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Amy Desselle, book review, disappearance, Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl, lies, Missouri, mystery, New York, psychological thriller
It is an absolute shame that Gillian Flynn’s new novel, “Gone Girl” is not at the top of every bestseller list.
This psychological thriller is rife with twists and turns, betrayals, lies and not one but two unreliable narrators. With a plot that moves at a breakneck speed and is full of pitch-black humor and multifaceted characters, this book is almost impossible to put down.
The story begins with Nick Dunne describing his wife, Amy, on the very day of her disappearance, which also happens to be their fifth wedding anniversary; blood traces on the kitchen floor, an upturned living room, the front door gaping open ominously.
When Nick and Amy met in New York years earlier, a whirlwind romance began and they were quickly married and settled in their dream home. Things take a turn for the worse when they both lose their jobs as writers, Amy loses her trust fund and they return to Nick’s childhood home in Missouri to take care of his sick mother. Their relationship continues to spiral downward with the loss of the lovely money and the tension grows rapidly between the couple.
And with the mysterious disappearance of Amy, Nick quickly becomes the prime suspect. The game is afoot.
The ensuing investigation is told through alternating points of view: Nick’s dialogue contrasted with Amy’s diaries entries; two versions of the story which could not contradict each other more.
The interplay between Nick and Amy is a fascinating glimpse into a world where love and hate, sanity and insanity are separated by the thinnest of lines. Both are consummate liars with their own agendas. The reader is constantly misdirected by the opposing accounts of Nick and Amy.
Gillian Flynn in absolute control of the narrative. The writing is sharp, even vicious. The characters are flawlessly developed. Flynn’s cultural commentary and observations about the true nature of relationships and marriage are as sharp as her prose.
After throwing out the conventional formulas and writing an unflinching, brutal and brilliant mystery, Flynn turned the whole genre on it’s head. Not only is “Gone Girl” a book that is entirely delightful to read and hard to put down, it is smart. Flynn may have just proved that a crime thriller can be literary at the same time.
The vivid characterization and Flynn’s willingness to flay open her characters, lay out their every weakness, insecurity and flaw is what enables any reader to connect to Nick and Amy. The things that are presented for the reader to relate to aren’t going to be pretty but there will at least be empathy. This is the greatest success of the novel.
“Gone Girl” makes sure you’ll never forget that there really are two sides to every story.
Scooped Books 