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

Meh. Ok for one read, but wouldn’t add to the bookshelf.

Story was ok, but half of the chapters could have been cut out. This is a book that I could easily do other things while listening, and not worry that I was going to miss any key plot points. Narrators did an excellent job.

Wild Ride

I loved every minute of this book. It had everything. It was witty, funny, terrifying, scary, disturbing and heartfelt. Even though I saw the movie years ago I didn’t remember much which was good, it was still surprising and shocking. I know the book is so much better and maybe a little different than the movie or maybe a lot different. I want to watch it again to see. I like the female narrator but not really the male character. He just didn’t fit the character in my mind. A real modern masterpiece .

Something New Under the Summer Sun!

This book is interesting on several levels. On one, the reader is introduced to current methods of publicity damage control including blogs and interviews with talking heads with a slick lawyer heading the team. On another level, Flynn gradually reveals the inner workings of a pathological marriage. Although I was not sure of who I wanted to "win" until about the middle of the book, I wanted to know more. I did not love the ending, but this is a book I will remember and recommend.

The Shallow End of the Pool

I tried to like this story and I gave it 3 stars because I finished it. There are few books that make better movies---this is one.

The only mystery was how far the author was going to stretch reality. The premise is decent. But things get stretched far beyond the breaking point. Our heroine meets up with a sleazy pair at her hiding place. They watch the story of the woman's death and disappearance (they are separately handled) on TV but never make the connection? These two never make the connection even after she returns to the spotlight? And, I suppose it's kiss and make up is good enough with the police? They drop the whole thing? And rich dead guy? No dots to connect there.

Well, I saw the movie on TV and found it far more engaging than the book.

I'll give it this. The book is popular and many people like it. You may. I did not.

A dark, fun ride

Gone Girl is 2012's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, that gritty suspense thriller that everyone and their mother was reading. For the first half, it sucked me in with well-drawn characters, a setup that has its fingers on the pulse of the times, and a delicious sense of Hitchcockian misdirection.

The two narrators are Nick and Amy, a thirty-something pair of would-be yuppies whose magazine careers and New York City lives were derailed by the Great Recession. They have now downsized their dreams to the Midwest, characterized as the home of corn chip casseroles, bland earnestness, and shopping at Walmart. There, Nick took care of his ailing parents and opened a bar with the last of Amy's trust fund money. And, there, their marriage fell apart.

Starting from page one, we get Nick's side of things: a perpetually unsatisfied wife and a life that seems to be going nowhere. Then, on their fifth wedding anniversary, Amy disappears, leaving behind signs of a struggle and a trail of clues in the form of an anniversary scavenger hunt. Nick blinks and stumbles his way through the ensuing police investigation, and there's the sense that he's not telling us everything.

Interspersed with Nick's narrative are journal entries from Amy, painting a picture of a fairytale marriage that sours after a husband stops trying. And there's just a hint of control freak insecurity, perhaps triggered in part by being the inspiration for the goody-two-shoes protagonist of a series of saccharine children's books written by Amy's own parents over the decades, the source of her small family fortune.

It doesn't take long before the reader gets the sense that Nick, while somewhat evasive and not exactly the husband of the year, is falling into a trap. Clues in the investigation and public opinion are going against him.

Then comes a twist, and we learn that a few things about Nick and Amy’s marriage have been misrepresented. Here, the novel began to get unbelievable for me, though the suspense remained enjoyable. Would Nick be arrested? How would his sleazeball lawyer, his media appearances, his oddball sister, Amy's wealthy, creepy ex-boyfriend, a deranged father, and a couple of desperate types in a short-term housing park play into the plot? As Nick's defenses steadily crumble around him, against a far craftier opponent, Flynn keeps us guessing, even rooting for a guy who was initially hard to like.

When the story reaches its endgame, it escalates into pure absurdity, a sort of screw-turning, Stephen King-like nightmare scenario (think of him in suspense mode, not monster mode). Somewhere, a few psychologists are doing face palms. But, if you're willing to shut off your brain, it's fun, in a deliciously dark way.

