Everyone has seen enough true-crime shows to know that the husband is almost always the prime suspect when their spouse disappears. So when Nick’s wife, Amy, goes missing on the day of their fifth anniversary, suspicion quickly surrounds the man who is acting erratically. As the investigation gets going, more and more evidence is unearthed to paint Nick in a not-so-great light. Despite all the bad press, Nick maintains his innocence but with a lack of proof, what is everyone supposed to believe?
Beginning from the day she disappears, the narrative flips back and forth between Nick’s POV and Amy’s diary entries. I really enjoyed this storytelling style. It gave the reader just enough information to pique their interest and more would be revealed with the other side being told; a “he said/she said”, if you will. This allowed the reader to constantly keep changing their theories, what they think happened and what the motives were. Just when you might get a sense of the truth, the other account will completely contradict it. The more we got to find out about this Manhattan couple that’s been relocated to Missouri, the more I found my sympathies jumping back and forth between the two. Like they say, there are always two sides to every story.
While I heard many things about this book - that it was crazy, filled with twists & turns and keeps you guessing till the shocking ending – I actually wasn’t familiar with what the actual premise was, and I was pleasantly surprised. I love a good crime mystery read and Flynn achieves this really well in Gone Girl. That being said, maybe I’ve seen too many Dateline episodes but I honestly guessed where it was going from about 1/3 of the way through… and boy was I mad at myself that I’d analyzed it so much that I figured it out so early on. The ending, while shocking, was also equally infuriating to me. I refused to accept that that was the end! So my advice? Don’t over-think this very twisted read and just enjoy the journey… take it as it’s being laid out for you and let the characters in the story solve the mystery for you.
This, and other reviews can be found on my blog JustALilLost.com
