Like many people, I’ve been aware of Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn, for quite a while. I’m not sure of exactly when it got my attention, just that I found out about the novel before I found out that it was being made into a movie. It sounded like a good thriller. And, well, I’m almost always up for a good thriller.
There was quite a length of time between when I learned of the novel and when I bought it. Though, to be honest, I bought it for someone else. I gave it to my grandma last Mother’s Day, hoping that she would enjoy as much as I felt I would… and that she would one day let me borrow it.
As it turned out, I was right on both counts.
On the day of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne comes home and learns that his wife, Amy, has disappeared. But between his lies and the evidence that points his direction, it’s not long before he becomes the lead suspect in the case. While Nick maintains his innocence, secrets begin to unravel–secrets that even Nick can’t explain.
My grandma didn’t read Gone Girl right away. But after she did, it didn’t take her long to tell me how much she liked it. Then she lent it to me so that we could go see the movie together. (We haven’t gone yet, but I’m sure we will soon.)
From the first page of the novel, I was hooked. It wasn’t necessarily the characters that got me–to be honest, I didn’t much care for Nick and Amy. I found Nick to be selfish, and something in Amy’s diary entries just didn’t quite sit well with me.
No, it was Flynn’s writing that got me. Everything flowed so smoothly, and I had such a clear picture in my mind. And even though I didn’t like the characters, I was curious about them. I didn’t like them, but I wanted to get to know them.
That “hooked” feeling only strengthened as I continued reading. Throughout the first part of the novel, I needed to find out what had happened. And when I finally did, I needed to know how it had happened, and why. Because whatever the answers to those questions were, I knew they would be wonderfully complicated.
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Goodreads summary
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 from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. 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?
As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?
Miranda Burski 
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