What are you thinking, Amy? The question I've asked most often during our marriage, if not out loud, if not to the person who could answer. I suppose these questions storm cloud over every marriage: What are you thinking? How are you feeling? Who are you? What have we done to each other? What will we do? Just how well can you ever know the person you love?
These are the questions that Nick Dunne must ask himself on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police immediately suspect Nick. Amy's friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn't true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they aren't his. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone.
So what really did happen to Nick's beautiful wife? And what was in that half-wrapped box left so casually on their marital bed? In this novel, marriage truly is the art of war.
©2012 Gillian Flynn (P)2012 Random House
I am an artist, living in Cairns, Queensland, Australia right next to the Great Barrier Reef. I listen to audiobooks everyday while making art and on into the night. I really like mysteries with a good serving of suspense on the side that keep you wondering right to the end. However, I won't say no to any entertaining and well written book which has been read by an excellent narrator.
"Get Gone Girl soon!"
Remember the film, War of the Roses with Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas? Well, this is along similar lines but there are less physical thrills and far more psychological ones which makes for a better read whereas the former, perhaps, makes for more excitable viewing. I found it pretty impossible to "put this book down." It went everywhere with me while I completed my daily tasks and then again late into the night. I had finished it within 3 days but unlike other books I don't want to read another immediately as I would like to 'soak' this book up for a while and think about it. It is very well written and contains some complex ideas which are described in metaphoric symbolism and therefore made easier to understand. I am looking forward to Gillian Flynn writing another excellent book. Very highly recommended.
"Not just another whodunit"
Without giving the plot away, suffice it to say that Gone Girl isn't just another missing person story, but a psychological thriller that keeps up the suspense to the last page. So don't be put off by the length. I'm left pondering the character of the victim as well as the perpetrator, and wondering what will happoen next. It's one of those books I will read again. With the two antagonists telling their story in the first person, the alternating male and female readers was a must. A top book all round.
from Literary Exploration
"Thrilling and Disturbing"
I’ve been trying to review this book for a while now and it has become a real struggle. I don’t want to give any spoilers for this brilliant book so I will try my best. Advanced warning: this review may have spoilers or turn out incredible vague. When I first saw this book I kept thinking this was just another YA novel but then I noticed this book kept popping up everywhere so I thought I better read what this is about and when I did, I had to read it right away.
When Amy disappears in suspicious circumstances all eyes fall to her husband as the primary suspect. Nick claims he is innocent but the evidence is not in his favour. Did Nick kill his wife? As this novel progressed any ideas of what happened will be shattered, any presumptions you’ve made about the characters will be wrong. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is a dark and twisted journey with so much unpredictability that you will be up all night trying to find out what really happened to Amy.
What I loved about this book was that you never really know what to expect. The book is told from the perspective of Nick and Amy, the diary of Amy tells the back story of their lives while the alternative chapters told from Nick takes the story from the disappearance. Slowly the pieces start to fall into place but there is always another curve ball just around the corner. The dark and psychological aspects of this novel remind me of something Jim Thompson would write but then the thriller and suspense of this book reminds me a lot of books like Before I Go to Sleep or Into the Darkest Corner.
Flynn did a brilliant job with this novel, it kept me up at night, made me want to skip work to read this book and in the end any spare time I had I was back in this book trying to find out what really happened to Amy. I wasn’t sure what I was in for and I didn’t know who to believe but in the end I enjoyed the ride. On reflection this book seemed incredibly basic with its plot but writing in a brilliant way that while reading you never have enough pieces to solve this puzzle. Highly recommend this book to any lovers of mystery and suspense.
"continuing twists and turns"
Engaging, enjoyable and well read.
Absolutely Nick Dunne
Amy Elliot Dunne
If I could I would have finished it in one day.
Sci-fi addict
"Complicated dark and intriguing"
The characters are delightfully packed with dark secrets.
The suspense and surprises....
The flip in the middle when everything becomes clear. ....but I don't want ,give anything away !!!
Absolutely and I more or less did between the gym, office and car.
Listen and enjoy
"Gripping till the very end"
A wonderfully written and well performed book. A husband telling the story of his missing wife and the wife revealing their life in her diary. Or so it seems at first... and just then when you feel yourself choosing sides (will you be in the Amy or the Nick camp?) the story takes on an unexpected twist. What looked like a pretty straightforward story now has you guessing - how on earth will it end. So go ahead, listen and hold your breath till the very end.
Tell us about yourself!
"Absolutely loved this book!"
Absolutely! Great story with many twists. Fantastic characters and I enjoyed the comedy (even though the story is quite dark).
Both main characters, although in the end I would chose the male lead.
Excellent delivery and timing. They were fantastic as their own characters as well as portraying the other characters.
Gives a new meaning to 'Woman scorned'
Loved this book, the twists were believable and characters strong.
"Intruiging"
The story was intriguing. I picked some of the plot points, but not all of them and enjoyed the twists.
The two main characters were both likeable and unlikeable; it was a bizarre feeling to mostly dislike the characters, but want to keep hearing their stories.
The author seems to have no idea what the word "literally" means. More than half the times it's used it's about something that is figurative... if those things were literal it would have been a more horrible and terrifying story. It bugged me so much that I wasn't sure I wanted to keep listening, but I persevered and was glad I did. That is the main reason I didn't give the book 5 stars all around.
"OUTSTANDING"
great story,the author has a creative mind.recommended to listeners who are bored by the average run-of- the-mill mystery plot.
"More then an intriguing crime mystery"
I loved this book, interesting set up, suspenseful story, with plot twists but the two main characters and their relationship dynamics really take center stage. You're taken on a fantastic ride of finding out what the hell is going on. Nick and Amy are so well written, authentic and relatable and the narrator's are excellent.