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What “Gone Girl” Is Really About

According to Anthony Lane, there are approximately “twenty-one people” who haven’t read Gillian Flynn’s “Gone Girl.” I’m one of them. This past weekend, when I saw the movie, I liked it so much that I felt sad about missing out on the book when it was published, two years ago. At the same time, “Gone Girl” seemed like one of those experiences to which the “cultural uncertainty principle” applies: you can read the book or you can see the movie, but you can’t fully embrace both versions, because they’ll occupy the same brain-space, obscuring one another. Basically, you have to choose an experience. The upside of my choice is that I enjoyed Fincher’s film on its own terms, in all its abstract, intellectual, postmodern glory.

The book version of “Gone Girl,” so I’ve heard, is a crime novel: an absorbing, ingenious thriller in which, halfway through, a big twist upends everything. (Spoiler alert: I plan to discuss that twist below.) Among the book’s many virtues, I’m told, is its concreteness. It’s not that the book is plausible, exactly, but that it’s full of texture and detail, both forensic and psychological. The events in the book make sense; the voices, thoughts, and actions of Nick and Amy seem like they could belong to real people.

None of that is true of David Fincher’s “Gone Girl.” Gillian Flynn may have written the screenplay, but the film is not interested in being convincing as a crime story. The movie crosses the thin line that divides genre fiction from postmodern fiction; it is decisively unreal, in the manner of “Fight Club”—a movie in which the actual and the symbolic occupied the same slice of reality. Its characters are ciphers , its setting is perfunctory, and its violence is stylized. “Gone Girl” is what the critic Ted Gioia calls a “ postmodern mystery ”: it lets us luxuriate in the “reassuring heritage” of the traditional mystery, which feels like it’s building toward a tidy solution, even while we enjoy “the fun of toppling it over and watching the pieces fall where they may.”

As in many postmodern narratives, the heroes and villains in Fincher’s “Gone Girl” aren’t people but stories. We hope that the familiar, reassuring ones will win out (they don’t). In fact, the film is so self-aware that none of the stories it tells can be taken at face value. As my colleague Richard Brody has written , the movie’s drama and characters have been streamlined so as to reveal their “underlying mythic power.” But “Gone Girl” is also anti-myth. When Amy (Rosamund Pike) says, of her plot against her husband, Nick (Ben Affleck), “That’s marriage,” you’re not supposed to believe her. If the myth of the perfect marriage is poisonous, then so is the myth of the continual “war of the sexes.” The question the movie asks is: Are there any stories that we can tell ourselves about marriage that ring true?

If that question sounds familiar, that’s because, in some ways, with “Gone Girl,” Fincher has returned to the structures of “Fight Club,” substituting a married couple for Tyler Durden and his gaggle of disenchanted bros. In both stories, the characters rebel against the unbearable myth of attainable perfection, substituting for it an alternative one of transcendent, authentic, freedom-giving destruction. “Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need,” Tyler Durden says. “We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars, but we won’t.” Durden’s response to his disillusionment with contemporary masculinity is to embrace a seductive, violent, and supposedly more genuine idea of “real” manliness—but that alternative turns out to be a disastrous illusion. In “Gone Girl,” it’s the mythos of coupledom, not the mythos of masculinity, that’s oppressive. But the imagined solution is the same: “We’re so cute I want to punch us in the face,” Amy says.

“Gone Girl,” in a sense, is “Fight Club” squared. To explore the positive and negative sides of the manliness myth, Fincher had only to propose a single character, a man with a “disassociated” personality (Brad Pitt’s enraged Tyler Durden is the alter ego of Edward Norton’s unnamed, milquetoast protagonist). “Gone Girl” demands two bifurcated people, each of whom must play both the victim and the aggressor. And the mythos of coupledom is more complex and troubled than the mythos of manliness. Even back in 1999, when “Fight Club” came out, there was something trumped-up and artificial about the idea that men were experiencing a crisis of masculine disenchantment. (The urgency of that crisis, if it did exist, certainly seems to have faded.) Coupledom, on the other hand, is and remains genuinely fraught territory. While our cultural imagination no longer fixates on the Great War or the Western frontier, the idea of the perfect couple (and, especially, the perfect wife ) is still alive and well.

