Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Published: June 2012

Publisher: Crown Publishers

Pages: 419

Copy Provided by: Library

Summary: Goodreads

Summary:

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?

Review:

I don't normally like to post adult books on our blog because we dedicate the majority of our reviews to YA titles but Gone Girl has been on my TBR list for a few years now and with the release of the movie, I just had to see what all the hoopla was about.  So here it is.  I need to share this with you.  Gone Girl is one of the strangest, hard to put down reads I have ever experienced.  No, seriously...someone said this to me and I believe it - "there will be a point in the book (and you will know when it is) where you won't be able to put the book down and you will have to finish it until the end)."  So true...

So Gone Girl starts out as a mystery.  A man's wife disappears on their wedding anniversary and no one knows what has happened.  It looks like foul play but we slowly start to see the course of their lives unfold and how this "wreck" of a marriage has started to unravel.  There are layers and layers of resentment, guilt, betrayal, blame...all piling up like a car crash on life's highway.

What I found interesting in this book is how quickly we assume who the bad guy is.  Nick seems to be cruising for a beating from the police, the public eye and his in-laws.  He does all of the wrong things and on top of it all, appears to be completely emotionless about the entire ordeal.  So what happened to Amy?  Where is she? Is she even alive still?  The truth may turn out to be more shocking than you can imagine.  Don't see the movie.  Read the book first.  Your imagination always trumps the big screen.  I would highly recommend this read to any adult who can handle language, sex and some violence.  Just this once skip the YA section and read something considered "adult" :D