Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

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? 

I've been sitting on this review trying to figure out how I truly feel about this book.  Well, I'm still conflicted.  On the one hand this was a book that I couldn't put down, on the other I despised the ending, the unnecessary crudity in the writing and the predictability of the storyline.   

 

Gone Girl has two distinct voices, Nick, the unconcerned husband, and Amy, the unhappy, unloved wife.  Both voices are strong, even if some of the things they are saying are a bit fishy.  From the start I didn't like Amy but I don't think that was the authors intent.  As I read on this feeling grew stronger even after discovering that Nick was no saint.  So there was never a "Oh my gosh" moment for me, I guess that is why I say this book is predictable. 

 

On the surface Gone Girl is a mystery, but mystery lovers will be highly disappointed.  It is nothing more than an ultra dark chick lit book.  Demented and disturbing don't even begin to describe the content within the covers of this book.  I'm all for a dark demented story but what I didn't need, and got beat over the head with, was the crude narrative from both characters.  It did nothing to enhance the voices of the characters or describe the situations, it just read as tawdry unnecessary words.

 

What I did love is how Gillian takes major marital issues like money, employment, children, infidelity, and trust and mixed them into a toxic formula that propels both characters to do things no practical human would ever consider.  This and this alone is what made the book compelling. However the reader doesn't know this is going on until halfway through the novel, so getting through the first 200 or so pages can drag. 

 

This will be a book that I will never forget and one that would make a great book club discussion. 

 

 

New rides were introduced, including the Water Scooter - managed by an up-and-comer named Joe Rinaldi, who also ran the Dodgem cars - and a hair-raising new coaster, the Lake Placid Bobsled, whose steep drops and hairpin turns could hardly have been called "placid."

pg 56 of Palisades Park