Nick and Amy's marriage is on the rocks. A combination of both losing their jobs, an uproot from city New York to rural Missouri and the death of Nick's mother have left their relationship stagnant and the pair of them unable to communicate with one another. When Amy goes missing on their five year wedding anniversary though, things take a turn for the worse, especially when Nick finds himself the prime suspect.
This book was everywhere last year, exploding onto bestseller lists and becoming a pretty hot topic of conversation. It's easy to see why. The book is explosive, compelling and dark as hell, exploring a pretty destructive relationship alongside some pretty toxic minds. Nick and Amy's dual narrative works incredibly well, creating an unreliability early on that does wonders at upping the stakes and increasing the tension.
Interestingly, Nick and Amy are pretty unlikable characters, sure we can relate to them (one of them more than the other); however, both are heavily flawed, with their own weaknesses and strengths that make them sort of hard edged even in softer moments, and it's a testimony to Gillian Flynn's talent as a writer that she manages to keep us there for it. This is due in no small part to the wealth of charismatic supporting characters Flynn deploys throughout, each with smart roles that turn the tension up and diffuse it as needed - Go, Desi, Boney, Tanner are all pretty excellent, managing to humanise scenes that are, well, less than human.
4 out of 5 butterfly blue notes.
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