As Bruce Tierney writes in the July Whodunit column, Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl “generated more pre-release buzz than just about any other mystery this year, and deservedly so. It is a fiendishly clever tale of a marriage gone toxic, and revenge exacted to a disturbingly lethal degree.”
Now that Gone Girl is on the New York Times bestseller list for the 7th week in a row; 20th Century Fox has paid $1.5 million for the film rights (with Reese Witherspoon producing and starring, and Flynn writing the adaptation); and the author is appearing on morning news shows . . . I thought you might want one more nudge to read this brilliant, exciting thriller.
Don’t usually like stories of relationships? (Gone Girl is about a marriage-gone-wrong . . . and what happens after a wife mysteriously disappears.) The suspense surrounding a police investigation and attending media frenzy will appeal to thriller fans. With alternating unreliable narrators (the husband and wife) . . . I dare you to guess the ending, let alone keep up with all the lies the characters tell us.
Don’t usually read thrillers, but you’re intrigued by a complicated husband-and-wife tale? The main character, Amy, studied psychology and writes quizzes for relationship magazines. Her husband, Nick, is a magazine writer. But everything goes downhill after they lose their jobs and move to rural Missouri. Amy’s chronicle of their relationship, starting from the day they meet, and Nick’s explanation of what happens after Amy disappears, make for fascinating reading. The mystery plot is just an added bonus.
I recommend you purchase this book ASAP—and spend the weekend frantically turning pages!
By the way, if you usually get your books from the library and are frustrated by the number of holds on Gone Girl, you might check out The Expats by Chris Pavone, another smart suspense novel that concerns deceptions in marriage. The books certainly have differences—for one, The Expats is a spy thriller—but I think they will appeal to the same sort of reader. This one came out in March and should have considerably shorter hold lines at your local branch.
Have you read Gone Girl? What thrillers are you recommending this summer?
Gone Girl was excellent, very disturbing. I am disappointed that Reese is starring because I can’t imagine her pulling off such a dark role. Some other new titles I highly recommend are:
The Nightmare by Lars Keplar
The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan
Univited Guests by Sadie Jones
Alys, Always by Harriet Lane
What Dies in Summer by Tom Wright
Drowned by Therese Bohman
Gods of Gotham by Lyndsay Faye
I haven’t read it yet but would love to. I have heard so many good reviews about the book.
I realize I’m the only one on the planet that did not like Gone Girl but
the language threw me. Do young women think, speak and write like that? Every time I turned a page I thought of Scott Peterson.
I thought The Playdate was a much more suspenseful read and an even more clever premise.
Thank you, Maureen! That makes two of us, anyway, who were not thrilled about this book. If I hadn’t heard so much hype about the book, I would have returned it to the library after the first 50 or 60 pages. I found the language to be extremely offensive (especially coming from women). Guess I’m from a different generation.
I also found the ending very disappointing, almost like the author painted herself into a corner.