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. (Cover photo and synopsis from Goodreads)

A Well-Written Mystery…

Gone Girl was the November selection for my book club, but I had seen a few reviews of the book beforehand, so I was intrigued from the beginning. It sounded like an interesting book, especially because of the mystery.  And Gillian Flynn definitely delivered on that point.  Readers will spend a lot of time changing their minds, believing at one moment that Nick killed his wife, and then the next moment swearing that there was no possible way that he could have done it.  

Readers will also go back and forth as to whether they like the characters of Nick and Amy, and may feel very strongly about other characters as well.  I think Flynn’s character development is fantastic.  She used so many little details to really make the characters, especially Amy and Nick, come alive. And at one point, Flynn had me feeling sorry for a character who really didn’t deserve it, and that, I think, takes some skill.  And the ending of Gone Girl will have both fans and critics, but it will still shock a majority of readers.

A Bit More Suspense, Maybe?

I really love suspenseful novels, and mystery and suspense really go hand in hand.  Yes, there was some suspense in this novel, and there was plenty of mystery, but there were only a few parts of the story where I really felt like I was on the edge of my seat.  Only a few scenes had me writing “Ooooh, creepy!” in my notebook.  A truly suspenseful novel would have had me biting my nails, writing furiously in my notebook about all the tension.  But perhaps Flynn wasn’t trying to write a suspenseful mystery?  Maybe I just went into the book thinking that it was going to be very suspenseful, almost like a horror story, but was disappointed when it wasn’t.  Either way, I think I would have preferred more suspense.  I did, however, enjoy the twists and turns along the way.

Great Quotes…

I think Flynn wrote the story beautifully as well.  There were several quotes that I just had to write down while reading–here are a few of my favorites: