Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
He promised to take care of me, and yet I feel afraid. I feel like something is going wrong, very wrong, and that it will get even worse. – From the diary of Amy Dunne
The setup for Gone Girl, the third book from critically acclaimed author Gillian Flynn, is deceptively simple. Having both recently lost their jobs in the writing industry, married couple Nick and Amy Dunne move from New York City back to Nick’s hometown of North Carthage, Missouri. Using the last of Amy’s trust fund money Nick opens a bar with his twin sister and the Dunnes try to adjust to their new life.
Two years into their residence in North Carthage, on the day of their fifth wedding anniversary actually, Nick returns home from the bar to find signs of a violent struggle in their house on the Mississippi River, but no sign of Amy. The police are called, a search is launched, and the reader is primed for what seems to be a routine where is she/whodunit mystery.
Folks, there is nothing routine about Gone Girl.
Told in chapters that alternate between Nick’s and Amy’s point of view, author Gillian Flynn presents Gone Girl as the ultimate case study of a marriage that has gone horribly off the rails. Not all at once, mind you, but slowly, painfully over time, like watching video of a building imploding in slow motion. Divided into three sections, Gone Girl is a masterful piece of writing that knows precisely which buttons to push for optimal manipulation, both between Nick and Amy as well as between Flynn and the reader. The more Flynn reveals the less the reader actually knows, as every little detail and nuance which came before is continually cast into doubt and shadows by subsequent discoveries and reveals.
Though it’s clear almost from the outset neither Nick nor Amy is a reliable narrator – Nick keeps lying about seemingly inconsequential things, Amy seems just a little too perfect in her diary entries – the question remains exactly how unreliable is each, and due to what motivations? Gone Girl has the feeling that nothing is quite as is seems, and challenges the reader to continually sift through details and reassess information against an ever-shifting scale of trustworthiness. The difference between keeping readers off-balance and making them feel betrayed is an extremely fine line, yet it’s one Flynn skates with supreme confidence and razor edge precision.
Gone Girl is sure to be one of the summer’s hottest reads, and demonstrates in no uncertain terms that author Gillian Flynn is one of the hottest rising stars in the world of psychological mysteries/thrillers.
Gone Girl is available from Crown Publishing Group (ISBN: 978-0307588364).
– CONTEST: Win a copy of Gone Girl –
Be sure to visit all of Gillian Flynn’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS
You may also like
About Post Author
Congratulations to Sarah Husmann, who was selected by Random.org as the contest’s winner.
Yay! Thank you!! =)
I can’t wait to read this book! Thanks for the wonderful review and contest.
Please don’t enter me in the giveaway – I already own a copy!
I just wanted to say that I loved your review! As I said, I already own a copy of the book, but I haven’t read it yet. I keep hearing great things about it though and I can’t wait to read it!!
Thank you!
Pingback : Life in Review: “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn + Giveaway! « Life In Review
I have been dying to get my hands on this book!
I’ve read “Sharp Objects” and “Dark Places” by Gillian Flynn, and loved both. So far, “Dark Places” is my favorite (and I’ve heard that Amy Adams MIGHT be starring in a movie version…SO EXCITED for that that to happen!), and I absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on a copy of “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn. Her dark, atmospheric writing is truly commendable! 😀
Thank you for hosting this giveaway! 😀
This sounds incredibly complicated in a good way … what a mind twister!
Thanks for being on the tour. I’m featuring your review on TLC’s Facebook page today.
My pleasure, and thank you!
Pingback : Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl, on tour June 2012 | TLC Book Tours
I keep reading how GONE GIRL is a fantastic read, so I’m now interested in reading it, lol. Thanks for the review and giveaway.
Laura Kay
anovelreview(@)yahoo(.)com
Please enter my name in the draw for a chance to win a copy of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl. Thanks, much appreciated.
Elizabeth, between you and Michelle I’m now dying to read Gillian Flynn. Her stuff sounds great.
You will not be disappointed.
SHARP OBJECTS by Gillian Flynn is one of my top ten fave books of all time. I try to get as many people to read it as possible.
I have been looking forward to GONE GIRL since I read about it. Gillian Flynn definitely lures you in and wraps you up tight in her world. I love it. Great review, Ms. Elizabeth. 😉
And the scary thing is she just keeps getting better!
Sounds like a great summer read! Can’t wait to get it (or maybe win it!). Thank you for the review & I look forward to more!
Thanks for stopping by.
I’ve heard a lot of great things about this author. Great review, Elizabeth. I’m looking forward to picking this one up!
Hi, Elizabeth. I found you via a Twitter tweet. Wonderful interview, and please count me in.
Thank you, and you are! 😉
I cant wait to pick up this book. The reviews are overwhelming good.
And deservedly so.
I have been waiting for this book for what seems like a year now. Gillian Flynn’s first two books completely knocked me on my ass, and the fact that GONE GIRL is getting such high praise only makes me want to read it more. Another great review, Elizabeth!
Thank you! 🙂
This sounds wonderful, Elizabeth.
This is my favorite kind of book. It has also been listed as one of Amazon’s “best of the month.”
Love this site.If you have a way to follow it, I’m going to follow. Thanks.
Elizabeth, is there some way that I can follow by email? I’ll follow you on Goodreads, but email is best.
RSS feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ElizabethAWhite
XML mail feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/ElizabethAWhite?format=xml
Thanks for reading and following. 🙂