“Gone Girl” is fascinating because it gets at what is unsettling about coupledom: our suspicion that, in some fundamental sense, it necessarily entails victimization. Just as “Fight Club” showed that manliness and violence were imaginatively inseparable, “Gone Girl” raises the possibility that marriage and victimhood are inseparable, too. In real life, this is a widespread suspicion, sometimes justified, sometimes not. We’re more aware than ever of the prevalence of hidden domestic abuse ; we’re cognizant of the widespread unfairness of the economic arrangements between men and women. We understand that marriages that look respectable can also hide a lot. At the same time, our concepts of masculinity and femininity—and of personhood, success, and freedom—have grown less compatible with the compromises of coupled life. The men’s and women’s magazines for which Nick and Amy worked tell us that our ideal selves are urban, maximally attractive, and maximally single, with absolute career freedom, no children, and plenty of time for the gym. To be in a couple, in short, is to be in a power relationship. And in power relationships, there are always winners and losers.

“Gone Girl” is especially good because it digs beneath these more-or-less legitimate concerns, exposing the irrational side of our fear of coupledom. In real life, as in the film, the tabloid media can’t wait to describe the home of every perfect couple as a lurid crime scene, haunted by cruelty, infidelity, and wickedness. “Gone Girl”—spoiler alert!—pulls the curtain back on the Victorian fears that drive those tabloid suspicions. When Amy is kidnapped by Desi Collings (Neil Patrick Harris), her wealthy ex-boyfriend, and locked up in his castle-like lake house, we get an old-style Gothic plot of female imprisonment. When it’s revealed that Amy has framed Nick, we get a classic tale about a manipulative, wicked woman who traps a hapless man in her web. These archetypal, gendered fantasy stories, the film suggests, contribute just as much to our suspicions about coupled life as our supposedly modern concerns about, say, work-life balance. Fincher’s “Gone Girl,” in its best scenes, travels all the way down into the id, revealing these inherited fears in sexy, bloody, sensational detail.

There’s a reason, of course, why the first rule of Fight Club is not to talk about Fight Club. It’s that the lurid core of our imaginative lives is best kept secret. When you see your dark fantasies realized in the light of day, there’s something absurd about them. And there’s something shameful, too: it becomes obvious that they’re rooted, to some degree, in narcissism. To be the victim of a manipulative madwoman, or to be abducted into a Gothic lair, is to suffer, but it’s also to be special, a hero or a heroine in your own way. That’s partly why we’re fascinated with stories of victimhood —and why, especially in tabloid, cable-news culture, we endow victims with specialness, sanctity, and celebrity. “Gone Girl” asks whether genuine expressions of sympathy or solidarity with victims can ever happen without being infected by the politicized , media-enabled “ cult of victimhood .” But it also digs a tunnel from that “cult” to our suspicions about marriage. Ordinarily, our concerns about the unfair compromises of married life seem entirely separate from our unseemly fascination with lurid, violent, Gothic victimization. But, in “Gone Girl,” those two imaginative mindsets are shown to be connected, perhaps even identical. Modern gender politics and Gothic fear are mixed together.

“Gone Girl” is a fantasy, of course, and it takes place in a dream world, not reality. Leaving the theatre, you have to ask yourself how connected these ideas are in real life. And you can’t miss the fact that, fundamentally, “Gone Girl” is a farce. There is no real crime or horror in the Dunne household. Amy and Nick hurt one another, but in unexceptional ways; Nick’s affair with a sexy student—Emily Ratajkowski, of the “Blurred Lines” music video—is played for comedy. In fact, it’s the creation of a heightened atmosphere of suspicion around those banal “crimes” that leads, eventually, to the real ones. Maybe “Gone Girl” is just playing around—making up, rather than finding, connections within our imaginative lives.

The same sort of question could be asked about “Fight Club,” too: Do young men really think that growing comfortable with violence is the only way to make sense of themselves? Surely that movie overstates things—but that doesn’t mean it isn’t onto something. Should “Gone Girl” convince you that our contemporary skepticism about marriage is rooted, ultimately, in our lurid, misguided, communal fantasy life? No. That said, sometimes you need a big pair of pliers to turn a tiny bolt. “Gone Girl” has resonated for a reason. It has found a creepy, confused, and troubling part of us, and expressed it.

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Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

New York Times Bestseller

by Gillian Flynn ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 5, 2012

One of those rare thrillers whose revelations actually intensify its suspense instead of dissipating it. The final pages are...

A perfect wife’s disappearance plunges her husband into a nightmare as it rips open ugly secrets about his marriage and, just maybe, his culpability in her death.

