Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn Narrator: Julia Whelan, Kirby Heyborne
Published by Random House Audio on August 26, 2014 (first published May 24, 2012)
Genres: Mystery, Crime Fiction, Thriller
Length: 19 hrs 11 mins
Format: Audiobook
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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?
Gone Girl was all the rage a couple of years ago, but I didn’t get around to listening to it until now. I shouldn’t have put it off. It was unique, well-done, definitely attention-grabbing, maybe not quite unputdownable, but close.
Nick and Amy are not nice people. Neither is really the good guy, although you do sympathize with Nick. The audio had two narrators, one for Nick and one for Amy, which I thought was a great choice. It always takes me a while to get used to anything different than one narrator of the same gender as the main character, but this format worked so well with the story it was the perfect choice. Both narrators did a great job capturing the points of view, the dark humor, the nuances in the phrasing. I think that listening to it probably made it even better than reading it in print would have.
I can’t say much about the plot without ruining it, but it did keep me guessing, wondering what the truth was, who the bad guy was. I knew it wasn’t as straight forward as it first appeared, mostly due to the hype when the book and then the movie came out, but I wasn’t sure how it was all going to fit together. I have to say I love how Flynn plotted the whole thing. And the ending was perfect for the rest of the story.
Now, I have to convince my husband to watch the movie with me. One of the guys at work told him not to watch it because it would make him paranoid.
About Gillian Flynn
Gillian Flynn is an American author and was a television critic for Entertainment Weekly. Her first novel, Sharp Objects, won the 2007 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for the best thriller. Flynn, who lives in Chicago, grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. She graduated at the University of Kansas, and qualified for a Master’s degree from Northwestern University.
We started to watch the movie but the stopped…it was kind of annoying…
Yep, this one kept me guessing the whole time. We actually liked the movie.
I tried watching the movie, but meh
A book I’ve put off reading for pretty much the same reason. I will get around to reading it one day. As for the film? I’m afraid I have no real interest in seeing this but who knows?
Hmm, so mixed reviews on the movie.
I thought the movie had the same feel as the book so if you liked the book I think the movie would be fine, but I had lots of time between the two. As for the book, one of the few times I really wanted to throw the book across the room when I finished 🙂 So, it did generate some strong emotions, haha.
I really enjoyed the book and the movie — I’m glad I read it first (of course!). I agree that the ending fit the story well, I liked it, though I hear a lot of people didn’t. *shrugs*
I really need to get to this book, it’s taken forever to read it; great review nonetheless!
Hope he watches the movie with you. I don’t feel a need to read the book since I have seen the movie and know the ending. . Quite interesting.
I’m glad you liked it. I’ve been too scared to try it.
I have been really curious about this one, not seen the movie as I would rather read the book. So I hope one day soon I can read it. 🙂 So many books so little time!
I really enjoyed both the book and the movie. Of course the book is better, but isn’t that the case most of the time? 🙂