All in all, this novel showed a lot of promise for roughly the first half. Flynn obviously *reads*, and has a sense of craft. I loved the unreliable narrators and the ambiguity. Unfortunately, though, once the game is revealed, the novel morphs steadily into airport bookstore territory. This isn't necessarily bad, but I'd hoped for a bit more psychological complexity. Oh well.

The two audiobook narrators are good. Kirby Heyborne, who performs Nick's parts, ranges from bemused calm to barely suppressed anger. Julia Whelan, who takes Amy's, has a girlish chipperness that works well.

Exceptional Noir Thriller!

The story starts out as any typical thriller.... dead and/or missing person; suspect is person closest to them, etc, however it wasn't written as formulaic, as say a Micheal Connelly or James Patterson, et al. Others reviewers have given you a good idea of the plot, so I'll just add Flynn has an almost vortex style of writing, which starts in a slow character development spiral and just spins and builds momentum until it reaches full speed.... sucking you in and leaving you to hang on tight!

I thought Flynn was spot on with the characters. One of the negative reviewers mentioned they thought the characters were far fetched and they knew no one like them. Thank God they don't, because I have known two sociopaths first hand and you do not want to be anywhere near them, if you don't have to. Flynn nailed that personality type, as well as those who have been unfortunate enough to come across their path.

This is definitely thriller noir and not your typical police thriller, so be prepared for a more psychological, head trip read... broken characters and all...

Worth the credit!

Saw the Movie Instead....

A little over the half way point of listening to this book, I decided to see the movie which was interesting and really held my interest whereas the book was getting on my nerves with the back and forth reading of Nick and Amy's journals. I still have not finished listening because the movie quenched my interest. The movie was more succinct and got to the point without too much filler. While listening to the novel, I just couldn't get past how boring, drawn-out, and saggy the story had become. At this point, I assume the movie's ending is the same as the book. If so, I can say that the ending was a huge disappointment and I just didn't care what happened to either character. They were two sick puppies... they are both selfish and it is too bad they are married to each other.

With all that said, I did find that this mystery/thriller/suspense is not your cookie cutter type in anyway. First, the writing is superb and the narration is good in terms of performance. Second, the use of twists and turns in the way Flynn depicts and unveils the dark side of this couple are unique. The premise of the storyline is good, but just too much filler in the book.

If you can take 19 hours of listening to one novel, then this might be the listen for you. I just can't bring myself to recommend... see the movie instead.

Crazy is as Crazy does.

This was not classic literature, however, a fantastic, mind twisting story that evoked some extreme emotions including fear, loathing, anger, sympathy and just plain ole afraid of scary-crazy. The beginning was hard for me to get through because it was so juvenile but I think that the author may have been setting it up that way for effect. Once I got 1/3 way into it, it took off and the rest is history.

A phycological thriller that is a complicated, slow torture for the victims. It had a few holes but for me not enough that it took away from the main base line of the creepiness. Without giving anything away, just suffice it to say, I am certainly glad I am not any of the characters in this book.

I actually wanted to throw the book at the end and I hope Gillian Flynn can continue on with this craziness. I think these characters could tell more stories. The narration was good but a lot of the voices sounded the same. The writing held its own.

Listening is better than reading this one

I had started this story in book format but just couldn't find time and my friend kept insisting so I started the audio and for the first time I enjoyed the audio better than a book. Literally could not turn it off!

Now the writing is great, the characters so rich and different, and you never know where the story is going even though it is content to let you think you do...
but the voice acting in this is p h e n o m e n a l!

The first person narrative is shared between Nick and his wife Amy, and to me its seems these actors really knew the story inside and out and truly though about what their characters personality and emotional state before they recorded this. I have downloaded alot of audio books in the last year and many books have been pleasantly read to me but this was like an audio play and it made the whole book flow like a movie in my mind.

Now let me just say this. Keep going with the story until you get to the second part. You will know you are at the second part because they will literally say Part 2. There were a few times I got frustrated with the story because I though I knew were it was going. I Didn't...
If its not your cup of tea even after you get to part 2, then feel free to stop listening but I would give it at least that long.

Very interesting and unexpected.

What did you love best about Gone Girl?

I guess what I love most is that both characters are flawed and you can relate to both sides.