Even after they lost their jobs as magazine writers and he uprooted her from New York and spirited her off to his childhood home in North Carthage, Mo., where his ailing parents suddenly needed him at their side, Nick Dunne still acted as if everything were fine between him and his wife, Amy. His sister Margo, who’d gone partners with him on a local bar, never suspected that the marriage was fraying, and certainly never knew that Nick, who’d buried his mother and largely ducked his responsibilities to his father, stricken with Alzheimer’s, had taken one of his graduate students as a mistress. That’s because Nick and Amy were both so good at playing Mr. and Ms. Right for their audience. But that all changes the morning of their fifth anniversary when Amy vanishes with every indication of foul play. Partly because the evidence against him looks so bleak, partly because he’s so bad at communicating grief, partly because he doesn’t feel all that grief-stricken to begin with, the tide begins to turn against Nick. Neighbors who’d been eager to join the police in the search for Amy begin to gossip about him. Female talk-show hosts inveigh against him. The questions from Detective Rhonda Boney and Detective Jim Gilpin get sharper and sharper. Even Nick has to acknowledge that he hasn’t come close to being the husband he liked to think he was. But does that mean he deserves to get tagged as his wife’s killer? Interspersing the mystery of Amy’s disappearance with flashbacks from her diary, Flynn ( Dark Places , 2009, etc.) shows the marriage lumbering toward collapse—and prepares the first of several foreseeable but highly effective twists.

Pub Date: June 5, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-307-58836-4

Page Count: 432

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: April 22, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2012

MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | SUSPENSE | SUSPENSE | GENERAL MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | GENERAL THRILLER & SUSPENSE

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by Gillian Flynn

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Gillian Flynn on 'Gone Girl,' Toxic Marriages and Film Adaptations

SEEN & HEARD

A CONSPIRACY OF BONES

by Kathy Reichs ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 17, 2020

Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival.

Another sweltering month in Charlotte, another boatload of mysteries past and present for overworked, overstressed forensic anthropologist Temperance Brennan.

A week after the night she chases but fails to catch a mysterious trespasser outside her town house, some unknown party texts Tempe four images of a corpse that looks as if it’s been chewed by wild hogs, because it has been. Showboat Medical Examiner Margot Heavner makes it clear that, breaking with her department’s earlier practice ( The Bone Collection , 2016, etc.), she has no intention of calling in Tempe as a consultant and promptly identifies the faceless body herself as that of a young Asian man. Nettled by several errors in Heavner’s analysis, and even more by her willingness to share the gory details at a press conference, Tempe launches her own investigation, which is not so much off the books as against the books. Heavner isn’t exactly mollified when Tempe, aided by retired police detective Skinny Slidell and a host of experts, puts a name to the dead man. But the hints of other crimes Tempe’s identification uncovers, particularly crimes against children, spur her on to redouble her efforts despite the new M.E.’s splenetic outbursts. Before he died, it seems, Felix Vodyanov was linked to a passenger ferry that sank in 1994, an even earlier U.S. government project to research biological agents that could control human behavior, the hinky spiritual retreat Sparkling Waters, the dark web site DeepUnder, and the disappearances of at least four schoolchildren, two of whom have also turned up dead. And why on earth was Vodyanov carrying Tempe’s own contact information? The mounting evidence of ever more and ever worse skulduggery will pull Tempe deeper and deeper down what even she sees as a rabbit hole before she confronts a ringleader implicated in “Drugs. Fraud. Breaking and entering. Arson. Kidnapping. How does attempted murder sound?”

Pub Date: March 17, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-9821-3888-2

Page Count: 352

Publisher: Scribner

Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020

More by Kathy Reichs

by Kathy Reichs

by C.J. Box ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 28, 2015

A suspenseful, professional-grade north country procedural whose heroine, a deft mix of compassion and attitude, would be...

Box takes another break from his highly successful Joe Pickett series ( Stone Cold , 2014, etc.) for a stand-alone about a police detective, a developmentally delayed boy, and a package everyone in North Dakota wants to grab.

Cassandra Dewell can’t leave Montana’s Lewis and Clark County fast enough for her new job as chief investigator for Jon Kirkbride, sheriff of Bakken County. She leaves behind no memories worth keeping: her husband is dead, her boss has made no bones about disliking her, and she’s looking forward to new responsibilities and the higher salary underwritten by North Dakota’s sudden oil boom. But Bakken County has its own issues. For one thing, it’s cold—a whole lot colder than the coldest weather Cassie’s ever imagined. For another, the job she turns out to have been hired for—leading an investigation her new boss doesn’t feel he can entrust to his own force—makes her queasy. The biggest problem, though, is one she doesn’t know about until it slaps her in the face. A fatal car accident that was anything but accidental has jarred loose a stash of methamphetamines and cash that’s become the center of a battle between the Sons of Freedom, Bakken County’s traditional drug sellers, and MS-13, the Salvadorian upstarts who are muscling in on their territory. It’s a setup that leaves scant room for law enforcement officers or for Kyle Westergaard, the 12-year-old paperboy damaged since birth by fetal alcohol syndrome, who’s walked away from the wreck with a prize all too many people would kill for.

