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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: Listening Well Is the Best Revenge—The Best Revenge Thriller Audiobooks


No one among us hasn't imagined what it would be like to right a wrong. And even though it's better to turn the other cheek, forgive, and forget, it's still fun to listen to fictional characters enact their revenge. If you need a balm for a slight you’re still seething over, we’ve created this handy list of the best revenge thriller audiobooks to add to your library. Whether you're rooting for the story’s hero or antagonist, these tales of revenge will have you glued to your seat.

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

Very good

Lots of twists
Rare story that paints a woman as so manipulative and flawed, but still totally in control.

Awesome plot.

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

It's no Dark Places or Sharp Objects

If you could sum up Gone Girl in three words, what would they be?

almost there; intriguing

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

def a page turner

Any additional comments?

Started reading her books based on S. King recommendation. I am completely in love with Flynn's writing style! I enjoyed her other 2 books much more than Gone Girl although I'm certainly glad I read it. I just I think the end was a cop-out and I was a little disappointed. With that being said, I am soo thirsty for MORE!! *Patiently waiting on your next book G. Flynn..*

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

Amazing!

What else can you say about this book. Simply Amazing! With twists and turns you really don't expect.

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

Wow!

Voice actors do an amazing job at the point of views in the story, changing tone at exactly the right moment. Enjoy this read! It's fantastic.

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

Delicious

Any additional comments?

Just buy this book and listen to it. It's worth it. The writing is a little stiff, but the story, characters, and structure is awesome, and it works.

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

review contains spoiler

I enjoyed this book but I truely hoping to see some torture of Amy at the end

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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AMAZING.

This book was phenomenal! Excellently written and wonderfully performed. It's full of twists and so intriguing you won't be able to stop listening.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing Narration

The narrators were very convincing. I found myself looking at my phone expecting to see a movie clip because they were so especially dramatic in their delivery of this book.


Would certainly recommend!

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Perhaps better read than listened

Perhaps because reading would have been a lot faster than listening & maybe better kept the pace of the suspense up, I just didn't enjoy this. I knew very shortly after it started what was going on, but kept at it, waiting for why all the accolades to be realized. I never did.


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Great story… unfortunately overshadowed by too much vulgarity.

I loved the story! The twists, the secrets; before it got too raunchy, I was hooked - despite the fact that I often grimaced at the lewd and sometimes shocking explicatives that seemed to increase with each chapter, I finished it... I just had to know how it "ended!"

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