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

Enthralled until almost the end

I know it’s been out for over a decade, but I’m finally getting around to reading this novel (I’m not a frequent reader of mystery / thrillers). I found it quite engaging and intricately woven, a pulse-pounding romp with characters I loved to hate, right up until the final few chapters. Then the ending went sour, a poor compromise that didn’t suit the story, and I felt like the author just couldn’t give any of us what we wanted. Except maybe Amy.

Loved it

The narrators were absolutely amazing! For both characters, in other audio books I can tell when they stopped recording and started again and I loose the concentration (because of the tone of the voice) in this case that never happened. The story was really interesting, it was hard for me to stop. At some point I was talking by myself about them like they were real. And then was waiting for the kids to fall asleep because I needed to know “what’s next with those two”. First time I read something about the author and I absolutely loved it!

Written in POV of the two main characters

Listened because I remembered the movie being good. Such a crazy story. I like that you get it from both of the main characters perspectives.

Fully engaged

Great read, kept me wanting to know what happens next! I would recommend this book to anyone.

Terrible ending!

I was hooked right from the beginning and thought this is a great book. Sadly, along the way the story lost steam, the characters lost credibility, and the ending was incredibly disappointing. To end on a high note, the performances were outstanding.

So well written and so well read....

I could NOT stop listening to this. It's a hard book to describe without giving away some of the best of the book - - the twists and turns that make a great novel. So - - here goes: this is a great book combining a mystery, a character study, and just plain brilliant writing. The measure of a great writer is the ability to take mundane details and make them interesting and slowly build up to a great ending. Just be careful not to read too much and just take the time to actually listen to this amazing story and brilliant performances.

Why Did I Listen To Ellen?

Last summer I heard Ellen DeGeneres review this book and immediately bought it. What a mistake. I do not like "dark" stories (hated Cod Mountain). I love suspense thrillers. This was awful. Not only did the story just get bleaker and bleaker (what a spineless bunch of creeps!!) but it just went on and on and on ("thirty days back..." and "Six weeks back..." and on for ad nauseum)!!

My husband is a retired policeman, worked as a detective for almost 20 years. The detectives in this book are a disgrace to their profession. To think they couldn't solve this case with modern day forensics and all the clues they had: shame on them!!

The book was well written. The narration was well performed. But it definitely was not my cup of tea.

Best Book I've Encountered In a Long While....

What did you love best about Gone Girl?

The prose is pitch perfect; the plot is intricate, but can be followed without a detailed flow chart; the issues of identity, marriage, power are deftly introduced and left without clear resolution. Also a book made for a "two voice" audible listen.

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

Yes. The turns kept coming....to the very end.

Any additional comments?

Best audible listen for me since The Help. I actually think it is a book made to be heard. I thought Julia Whelan did a brilliant job with Amy. She was truly "amazing."

Gillian Flynn's brain is a very dark place!

I read the Gone Girl when it was introduced and have seen the movie. I've also read Sharp Objects and Dark Places, Flynn's two prior novels. It seems common these days for people to say novels are like Gone Girl. If any psychological thriller is like Gone Girl or as good as Gone Girl, I have not read it.

Amy Dunne sets the standard for villains in psychological thrillers. Nick Dunne? Let's say that he did a poor job at choosing a spouse.

don't care a hoot about what happens to them

The book started out well, very twisted plot, midway through it was spellbinding, but then, well- it just gave out of steam. Too belabored, the characters were very unlikeable and a little unbelievable. Wanted to kick them both. Ended up not really caring about what happened to them. Readers (performers) were excellent. But in the end, just boring and tedious. Will not look for a follow up.