Warning: Contains major spoilers
Gone Girl focuses on two main characters, Nick Dunne and Amy Elliott. The novel begins with their fifth wedding anniversary. Nick heads out to open up his bar in North Carthage, Missouri. Hours later he returns home to find the front door open, his living room ransacked, blood on the kitchen floor and his wife, Amy nowhere to be seen. The police are called and have labelled it as a missing persons case. Part one of the book is split between Nick and Amy. Written in the first person view, the chapters featuring Nick are set from the day Amy disappears onwards where we see him worrying about his missing wife. The police discovers he increased Amy's life insurance has been increased and Nick has been maxing out credit cards by buying luxury items. Nick stresses he has never done those things but never confesses he has murdered Amy. Nick does confess in his narrative he has told many lies to the police and revealed he never had a perfect and happy marriage with Amy. With every anniversary Amy would set Nick to go on a treasure hunt. He confessed in his narrative he isn't that clever compared to Amy but finds the clues too easy to solve. It is until solving the final clue everything comes into place. While Nick solves the clues, the police detectives involve question whether Nick actually killed a pregnant Amy.Amy's narrative is in the form of diary entries. They begin in 2005 where she meets Nick and ends up getting married. With Amy's success with her Amazing Amy young adult books and writing personality quizzes, her cash dwindles due to Nick losing his job, not being able to afford their home in New York and decides to move back to Nick's home town of North Carthage. Amy reveals they are having a good relation and although, everything not going their way, Amy adjusts to living in North Carthage. Towards the end of part one, Amy begins to reveal she is afraid of Nick's temperament and worried about staying alive.
It is where the second part of the book reveals a massive twist that actually fooled me. Both sides of the story were complete lies. Nick reveals that he has having an affair with a college student. While Amy is fed up with Nick and he isn't the ideal man she wants to be with. After finding out Nick is having an affair. Amy sets up everything, including a fake diary, a fake pregnancy, plans to make her disappear and frame Nick to say he murdered her. She explains how she produces the perfect setup to frame Nick and put him into prison for life and reveals where she is whilst watching the news reports of Nick's demise. Meanwhile, Nick works out Amy has been framing him and decides to hunt her down and prove his innocence.
This has been a fantastic read. A true thriller. I was fooled and never expected the plot twist where Amy is revealed to be a psychopath. I had the impression either Nick performed the perfect murder or someone abducted her to gain revenge on Nick. The only bug bear I had was how the third and final part was written. It was revealed Amy decided to return to Nick after being briefly held prisoner by one of her old friends. Nick had wanted to kill Amy but she reveals she is actually pregnant. She explains to him he is in a no win situation and are meant to be together with a child. I suppose the ending was written that both Nick and Amy are meant for each other. Both unlikeable and sinister.
This is Gillian Flynn's third novel and has proven to be a massive hit in American and in the UK. The popularity of her novel has been given the green light for a film adaptation to be released in 2014. David Fincher (Seven, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) will be directing, while the roles of Nick and Amy will go to Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike respectably.
I gave Gone Girl 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.
Next to review: The Big Sleep
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