accommodating as she seemed in her diary, but from there it just goes. Hearing Amy in her own voice, not her journal voice, but her actual voice changes everything. Is she alive or is she dead, where did she go and why, who is she with and is it because she wants to be there or has she been taken. The book leads you through quite a few twists and turns and each time I thought I was onto how it was going to play out something new would be thrown into the mix. I don't want to give anything away, although at this point I am sure there are plenty of spoilers out there, but I have to say I have some conflicted feelings about the ending, it just doesn't seem fair, but nothing about this book or this marriage really seem fair.
The book also brings up questions of what we are all capable of doing and being. How much manipulation can twist a relationship and when should someone feel guilt. Can someone be so broken inside that he or she is unable to feel guilt or see things from someone else's perspective. This was well written and suspenseful, but quite unsettling.
Product Details
- ISBN-13: 9780307588364
- Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
- Publication date: 6/5/2012
- Pages: 432
Meet the Author
GILLIAN FLYNN is the author of the New York Times bestseller Dark Places, which was a New Yorker Reviewers’ Favorite, Weekend TODAY Top Summer Read, Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2009, and Chicago Tribune Favorite Fiction choice; and the Dagger Award winner Sharp Objects, which was an Edgar nominee for Best First novel, a BookSense pick, and a Barnes & Noble Discover selection. Her work has been published in twenty-eight countries. She lives in Chicago with her husband and son.
I read this a few months ago. I wasn't sure if it would live up to all the hype but it did! And I was so glad I hadn't heard any spoilers. It's being made into a movie and I wonder if it will be as good.
ReplyDeleteGreat review!