Gillian Flynn can definitely writer a thriller, and this one was a compelling page turner. I just discovered that I actually read her works in reverse order to her writing them. Sharp Objects is her first novel, followed by Dark Places and book-ended (heh) with Gone Girl. Flynn jumped on my radar like she did for many people, with Gone Girl, so I read it first, then Dark Places mostly because I could get it on audiobook quickly, and finally this one, also on audiobook. Actually, I just realized I also did Gone Girl as an audio. So, I guess my first point is that her thrillers translate pretty well to the audio format. On to my opinion of this book.
A friend of mine said that she liked Sharp Objects a lot more than Dark Places, and I certainly agree. For me, Dark Places really fell apart at the end, but in Sharp Objects she really delivers. It is delicious and awful and scintillating and surprising and everything you want from a dark psychological thriller. Our protagonist Camille is a Chicago reporter who is sent back to her tiny hometown to report on the murder of a young girl. Another girl is missing when she arrives, reunited with her estranged and strange family and boy oh boy, do things heat up. I literally exclaimed “Oh my god” at least three times while listening to it. Your skin may crawl, you may gasp, and you will keep reading.
And now it is an HBO short series, premeiring tonight. Amy Adams as Camille? Perfection. And oh my gosh, Patricia Clarkson as her mother? Even more perfection. I don’t think I’ll be watching it though because the novel looms to large in my brain, aaaaand besides, though I love a thriller novel I am rare to watch one on either the big or small screen. Cuz I’m a chicken. But, I recommend this story in any format, and this book as a great summer read, audio or otherwise.
Oh, I loved gone girl, I might have to pick this one up as well!