4 stars

This was a great book!

The first half was slow. It was a gradual unraveling of marital secrets, of a carefree past, followed by a lasting period of fighting and general apathy between the main couple. This story is told both from Amy's point of view (through her diary), and Nick's.

Amy Elliott Dunne has suddenly gone missing without a trace on her fifth wedding anniversary, leaving behind clear signs of a struggle. Her husband, Lance Nicholas Dunne, is under the spotlight from the very beginning, his inability to deal with strong emotions being a permanently weakening factor in his image.

Followed everywhere by false friends who won't hesitate to turn on him should the public opinion condemn him completely, and the starving media, Nick struggles to prove his innocence. to the police. Harassed and guilt-ridden, yet claiming to be innocent, Nick is entrapped by a constant surge of new evidence implicating him in Amy's murder. Evidence consisting of credit cards he never utilized, objects he didn't buy, which are however full of his prints on them. But with no body, Nick can't be declared guilty without further proof.

This leads us to part two of this masterful plot. I am sure you believe you know your way around twists. I did too. But I never saw this one coming. It came in like a wrecking ball, to quote inspiring young lady Miley Cyrus (not).

After reading a whole 50% of this novel, I believed I knew the entirety of the facts. Boy, was I wrong. Your huge wall of previously acquired certainties will come crashing down on you. Hard. Your character loyalties will most likely change.

This last part was, for me, what made this book memorable. I admire Gillian Flynn for tricking me into believing every single fact she threw at me (through her characters' point of view). I'd like to think I'll never make that same mistake ever again, yet I probably will. I am gullible when it comes to books. I guess I just don't have my lie-detector on if I'm reading fiction. (What would be the point?) I like being played by authors. It just makes me like them more!

I have absolutely no regrets about reading this. The second half certainly made up for the slightly more boring first part.

Now onto the film! Dazzle me, David Fincher!