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Gone Girl  By  cover art

Gone Girl

By: Gillian Flynn
Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Kirby Heyborne
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Editorial review


By Mysia Haight, Audible Editor

PSYCH OUT—THE JAW-DROPPING GENIUS OF GONE GIRL

Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl is among the all-time best crafted stories told by unreliable narrators—two of them, the perfect couple—and a gripping thriller filled with jaw-dropping twists. This dark mystery novel also shines a critical light on the media-fueled public rush to judge people suspected of crimes who, regardless of the evidence, simply look guilty—an unsettling trend that has only escalated in the decade since the book’s release. Along with its critique of media exploitation, the novel has been widely embraced—and hotly debated—as a manifesto of modern feminism.

Ten years ago, I was approaching that dreaded life stage—middle age. After years of doing my best to be a good wife, mother, aunt, sister, daughter, and friend; a good worker, mentor, and role model; and a good listener, problem solver, and crisis manager, I was feeling taken for granted and restless. What if I did something unexpected, something out of character—something bad?

Happily, I satisfied my yearnings by becoming immersed in the brilliant mind and devious machinations of Amy Elliott Dunne, the hero (or, depending on your perspective, villain) of Gone Girl. When it was published in 2012, Gillian Flynn’s ingenious novel about a missing wife and the husband increasingly implicated in her ominous disappearance stirred up a lot of buzz. As an avid fan of psychological thrillers, unreliable narrators, and contemporary fiction driven by strong, complicated women, I couldn’t wait to read it. And I was blown away! In spite of her questionable (to put it extremely mildly) actions, I found Amy, an amazing woman who was taken for granted—first by her parents and then by her husband—relatable and, yes, sympathetic. I kept rooting for her to get the life she wanted, even when I was appalled by what she did and who she hurt to make that happen.

Has Gone Girl changed my life? Well, it didn’t motivate me to change for the badder—old good habits die hard. Yet, thanks in part to Amy and other remarkable women characters like her, I’ve gradually become better at speaking up for myself and getting heard.

Years after first reading Gone Girl, I haven't forgotten Amy. I love the way Rosamund Pike brought her to life in the 2014 film adaptation, which I've watched in its entirety three times with three different women—my sister, my niece, and my daughter. So when I discovered that one of my favorite narrators, the remarkable Julia Whelan, voices Amy in the audiobook, I just had to go back and listen. Her performance is brilliant—so believable, it's chilling—and even though I know every twist in her twisted story, Amy continues to amaze me!

Continue reading Mysia's review >

Publisher's summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The “mercilessly entertaining” (Vanity Fair) instant classic “about the nature of identity and the terrible secrets that can survive and thrive in even the most intimate relationships” (Lev Grossman, Time)—now featuring never-before-published deleted scenes

NAMED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY CNN AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY TIME AND ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Janet Maslin, The New York TimesPeopleEntertainment WeeklyO: The Oprah MagazineSlateKansas City StarUSA TodayChristian Science Monitor

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?

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY San Francisco ChronicleSt. Louis Post-DispatchThe Chicago TribuneHuffPostNewsday

©2012 Gillian Flynn (P)2012 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Absorbing . . . In masterly fashion, Flynn depicts the unraveling of a marriage—and of a recession-hit Midwest—by interweaving the wife’s diary entries with the husband’s first-person account.”The New Yorker

“Ms. Flynn writes dark suspense novels that anatomize violence without splashing barrels of blood around the pages . . . Ms. Flynn has much more up her sleeve than a simple missing-person case. As Nick and Amy alternately tell their stories, marriage has never looked so menacing, narrators so unreliable.”The Wall Street Journal

“The story unfolds in precise and riveting prose . . . even while you know you’re being manipulated, searching for the missing pieces is half the thrill of this wickedly absorbing tale.”O: The Oprah Magazine

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Editor's Pick: Best of the Decade

Get to the gone
"I’m a sucker for great story structure, and Gone Girl uses every inch of its narrative to subvert expectations in ways that shock and amuse. The perfectly utilized diary entries fold into a legendary mid-book reveal. The face-turn-heel of a seemingly perfect victim who revels in the way they’ve expertly managed your expectations. The unreliable narrators who reveal so much about themselves by what they don’t say—or how they shape emotional states into origami. And it all feels fair; while most twist-filled stories tend to seem rather flimsy under a microscope, the closer you look at Gillian Flynn’s masterpiece, the more you notice the sheer togetherness of it all, each part working in concert with another, coalescing to form a story that has one finger firmly on the pulse of popular culture, and one on the carotid of a serial killer."—Sean T., Audible Editor

What listeners say about Gone Girl

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Gone Girl Spectacular

Twists and Turns that I didn't see coming!! Held my interest with amazingly strange suspense!!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Had me until the end. Terrible ending.

I really liked the book up until like after book three or chapter 3? The ending was very disappointing that last chapter in itself was just very disappointing.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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exhilarating!

This book had me on edge the whole time! Amy was such a cool character!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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So good

This book is so twisted. I finished it in 2 days. The movie is pretty close to it also.

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Great Stuff!

Great book, lots of twist & turns, new concepts, and very smart story lines. ok

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

I didn’t love it but I finished it, reluctantly.

The main characters were not interesting or likable. The writing was excellent. The plot was silly. The narration was excellent.

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Almost Amazing

I don't think this book lives up to the hype. The ending is a little disappointing... I guess I wanted to be startled or shocked somehow but it's just more of same for the characters. And the story in general is pessimistic... the characters are flat and almost every one is a bad person--not just flawed but shallow, self absorbed and frequently psychotic--so if you're the kind of reader who wants a good guy to root for you won't find one here. The narration is generally good except that the timber of the male narrators voice is irritating and took some time to get used to.

With that said it was entertaining, I liked the layout, going back and forth from Nick's point of view to Amy's (and especially her diary entries). The plot is very solid with some good twists and surprises.

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Amazing

As a veteran of many, many mysteries and psychological thrillers, I almost always anticipate the ending. This book was crafted to make me think I had it figured out and then it changed again. Absolute mastery. The performance was spectacular. One of my favorite audible books ever. Very different but like hearing the first Harry Potter tape.

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Perfection

I love all the extra details that the movie doesn’t show. The performance was awesome. Worth your credit. Trust me

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What kind of ending was that!?!?!! (Possible Spoilers)

As I was going through reading this I recommended it to my boyfriend, I wanted his perspective on this type of story. It has a bit of a different take than some other “Mysteries” like it. I kept hoping to see justice and that the Psycho Bitch would be caught.... that was down right the worst ending of any book that I have ever read!!! I was so pissed at the lack of substance for the ending. Talk about anticlimactic !! All the damn build up, just for it to go absolutely freaking nowhere!!! There was stuff to work with too! The author could have gave it a better ending and could have gave it more substance. The ending just kind of, well ends. It seemed like a half assed,lazy and rushed way to finish out the book. I told my boyfriend not to bother reading it and it made me not even want to see the movie. Sorry if this seems harsh but, wow! Worst freaking ending ever!!

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