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Once again this year, some of the fall’s most buzzed movies are adaptations of popular books—from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 to Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. David Fincher is also taking on another literary adaptation this year: author Gillian Flynn’s bestselling thriller, Gone Girl. And now’s the perfect time to pick up the book—before the film hits theaters next month.
This dark and twisting thriller begins on the morning of Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Though their relationship has faced its share of hardships, Amy still gets up to make Nick crepes for breakfast. She still prepares her annual scavenger hunt leading to his anniversary gift. But then, before they get a chance to celebrate, Amy disappears. Nick is tipped off by a neighbor, and he races home to find the front door wide open and the living room in disarray.
As the police begin their investigation, more and more clues—along with his own strange behavior—seem to incriminate Nick. So he uses his own knowledge of his wife and her past to find out what really happened.
On the surface, Gone Girl may seem like a simple whodunit—the story of a man’s awkward attempts to find his missing wife. But it’s so much more than that. It’s dark and layered—a twisted account of lies, secrets, and manipulation that’s guaranteed to keep you guessing. Just when you think you’ve got everything figured out, Flynn throws a curveball—a new discovery, a confession from Nick, or yet another bombshell from Amy’s diary. And, with each new surprising revelation, the story transforms and reinvents itself while altering your perception of the characters and their relationship.
These constantly adjusting, altering characters are fascinating—and the more you get to know them and their lives leading up to Amy’s disappearance, the more fascinating they become. Nick is a Midwestern boy with big-city dreams and a lifetime of daddy issues. Amy is so perfect that she’s practically superhuman—smart and stylish and impossibly pretty, raised in the spotlight as the subject of a series of bestselling kids’ books written by her adoring parents. Throw bruised egos and bad decisions and a downward-spiraling economy into the mix, and the cracks begin to show in their perfect relationship. The two slowly become more like enemy combatants than a loving couple, carefully planning their next moves. And with each new shocking blow, readers will dig in a little deeper, turn the pages a little faster, and stay up a little later, eager to see how the unsettling marital mêlée and Amy’s mysterious disappearance are resolved.
Gone Girl is not a novel for hopeless romantics or anyone who’s searching for a little light reading. It’s dark and cynical and absolutely gripping—the perfect inspiration for a gritty new David Fincher film.
Listen to the review on Shelf Discovery:
