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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

Featured Article: The Audible Essentials Top 100


The spirited (but friendly) debate over these titles could have gone on indefinitely. With years of listening, countless customer reviews, and a catalog of seemingly infinite great listens, 100 suddenly felt like a very small number. What we know for sure—each title that made it to this collection is elevated and made special in some way by audio, whether by a layered performance from a single narrator, a brilliantly cohesive full cast, original music, or immersive sound effects. Discover an audio experience for the ages.

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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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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Story
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  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Psychologically mind fucking

Have you ever bit into a delicious looking apple, only for it to leave a rotten soggy taste in your mouth? That is this book, perfection is not what it seems; but you’re willing to keep trying apples until you find the sweetest of sin.

The psychological narrative unwinds until you realize you have walked in a circle. Only that circle is in a corn maze where you scream where no one can here you.

Brilliantly written, an addicting vengeful, damaging rabbit hole you can’t find your way out of.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Wicked evil good

What a great story. What kind of a mind Gillian Flynn must have to write this story.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent Story Telling

Absolutely loved this book. The author moved the story forward in a way that messed with my opinion of Nick all the way until the big reveal... wow. My only let down was the ending. I like stories that have nice buttoned up endings where I know or can imagine the happily or miserable ever after. This one provides no such closure. Is there a book 2? There should be a book 2 to satisfy my buttoned up ending wish.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Worth the listen

Loved it. Well written,. Kept me on the edge of my seat, and coming back for more.

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

up until it ended

This book was great up until the ending. It left everything up in the air. I was waiting for the next chapter.

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Good read

I went into reading this book before the movie came out.
it sucked me right in and was better than the movie. good stuff. it kept my attention

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

That ending is killing me.

Great twists and captivating story. The ending was too abrupt for my tastes. Go till it stops. Don’t just leave it like that.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Too bizarre

First half good than got way to wacky. Not believable. Bad end!!
Do not recommend

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Disappointed in the ending

I enjoyed the story overall but was very disappointed in how the ending was done. Kind of a let down.

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Psychotic and brilliant all at once

If you think you’ve ever been in a toxic relationship think again. The ending of this book had me hysterically laughing from the irony. I can’t even begin to explain how messed up this story is. Fantastic book. Whatever outcome you may think is coming, you’ll be wrong.
The book is about a “perfect couple” who ends up being anything but. Throughout the book you continuously feel the need to jump ship from siding with one character to the other. You can’t decide who’s worse. And by the end you kind of feel like, you know what, they deserve each other…
Loved the book. Kept you on your toes guessing and torn between the two main characters the entire time. Just when you think you’ve made up your mind about who’s worse in the relationship the other character will make you change your mind again.

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