Gone Girl

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is the story of Amy and Nick, the perfect couple. Nick writes about popular culture, movies, TV, etc., for a magazine. Amy writes psychological quizzes for teen and women's magazines. They both lose their jobs and move to Missouri to look after Nick's dying mother and senile father. Amy, gone girl of the title, disappears and Nick is the prime suspect.

Reviews told me that the first half is not that good but the second half is much better. It's true. In Part One, roughly the first half of the book, we learn all about Nick and Amy's relationship from Nick's recollections and Amy's diary. It is how I would imagine Sex and The City was written, though I've never actually watched Sex and The City. It makes sense; Nick writes about pop culture, Amy invents fluff quizzes, and Gillian Flynn works for Entertainment Weekly. I know the chatty smart, sophisticated style appeals to a large audience, but not to me. I almost abandoned this book, but hung in there on the strength of the reviews.

In Part Two, it gets good. The contrast to Part One is remarkable. Flynn starts by dropping the bomb--she tells us who done it. As unforeseen events unfold, we are enthralled. Perhaps the difference is that in Part One Flynn was building the characters and their relationships and in Part Two, we follow events as they occur.

Part One earns two stars and Part Two earns four stars for an average of three.

In Part Three, the final thrust to finish, Flynn achieves climax. There is brief intensity, but then the story becomes flaccid and the ending is somewhat unsatisfying.