Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, is one of the two books I just finished reading and it's a book that my poor friends and family have had to listen to me go on and on about for two weeks now. Sometimes a book is just that gripping that you can't resist talking about it to anyone who will listen. For me, this was one of those books.
I don't read a lot of suspense novels but when I was perusing titles for my next read, it was the description for this book that really jumped out and intrigued me.
It is the story of Nick and Amy, a young married couple from two very different backgrounds. He is a working class transplant from a small town in Missouri and she is the daughter of two successful New York psychologist/authors and the inspiration for their series of children's books entitled Amazing Amy.
The couple meet and marry as they are both working in New York but the downward spiraling economy and the declining health of Nick's parents cause them to relocate to Missouri.
The book begins on the morning of Nick and Amy's five year anniversary when she suddenly turns up missing. As is so often the case in these real life dramas, it is the husband that is the focus of suspicion or the "person of interest"
The story is told in a first person narrative but from two alternating perspectives; Nick's voice and then Amy's diary.
I found this whodunnit story to be a current and smart read. There were elements that were predictable but there were also times that I found myself doubting my own conclusions. It makes me wonder if what I have heard about real life cases similiar to this has been presented with such a degree of bias or sensationalism that I have been duped into believing that an innocent person is guilty or a guilty person innocent. Indeed, life can sometimes be ambiguous and like life the ending to this book was rather frustrating. Then again, the ending was perhaps just an astute intellectual twist.
The main characters in the book are complex. As the story progressed I found my sympathies vacillating between Nick and Amy, as neither character is totally likable or entirely contemptible. I always think that is a necessary element in a well written book. The ancillary characters were more static but I found it compelling when their loyalties to Nick and their trust in him were tested and ultimately waivered.
This is not the first book by this author. Her other two books , Dark Places and Sharp Objects have also received abundant accolades, So I think I may need to add those titles to my "must read" list also.
As for Gone Girl, I truly doubt you will be disappointed if you decide to add this one to your own summer reading pile.
xoxo,
p
