Gone Girl

A Novel

By: Gillian Flynn

Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Kirby Heyborne

Length: 19 hrs and 57 mins

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 Times • People • Entertainment Weekly • O: The Oprah Magazine • Slate • Kansas City Star • USA Today • Christian 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 Chronicle • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Chicago Tribune • HuffPost • Newsday

©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

Excellent writing and performance.

The book is pitch perfect: not a word out of place, well-plotted, and thoroughly creepy. But oh my gosh, I hate evil-conquers-all fiction. This is just not the genre for me. But excellent choice if it's the genre for you.

I had to go read some Jane Austen to get the narrators' horrifying (I mean, perfectly written, but morally repugnant) voices out of my head.

#clever #gaslighting #sweepstakes #tagsgiving

I wish I wrote this phenomenally!

Great story and very well thought out. The pacing, plot twists and answers to the reader's "what about ____" questions is excellent.

Twisted...and entertaining

This story kept me guessing to the end while swapping my allegiances to its main characters like an erratic pendulum. Thoroughly entertaining, masterfully narrated, and believable...this was my first Gillian Flynn read and, if her other stories are as good as this, I'll definitely read more.

Gaaaa!

I really enjoyed this audio book. The actors reading the His as Her diary entries back and forth in the characters voices were very well done. First you love the characters. Then you hate the characters. Then you hate them again! The twists in the story line were well played. Entertaining read for my drive to work and back. I found myself sneaking away from my family to listen for the last four hours of the book. Great listen.

narration

to be honest I couldn't even finish this on audiobook the narrations were so annoying to me

Predictable

May have been a better movie than a book. (Not sure, haven't seen it yet)
Dramatic camera work, visuals, photography could make this story gripping and fun... But as a book, it is far from one of my favorites. i won't even say I was satisfied.

Trying Too Hard

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would recommend this to some friends. I thought the plot was good and had a lot of potential, but that the ending was terrible. Flynn works up to a great ending and then cuts it short. She takes a common occurrence and tries to stretch it and twist it into a plot which she seems to be unable to follow through with.

Would you ever listen to anything by Gillian Flynn again?

Maybe, it would depend on the story line, she has the potential for a knockout story.

What about Julia Whelan and Kirby Heyborne ’s performance did you like?

I really enjoyed Whelan and Heyborne's performance. They both added so much personalty to the characters. They were wonderful.

Did Gone Girl inspire you to do anything?

It did inspire a conversation with my partner on how well we know one another, which was fun.

Any additional comments?

I expected this book to be much better from the ratings and the ranking it had on the best seller list. I was disappointed with the story's ending, but it did keep me listening.

great book

I loved how it was male and female doing it really helped with keeping the story straight very very good book would reread it

amazing, like Amy.

one of the best most Twisted books I have ever read with so many metaphors and pieces that speak on society and psychology it's just mind-blowing this is a book you do not want to miss

Okay

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

It was okay but I really do not see what all the hype was about. It felt unfinished too, like it was held open to a sequel.

Would you be willing to try another book from Gillian Flynn? Why or why not?

Sure.