In an upcoming blog post, a guest blogger will review the film made of this book. But I thought I'd jump in and review the book first.
Author Gillian Flynn has crafted an intriguing story of two people in a marriage. She uses the clever device of doing each chapter in the point of view of either the husband, Nick, or the wife, Amy. Each chapter is told as a first person narrative, which brings the reader the deep point of view of the character.
Nick, a boy from Missouri, met and married wealthy, famous, Amy, a native Manhattanite. This book is their story. In the beginning, we find that Amy is missing. Nick comes home one afternoon and finds the house in slight disarray - an ironing board set up with a dress hanging up beside it and an iron (turned on) on the board. There is an ottoman overturned and other small things wrong. What has happened to Amy?
Nick's chapters written in the present time are alternated with excerpts from Amy's diary, written in the past.
As is the norm with these kind of situations, he soon becomes a suspect in whatever has happened to Amy. When the local police gather forensic evidence of their home, they find evidence of a substantial pool of blood that someone tried to eradicate. It proves to be Amy's. The investigation turns ugly. The public turns against Nick, thanks in part to a female talk show host who is a blond vigilante on the air. Sound like anyone we know? On her show the suspect is ALWAYS considered guilty unless proved otherwise.
Bit by bit, we learn Nick's story. In the middle of the book, the reader learns the truth about Amy, though the authorities and the public in the story do not. Believe me it was not a let-down to know the truth midway. If anything, it held me more riveted to the story than before.
This is a cleverly constructed psychological study of damaged people by a gifted writer. Honestly, even while I was finishing the first draft of my own novel, I couldn't wait to pick up the Kindle and read more of Gone Girl.
If you like intelligent mystery, this one definitely is for you.
It's available in all formats.
Great job, Ms. Glynn.
Purchase Link:
Amazon.com
Barnes and Noble
Look for the movie review on this blog coming soon.
I plan to see Mockingjay, Part 1 in the next few days. Look for a review of that film here in the near future.
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