Dark Places

A Novel

By: Gillian Flynn

Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman, Cassandra Campbell, Mark Deakins, Robertson Dean

Length: 13 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in "The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas". As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their tiny farmhouse into the freezing January snow. She lost some fingers and toes, but she survived, and famously testified that her 15-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer.

Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who've long forgotten her.

The Kill Club is a macabre secret society obsessed with notorious crimes. When they locate Libby and pump her for details, proof they hope may free Ben, Libby hatches a plan to profit off her tragic history. For a fee, she'll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club...and maybe she'll admit her testimony wasn't so solid after all.

As Libby's search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the narrative flashes back to January 2, 1985. The events of that day are relayed through the eyes of Libby's doomed family members, including Ben, a loner whose rage over his shiftless father and their failing farm have driven him into a disturbing friendship with the new girl in town.

Piece by piece, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started...on the run from a killer.

©2009 Gillian Flynn (P)2009 Random House

Critic reviews

"Gillian Flynn is the real deal, a sharp, acerbic, and compelling storyteller with a knack for the macabre." (Stephen King)

"A gritty, riveting thriller with a one-of-a-kind, tart-tongued heroine." (Booklist)

“A riveting tale of true horror by a writer who has all the gifts to pull it off.” (Chicago Tribune)

Very Mysterious

What made the experience of listening to Dark Places the most enjoyable?

How dark and mysterious it is! Listening to the past and the present is very mysterious and exciting at the same time!

What did you like best about this story?

All the story of Libby Day Now! Where she was going and what she was thinking was fun and the best parts of the book

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?

Libby Day Now!

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Not sure

Any additional comments?

Read this book cause of two reasons. 1. I love a good mystery and this was recommended.
2. There's a film coming out in 2014 with Charlize Theron playing Libby Day now and after reading this book I cannot wait for the movie! A must read book!

Dark and disturbing.

What did you love best about Dark Places?

It had me guessing up to the last hour.

What other book might you compare Dark Places to and why?

Any of Gillian Flynn's.

Which scene was your favorite?

The scene in the field, with the cows.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I felt sick at one point, had to turn away.

Any additional comments?

I read Dark Places after reading, and loving, Gone Girl and then Sharp Objects (both receiving five-star reviews). Gillian Flynn has become my go-to author for fantastically twisted thriller/mystery/suspense stories featuring severely flawed women protagonists, and Dark Places was true to form.

The story alternates between the present through Libby Day, a sole survivor of her family's massacre 25 years ago, a crime for which her older brother still remains in prison, and the past - that fateful day of the massacre unfolding in cringe-worthy detail, hour by hour, through members of the Day family. The reader learns details through the flashbacks as Libby discovers them in present day. However, the only reason she even bothers to investigate what happened when she was just 7 years old is because a Kill Club (whose members are obsessed with the crime and freeing her brother whom they believe is innocent of the killings) is paying her to do so. See? Severely flawed character!

Also true to form, Gillian Flynn keeps her readers in suspense until she throws her punch-to-the-gut ending twist just as one might lose faith that the mystery would ever be resolved.

Like Gone Girl and Sharp Objects, Dark Places is by no means a feel good tale. But like the other two, it will certainly entertain and shock throughout and stay with the reader long after the closing chapter.

Good book intriguing story but not scary

This book kept me interested the entire way. The ending is a little oh well but overall great. I would recommend this book based on story and intrigue not very scary.

This book will keep you on the edge of your seat!!

I thought this book was amazing!!! I could not stop listening and the narrator's were fantastic!!! This was my first book from audible and I plan on getting more!

Entertaining

I enjoyed the book. Not quit engaging as "Gone Girl" but it still kept my interest up to the very end.

WOW

Would you listen to Dark Places again? Why?

I would, in fact I have listened to it three times already.

Any additional comments?

I LOVE this book. It's my favourite book of all times, even though it's not a happy book. I just love the way Flynn makes her characters so interesting and even though the main character, Libby Day describes her soul (if drawn) as a scribble with fangs I find myself adoring her and her strenght.

It had great narrators and a very good pace.

My top three favourite books are written by Gillian Flynn and now all I do is wait for her new book. Any other books read or listened to is just passing time before I can finally get my fix of Gillian Flynn novels again.

Kept me guessing to the end

If you could sum up Dark Places in three words, what would they be?

Dark, suspenseful and unpredictable

What other book might you compare Dark Places to and why?

Same style as Gone Girl, but more suspense.

Which scene was your favorite?

My favorite scene was the unfolding of the day of the murders.

entertaining

I really like the way the book was written. I changed up some of my predictions throughout listening to this book and still didn't think of the correct outcome. it has a slow start, but is worth continuing. enjoy.

A riveting mystery

This mystery is one of the best I’ve listened to in years. Gillian Flynn is a master. It is dark and sometimes hard to hear the gristly details. The character development, as always with Flynn, is flawless.

Flynn doesn't get enough credit

After reading gone girl, and very much enjoying it, I decided to give Dark Places a try; I'm glad I did. Flynn is a good writer and tells a good story. The two don't necessarily have to go together.

The ending left a bit to be desired, being somewhat inconclusive and anti-climactic I think, but then again that's how life goes: things doesn't always fit together so as to make a perfect ending. And boy does Flynn like "life" in her stories. Very much appreciated. Not all happy endings and "good guy" save the day love stories.

The female readers of this book outperformed the males. The nonchalant attitude of Libby day was captured perfectly, as well as the life worn stuck- in-a-rut tone of Paddy Day. Even when the female reader did the Runner Day character I was expressed. She gave him a voice that seemed to capture the essence of the character Flynn was trying to portray.

Good read. I'll be moving on, and looking forward to, Sharp Objects.