Dark Places - Gillian Flynn

If I could pick one writer I have read over the past year whose style and narrative voice I really enjoy and would want to emulate if I were to write something of my own, it would be Gillian Flynn. I think I enjoyed this story more than Gone Girl although the stories have some similarities which make them great.

First, Flynn writes characters that are morally ambiguous. You want to root for them but discover you can't, or you can, but you feel bad about it. No one is either all good, or all bad here (except maybe Diondra) and that feels more real than other stories. 

I also like her understanding of the way the narrators control the story. the narrator gets to decide when they will tell you something and it completely shapes how you see them, and Flynn knows just when to drop the best knowledge on you. It manipulates the reader in the perfect way. As a reader, it's a rare treat to feel completely in the author's control. Realizing at some point that the author has been manipulating all along is a delicious surprise.




This story follows Libby Day, a young woman who is getting by in life despite her awful past. As a seven year old, she witnessed her family's murder and now, as an older woman, she's being asked to reevaluate everything she thought she knew about the murder - including the evidence she gave that put her brother behind bars! It's exciting. 



Included in the cast of minor characters are some really great people to hate, including Libby's brother's girlfriend, and a whole slew of junior gumshoes who think they have the key to solving the mystery of Libby's murdered family. It's such great exercise detesting these people.

Sharp Objects, I suppose is next!

5/5 Stars.