Staff Pick
Both a cautionary tale for bad men and a clarion call for unhappy women, Gone Girl is a compelling page-turner that does not let up. Every few pages another bombshell drops, and the tension is exquisite! While Nick Dunne lackadaisically plans to show up for his fifth-wedding-anniversary celebration, his wife, Amy, has gone to the usual lengths by preparing poetry, a clue-filled treasure hunt, and a year-appropriate gift. There's obviously a slight disparity in their views on the occasion, and in fact, there is disparity in everything in the Dunnes' marriage. When Nick comes home to the scene of a struggle and his wife has disappeared, the nightmare to follow is miles beyond anything he imagines. Chilling, smart, and absolutely humming with barely contained panic, Gone Girl is one fast-paced, thrilling read you shouldn't miss. Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
THE #1
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
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. 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?
Review
“Ice-pick-sharp… Spectacularly sneaky… Impressively cagey… Gone Girl is Ms. Flynn’s dazzling breakthrough. It is wily, mercurial, subtly layered and populated by characters so well imagined that they’re hard to part with — even if, as in Amy’s case, they are already departed. And if you have any doubts about whether Ms. Flynn measures up to Patricia Highsmith’s level of discreet malice, go back and look at the small details. Whatever you raced past on a first reading will look completely different the second time around.” Janet Maslin, New York Times
Review
“[A] thoroughbred thriller about the nature of identity and the terrible secrets that can survive and thrive in even the most intimate relationships. Gone Girl begins as a whodunit, but by the end it will have you wondering whether there’s any such thing as a who at all.” Lev Grossman, Time
Review
“Gillian Flynn’s third novel is both breakneck-paced thriller and masterful dissection of marital breakdown.…Wickedly plotted and surprisingly thoughtful, this is a terrifically good read.” Boston Globe
Review
“Gillian Flynn's new novel, Gone Girl, is that rare thing: a book that thrills and delights while holding up a mirror to how we live.…Through her two ultimately unreliable narrators, Flynn masterfully weaves the slow trickle of critical details with 90-degree plot turns.…Timely, poignant and emotionally rich, Gone Girl will peel away your comfort levels even as you root for its protagonists — despite your best intuition.” San Francisco Chronicle
Review
“It’s simply fantastic: terrifying, darkly funny and at times moving. The minute I finished it I wanted to start it all over again. Admirers of Gillian Flynn’s previous books, Sharp Objects and Dark Places, will be ecstatic over Gone Girl, her most intricately twisted and deliciously sinister story, dangerous for any reader who prefers to savor a novel as opposed to consuming it whole in one sitting.…” Associated Press
Review
“Gillian Flynn's barbed and brilliant Gone Girl has two deceitful, disturbing, irresistible narrators and a plot that twists so many times you'll be dizzy. This 'catastrophically romantic' story about Nick and Amy is a 'fairy tale reverse transformation' that reminded me of Patricia Highsmith in its psychological suspense and Kate Atkinson in its insanely clever plotting.” Minneapolis Star-Tribune
Review
“To call Gillian Flynn's new novel almost review-proof isn't a put-down, it's a fact. That's because to give away the turn-of-the-screw in this chilling portrait of a marriage gone wrong would be a crime. I can say that Gone Girl is an ingenious whodunit for both the Facebook generation and old-school mystery buffs. Whoever you are, it will linger, like fingerprints on a gun.…Flynn's characters bloom and grow, like beautiful, poisonous plants. She is a Gothic storyteller for the Internet age.” Cleveland Plain Dealer
Review
“Gone Girl [is] a thriller with an insane twist and an insidiously realistic take on marriage.” New York magazine
Review
“A perfect wife’s disappearance plunges her husband into a nightmare as it rips open ugly secrets about his marriage and, just maybe, his culpability in her death.…One of those rare thrillers whose revelations actually intensify its suspense instead of dissipating it. The final pages are chilling.” Kirkus (starred review)
Review
“[W]hat looks like a straightforward case of a husband killing his wife to free himself from a bad marriage morphs into something entirely different in Flynn’s hands. As evidenced by her previous work (Sharp Objects, 2006, and Dark Places, 2009), she possesses a disturbing worldview, one considerably amped up by her twisted sense of humor. Both a compelling thriller and a searing portrait of marriage, this could well be Flynn’s breakout novel. It contains so many twists and turns that the outcome is impossible to predict.” Booklist (starred review)
Review
"Flynn cements her place among that elite group of mystery/thriller writers who unfailingly deliver the goods....Once again Flynn has written an intelligent, gripping tour de force, mixing a riveting plot and psychological intrigue with a compelling prose style that unobtrusively yet forcefully carries the reader from page to page." Library Journal (starred review)
Review
"Flynn masterfully lets this tale of a marriage gone toxically wrong gradually emerge through alternating accounts by Nick and Amy, both unreliable narrators in their own ways. The reader comes to discover their layers of deceit through a process similar to that at work in the imploding relationship. Compulsively readable, creepily unforgettable, this is a must read for any fan of bad girls and good writing." Publishers Weekly (starred review)
About the Author
Gillian Flynn is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Gone Girl and the New York Times bestsellers Dark Places and Sharp Objects. A former writer and critic for Entertainment Weekly, her work has been published in forty-two countries. She lives in Chicago with her husband and son.