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

A solid book, deserves a higher rating

At some point in the book, I thought it was dragging on a little bit. But as soon as a certain point in the book is reached, that sentiment is completely flipped on its head. This book is a thrilling roller coaster ride of emotions through and through, and by the end of the book You will be thoroughly psychologically shook, trust me. I can’t so much more without spoiling anything, but what I will say is, if there is a single book that you pick up and give a shot, let it be this one. And if you don’t like it, audible has a very generous return policy.

Quite The Narrative Magic Trick

I was worried that, having already seen the movie and been spoiled on the solutions to its mysteries, this book would fail to grab me. Instead, knowing it's answers allowed me to see into some it's real narrative depth and watch it's magic trick pulled off in real time. This is a very dense novel that explores a surprising number of relevant themes. My one major criticism is that the ending is much less disciplined than that of its adaptation. the author seems compelled to tie up absolutely every loose end, when this wasn't really necessary. in indulging it's epilogue, which at one point a character literally calls their epilogue, Gone Girl sadly undermines the development of its leads.

the performances are very strong but ultimately there are a handful of misreads. and I would fault the director for some inconsistencies on how the different narrators voice certain characters.

Amazing story

I know this is a classic, but great book! I love the genre twist. The “cool girl” monologue is something we should all be talking about more. Somehow both characters are extremely relatable even though you hate them both at points. I read that Flynn identified with Nick which in some ways makes sense. More of these please.

Couldn’t put it down - REALLY

I loved the story and how honest it is. They really are an aware couple and it’s nice to see Amy’s thoughts we see more of her here than in the film. I did want to live the narration but this performer made it almost cartoony and not as gritty as I believe the story is but that’s me. Overall I’d recommend this to anyone who knows a man or has ever been near one trust me they kinda all deserve this lol

Incredible

I have listened to this audiobook several times. One of my all time favourites. Every few years I check to see if Gillian Flynn has written anything new. If not, I reread what she has.

Constant surprising plot twists.

Took me a while to get interested in these people's story, but then I got hooked and had to keep going rapidly to the (to me) satisfying finish.

great characters, ordinary plot, fantastic present

part 1 was a brilliant psychological character study of interesting people. But, alas, the plot took over in the second half, and the actions of the characters became quite contrived. Also, the plot twist was hardly a surprise. I loved the actress's presentation! her voice was perfect!

book review

I enjoyed this book. I would recommend to other. Great job by the author and narrator.

Well Crafted with More Twists and Turns than a Series of Switchbacks

This was a masterfully crafted who/whydunit. The characters were complex, with each chapter having you flip flop how you felt about Nick or Amy. Definitely a page turner.

What a mind bender…

There are certain aspects of this book that are completely and utterly predictable. And just when you’re down on it for a predictable plot line the author drops you down from 5th gear to 2nd and raises those rpm’s because you never saw it coming.

The author does a masterful job of making you switch sides literally a chapter at a time to the point where eventually you don’t even know who to root for.

The amount of red herrings is literally on another level and it’s gonna keep you guessing until the very end.

Minor criticism, I absolutely hate it when an author writes their book so as to declare who’s speaking before they actually speak. As if us readers are so dumb we can’t decipher who’s saying what based on contextual clues. This only happens a couple of times in the book and it’s frustrating. But the fact it only happens a couple of times makes me questions the authors consistency. Not complaining as I hate it when they do that, but stick to a style of writing please and thank you.

Great story, amazing delivery, but not the ending I was hoping for. Still I enjoyed it, couldn’t wait to hear more and will listen again.