Pub Date: July 28, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-312-58321-7

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Minotaur

Review Posted Online: April 21, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2015

GENERAL MYSTERY & DETECTIVE | MYSTERY & DETECTIVE

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by C.J. Box

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Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Title: Gone Girl

Author: Gillian Flynn

Publisher: Crown Publishing Group

Genre: Mystery Thriller, Psychological thriller

First Publication: 2012

Language: English

Major Characters: Nick Dunne, Amy Elliot Dunne, Margo “Go” Dunne, Rand Elliot, Marybeth Elliot, Jim Gilpin, Rhonda Boney, Tanner Bolt, Andie Hardy, Desi Collings

Setting Place: North Carthage, Missouri

Theme: Secrets and Lies in Marriage, Misogyny, Writing, Storytelling, and Narrative

Narrator: First person, alternating between Nick and Amy’s points of view from chapter to chapter.

Book Summary: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn centers its story about Nick and Amy Dunne’s strained marriage relationship. Nick used to work as a journalist, but loses his job. With his broke financial status, Nick decides to relocate from New York City to his smaller home town, North Carthage.

In an attempt of recovering from his financial deprivations, Nick opens a bar using the money from his wife. Nick runs the bar along with his twin sister Margo, providing a decent living for his family. But, as they days go by, his marriage with Amy is falling apart slowly. Amy resents her new life.

“There’s something disturbing about recalling a warm memory and feeling utterly cold.”

On a summer morning in Missouri, when Nick and Amy are celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary along with their relatives and acquaintances, Amy goes missing.

Police’s eyes turn towards Nick as an act of suspicion, since Nick used Amy’s money for his business and their relationship is strained. As the police delve into the investigation, different shades of stories come out from Nick’s and Amy’s sides. The suspense of the book is carried until the actual information is demystified.

The book, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, is also available on Audible. It’s narrated by Christiane Paul, Matthias Koeberlin.

Book Review: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I’ve read Gillian Flynn’s previous two novels Sharp Objects and Dark Places and I liked them both! I thought she is an ingenious writer, and there is no doubt about it. She is one of the most genius authors I have read in recent times. Her books are exemplary and make deep impact on your mind! She has ability to surprise you in the most unexpected ways. Her stories have everything I look for in a good mystery book. Twists, characters that jump out of the pages and a clever plot.

Gillian Flynn is an ingenious, spectacular author. Reading her books feels like falling down into a dark rabbit hole. Her stories are full of mystery, twists, lies, secrets, revelations and have all the nasty characters. When I started reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, I was surprised by how different it was compared to her previous works. Flynn creates very dark and violent stories with very, very disturbed characters. But in this book the dark macabre tendency that dominates her writing contrasts with the beautiful New York skyline that the story is set against to.

“There’s a difference between really loving someone and loving the idea of her.”

In her previous books we met dark characters with many flaws and nasty places that you would not like to find yourself too. But in this book the places were beautiful, the characters were popular, rich, gorgeous. Almost perfect. I really wondered if this was actually the same author that wrote those dark stories in the past. Well, this is what I thought for the first part of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.

The first part of the book is divided into two stories. The first story is one of those stories that you see in cheesy romantic movies. A beautiful love story, set in New York with gorgeous characters that kiss under clouds of sugar. Or so it seems. Because the characters hide their darker side. The second story is a mystery story of a man that lost his wife and he is accused of her murder. But then right in the middle of the book a wicked twist changes everything. The story transforms to Flynn’s regular stories that are dark, full of twists and gory.

“Love makes you want to be a better man—right, right. But maybe love, real love, also gives you permission to just be the man you are.”

Gillian Flynn takes the common marital concerns about money, in-laws, and parenthood, and turns them into toxic waste in the case of Nick and Amy Dunne. Amy is revealed through her diaries, and Nick narrates his experiences as he follows the clues in the anniversary treasure hunt laid out by his wife before she disappeared.

From the first page I was hooked to the story. The mystery had me guessing and the love story made me to want to find out more. But it is the second part that made me not to able to stop reading! This book is full of twists. Twists that hit you like asteroids and keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time. The twists and turns are so many and so unexpected that you just cannot predict what will happen next!

