What is it about a toxic marriage, strange disappearance, infidelity and police work that is so darn fascinating? I don't have to try too hard to bypass the tabloids, reality shows, and investigative reports, but a good 'who-done-it' novel will snag me every time. Gillian Flynn has written a real page-turning novel this time around - her newest, called Gone Girl, has been a real bestseller and I understand why.
Nick and Amy Dunne have a storybook relationship ... at first. All the lovey-dovey fades, though, after a few years of marriage, the onset of difficult employment circumstances, and a real come-down in their living situation. Somehow, Missouri just isn't the same as New York City for Nick and Amy. While Nick makes the adjustment by starting a neighborhood bar in his hometown with his twin sister and helps to shoulder the burden of caring for his gravely ill mother and senile father, Amy is at loose ends. She hates small town life, the fact that she's living in suburbia and not cool vibe Brooklyn, and the minutiae of tending house and kowtowing to her in-law's needs grates on her. This does not bode well for the marital relationship and as the 5th anniversary looms, Amy goes missing.
Where did Amy go? Is Nick the hapless and crushed husband of a murdered wife or a conniving low-life murderer? The reader is left to try figuring the angles and coming up with the solution to this thorny situation. Amy's and Nick's point of view is set out in alternating chapters that reveal just how messed up their marriage has become and just what these two will do to push each other's buttons.
I could not put this book down ... and right up to the last few pages, I was shaking my head and wondering how things were going to come out for all concerned. The last book that did this to me was Scott Turow's Presumed Innocent . Flynn's novel can proudly sit next to Turow's on the crimie shelf at the library! Good job, Ms. Flynn!
Now, I hear the movie rights have been bought up by Reese Witherspoon ... THERE'S a perfect role for her! Can't wait to see if she can pull it off!
I guess I need to give this book anouther chance. I started it and found I wasn't interested in the characters so I abandoned it. My sister really liked it and says I should give it another go. It sounds better in your review than it seemed in the first few pages. Maybe it just wasn't the moment for me and Gone Girl.
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