Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn

Genre: Psychological Thriller, Fiction

Rating: 4.5 Stars

On his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne gets a call saying his front door is wide open.  He gets home to find his wife, Amy, missing, his living room a mess.  Written in two voices, Nick's in the first person and Amy's through her diaries, we are shown their life together before the disappearance and how the investigation goes on.  What seems like a happy marriage is quickly shown to be the opposite and as evidence piles up, you have to start wondering: did Nick kill his wife?

Wow.  Ok.  So I finished the book and I just...I don't know what to think.  Just when you're starting to think one thing - BAM! - the book changes course and it's something completely different.  I have never read anything like this before and it's hard to even write about it without giving away the amazing sucker punches it doles out.

When I first picked the book up, I was a little annoyed by the writing.  Both main characters, Nick and Amy, are writers, and since this is from their points of view, they come off as a bit haughty or pretentious.  You're good writers.  You went to college for writing.  We get it - no need to hit us over the head with it.  Luckily, the story is so interesting, I forgot about this and it stopped annoying me.  Then I started noticing how smart the book is.  Flynn has thought of everything and done so convincingly!  I mean, I'm not a police officer, but to me, it seemed very well planned out. 

This book is dark and it is disturbing as much as it is thrilling and not-put-down-able.  The best way to sum it up is a quote from The Princess Bride, "Life is pain! Anyone who tells you differently is selling something."

This book would make a great movie.  It would be the sit on the edge of your seat kind of movie. So why only 4.5 stars?  Because a) it's disturbing and b) I didn't care for the ending.  Although, bravo to Flynn for snubbing convention and writing it that way.

It was still good and if you liked messed up situations, pick it up.  If you like mind teasers, pick it up.  Or if you want to see what all the hype is about, pick it up.