Sunday, October 27, 2013

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick Dunne’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick Dunne isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but hearing from Amy through flashbacks in her diary reveal the perky 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 left in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

My Take: Worst ending Ever! I won't spoil it for you, but I was very disappointed with the way she chose to finish the story. There were many ways the end could have been sculpted and it was a let down for me. In addition, I'm not a fan of first person writing, and this story was written with Amy speaking in first person and then switching to her husband Nick speaking in first person. Much of Amy's part was done in diary form where even there the writing was in a conversational tone. I found the story choppy with lots of fragmented sentences and uncomfortable to read. I hung in there only to see which way she would choose to end it and then that was the worst part. :-(

No comments: