Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I remember seeing posters for Gone Girl, the book or the movie, maybe both, way back in 2015 or 16. Plastered all over the Washington D.C. metro. In magazines. On those little movie things built into the seats of airplanes. I decided it couldn’t be that interesting if Everybody Else was reading or watching. I took a pass and, just like every Gen-X kid ever, decided to be special and read something obscure.

This year a good friend recommended strongly that I listen to the Gone Girl audiobook. My wife agreed, doubling down on that recommendation. I remembered my prideful dismissal from a decade ago and initially demurred, but I could not long resist the combined willpower of two strong women at once. Of course, I caved.

This book is absolutely disturbing. It’s tense from the very beginning, and you have this sense that things aren’t what they seem, that really bad news is just around the corner, that your characters have secrets you’re not going to like.

And you’re right about all of it.

The themes in this book, human frailty and failings, disappointment, selfishness, familial loyalty, all collide in a mystery plot that isn’t at all what I expected. The real mystery was the characters. And not just any characters – the POV characters. Two narrators, both unreliable. One hapless, one diabolical. Both toxic.

The book is almost destructive in its power. I’m not sure I’ll see people the same way, again. Hints of ulterior motives or self-serving personae will trigger in me, at best, the thought that people around me might not be entirely as they seem. I say “at best” because, well, they probably aren’t and it may be healthy to keep that in mind.

At worst, these characters may cause me to doubt my closest relationships. Why did these women recommend this book so strongly, anyway? What were they trying to accomplish? Are they out to-

Wait. Nope. Not gonna go there.

This is a work of fiction. Just relax.

I double dog dare you.



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