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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

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    34,612
  • 4 Stars
    15,987
  • 3 Stars
    5,268
  • 2 Stars
    1,814
  • 1 Stars
    1,494
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    35,208
  • 4 Stars
    12,102
  • 3 Stars
    3,416
  • 2 Stars
    924
  • 1 Stars
    742
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    30,678
  • 4 Stars
    13,370
  • 3 Stars
    4,957
  • 2 Stars
    1,874
  • 1 Stars
    1,580

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

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

Kept me listening!

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

It was.

What do you think your next listen will be?

The sequel I hope. Can't wait to see what kind of little monster they produce. Worse than Mom or Dad?

Any additional comments?

If you like a story with lots of plots and you can't figure out the ending, you'll love this book.

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

Never ending SuSpEnSe!

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

Imaginative Heartbreaking Twisted

Which scene was your favorite?

Although I would have preferred a different ending...it was the best scene. Can you imagine how that life would play out?

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

Made me wonder if this has happened to anyone in real life...unthinkable.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Entertaining but horrible

Not really the world I want to live in. Many insights but bleak. Funny but cringe worthy. Too long.

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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

FANT4ST2C.

really excellent read. had to keep listening. rarely do I feel like I have to just keep listening to a book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The twists just keep coming...

What was one of the most memorable moments of Gone Girl?

The twists... Every time you think you have it figured out something new happens to make you wonder.

Have you listened to any of Julia Whelan and Kirby Heyborne ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to either Julia Whelan or Kirby Heyborne before but their performances were great in this book.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I stayed up all night listening thinking at the end of this section I'll turn it off; then I "had" to listen to the next part to find out what happened.

Any additional comments?

Great story line. Kept me on the edge of my seat. It's my first Gillian Flynn novel but definitely won't be my last.

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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, Amazing did I mention, AMAZING!!!!!

What did you love best about Gone Girl?

I loved that, just when you think you can figure out what is going to happen, the story line takes a 180. It is written and performed so well. It is my all time favorite book. This is what I need in a book, mystery, suspense, romance (Of sorts) twists and turns. It is pure perfection!!!

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

A what the heck ending

Great story. The ending was anticlimactic and unexpected but not unexpected in a good way.

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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

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!!

What made the experience of listening to Gone Girl the most enjoyable?

I liked how the book toggled between the characters, allowing for simultaneous unravelling of the plot.

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

Yes, many unexpected twists and turns. Clever and cunning plot.

Have you listened to any of Julia Whelan and Kirby Heyborne ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No.

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

Riveting story about love, lies and the ultimate deceit...

Any additional comments?

I did not want it to end. I was a little surprised by the atypical Hollywood ending :)

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

Suspenseful until the non-ending

Would you listen to Gone Girl again? Why?

The premise was excellent and the story maintained interest throughout until the ending, where it never satisfactorily ended. Perhaps that was the intent, the story would just continue indefinitely, but that is not a welcome solution for this reader.

What did you like best about this story?

The constant switching from the character in control to the character doing the controlling.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Julia Whelan and Kirby Heyborne ?

Probably

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

See Part II for the conclusion....

Any additional comments?

I loved the intrigue of the whole thing until the ending....which didn't...

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

An unbelievable first book!

I tried to keep an open mind as I read the book and certainly was looking forward to the "spectacular ending" I read about in all the reviews. Also, I heard a lot of "you won't believe what happens at the end" comment from my friends so you can imagine how much anticipation I had as I began reading. With that said, however, I must admit that I was left a little bit disappointed. Although the entire book was very entertaining and it certainly was exciting to read the intricate details that the character Amy thought up in order to disseminate her husband, I would've been much happier if Amy had truly been "gone girl" at the final page. Still and all, a fantastic book!

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