Synopsis

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

Although I wasn’t absolutely immersed in ‘Gone Girl’ from the get go, I did get hooked after the first quarter of the book and then I had to just keep reading. ‘Gone Girl’ is one of those books that takes an insane amount of attention to detail to write. The most unique thing about this book is the time sequence of the chapters and the alternation of the two main POVs or main characters in the story. Flynn is masterful in her sequencing and in the way she develops the sordid story of Amy and Nick, a married couple experiencing anything but typical marital discord. The story opens with the disappearance of Amy, narrated in the POV of her young, attractive and somewhat unstable husband, Nick. The second chapter reveals a journal entry of Amy’s, way back to the time when she meets Nick for the first time. The story unfolds as the chapters alternate and we learn more and more about Amy’s disappearance from Nick’s POV (a day by day account which starts off on the day of Amy’s disappearance). Amy’s journal entries are sequenced quite the opposite. They start off with an entry that describes how Amy meets Nick and the alternating chapters progress in a forward fashion, taking us through Amy and Nick’s courtship and subsequently, their 5 year marriage.

Part 1 ends and Part 2 is narrated, again, in alternating POV chapters, but this time we don’t read Amy’s journal entries, we experience her disappearance as it happens, as she narrates the events take begin on the day of her disappearance. Part 2 reveals a surprise, one that was foreshadowed in Part 1. If you’re a careful and detailed reader, you will have guessed the surprise. If you’re a quick reader that just wants to get through the story, Part 2 will certainly surprise you. Either way, Flynn delivers a powerful twist in Part 2 and one that’s incredible well developed and carefully crafted from the outset. To say that Nick and Amy’s marriage, the disappearance, and the eventual re-unification are disturbing is an immense understatement. The entire story, including the twisted marriage and mind games played throughout, is fraught with emotional and psychological twists and turns of severe proportions. One can’t help but feel sorry for both main characters, but also despise them at the same time. This is a great read and because of it, I’ve already picked up Flynn’s two other books as I’m sure not to be disappointed. One thing, though, I was not a big fan of the way the last quarter of the story turned out. Without spoiling the plot, I will simply say that its turnout left me thinking, ‘really?’ and ‘is that really even possible?’ In fact, had Flynn concluded the story with a more realistic twist/ending, this would have been an absolute 5 star!