The seventy-eighth book I read in 2014 was Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. This was the first book I have read by this author. I finished this book on 8/31/14. I rated this book 4.25 stars out of a scale of 5. This book is about Nick Dunne and how his life changes when his wife Amy goes missing. On their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick comes home to find his living room in horrible disarray and his wife is nowhere to be found.

There are three pretty much separate parts of this book. The first part alternates between (1) Nick Dunne’s point of view from the day Amy goes missing and (2) Amy’s point of view for the past seven years up to the point of her disappearance through her diary entries. Through Amy’s diary we see Amy and Nick’s relationship from the beginning , and watch it deteriorate as the years pass. Through Nick’s point of view we see the guilt, the emptiness, the fear. This at first makes readers wonder if his reactions are due to the fact that Nick has something to do with Amy’s disappearance. And as all the clues seem to come together to the same conclusion, Nick has trouble continuing to convince his family, Amy’s family, the police and the public that he is innocent.

The second part of the book tells the story from Amy’s point of view from the day of her disappearance (first hand and not through diary entries) as well as continuing through Nick’s point of view after the disappearance. Nick is beginning to seem very, very guilty and he enlists the help of one of the nation’s greatest husband-defense lawyers. Nick tries to bring the public around to his side through the help of the media. But for someone who isn’t good at showing emotions in a general sense, not showing emotion when your wife is missing just makes you seem more guilty.

The third part of the book is told through Amy and Nick’s point of views after Amy is “found.” This part of the book I found to be the most twisted and honestly a little disturbing. Amy and Nick’s obsession with each other seems to be self-destructive and I can’t imagine how Nick was able to sleep next to her at night. Amy is cunning and ruthless and both her and Nick surprised me in this section.

Overall this was an interesting book but not one that I would read again. The plot itself was fascinating and inventive but was a little dark for my taste. I’m very glad that I read it though and would recommend it to other readers. Especially since they’re making a movie out of it, I always like to read the book before I go see the movie. I am curious about how the book will translate into film though given the transition that has to happen between the first and second parts of the book. I am interested in seeing the movie when it comes out. The official site for the movie, including trailers, can be found here.

Link to author website: http://gillian-flynn.com/

Link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Gone-Girl-Gillian-Flynn/dp/030758836X/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1409743995&sr=8-1