But where Gillian Flynn does the best work is in the characters. Characters are amazingly developed here. This is the main aspect that makes her story so good. Her ability to create multidimensional characters is exceptional. A good psychological mystery really lies upon characters and Flynn’s characters in this book can really carry a story that surprises you constantly. The story is unfolded between two point of view. This choice of narration is what makes the book so great. Seeing the story through the eyes of two characters keeps you guessing till the end!

“It’s humbling, to become the very thing you once mocked.”

Every single detail is important and it turns the reader towards another direction. The ending of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn was so unexpected. There are people who love it and those who hate it. Two pages before the book ends, Flynn throws a huge twist that you either hate or love. Personally I loved it. I don’t think that there could be a more fitting end to this mystery thriller. It is one of those books that you finish and you can’t stop thinking about.

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Jun 5, 2012, 432 pages
Apr 2014, 432 pages

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The perfect novel for readers looking for fast-paced escapism.

On its surface, Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl appears to be a run-of-the-mill mystery with a relatively standard plot: On the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne gets a call at work from a concerned neighbor: his front door is wide open. Nick rushes home to find a tea kettle boiled to nothing on the stove, furniture overturned in his living room and his wife Amy missing. He of course calls the police, who immediately begin investigating the disappearance as a crime. The novel follows the course of the investigation as more and more evidence leads them to believe Nick has murdered his wife. This somewhat average synopsis, however, belies the book's uniquely complex story and the deliciously evil plot twists that elevate it from common pot-boiler to "oh my gosh you must read this now " status. The story is alternately told by Nick and Amy. Nick's voice remains a first-person account throughout, relaying the current state of the investigation into Amy's disappearance. We know even before Amy goes missing that all is not right with their relationship. Nick muses early on in the novel, "There's something disturbing about recalling a warm memory and feeling utterly cold." He describes his reaction to his wife's cheery greeting on the morning she disappears: "Bile and dread inched up my throat." He also admits to us that he is lying to the police, although not about what, exactly. It's immediately obvious that Nick is an unreliable narrator and that we, his audience, should not trust him. The other voice is Amy's, first in diary entries covering the five year period from her meeting Nick through her disappearance, and later her own first-person account of events as they unfold. Here, too, it's painfully obvious that their marriage is the very picture of dysfunction. The gradual decline in the couple's relationship as chronicled from each person's point of view adds a certain amount of depth to the narrative, particularly throughout the first section of the novel. The author excels at illustrating the collapse of a one-time loving relationship into a nightmare for which each party bears responsibility. Little more can be said about the plot without including spoilers. Suffice it to say, it's a roller-coaster ride with enough surprises along the way to keep even the most jaded mystery reader absorbed. My one criticism is that Flynn is not very subtle about how she wants you to feel about her characters; I felt manipulated - almost manhandled - into reacting to the characters in specific ways at key points in the plot. All authors, of course, guide a reader's feelings, but when it's too overt it becomes a distraction. Those who read for style as much as plot may find this outweighs their enjoyment of the novel, but those who are simply looking for a terrifically entertaining page-turner will likely be too engrossed to notice. On finishing Gone Girl I immediately contacted my friends to insist they read it; it's one of those books that I simply couldn't wait to discuss with others. I found it to be an original, engaging mystery that kept me guessing throughout. It's the perfect novel for readers looking for fast-paced escapism.

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By Marilyn Stasio

June 15, 2012

“This is the hardest part,” confides one of the untrustworthy narrators in GONE GIRL (Crown, $25), “waiting for stupid people to figure things out.” There’s no need to rub it in, because Gillian Flynn’s latest novel of psychological suspense will confound anyone trying to keep up with her quicksilver mind and diabolical rules of play. Not that there’s anything underhanded about her intentions: she promises to deliver an account of the troubled marriage of Nick and Amy Dunne, who alternate as narrators, and so she does. The trickery is in the devilish way she tells their story.

On the occasion of this young couple’s fifth wedding anniversary, Nick tries to ignore the big questions weighing on his mind (“What have we done to each other? What will we do?”) and steels himself for the elaborate and humiliating treasure hunt his wife always makes of her gift presentation. But Nick’s brooding takes a darker turn when Amy disappears, amid signs of a struggle, from their house on the Mississippi River in North Carthage, Mo., and he suffers the painful transformation from distressed husband to suspected murderer.

Amy shares the narrative with Nick through giddy diary entries that date back to their first meeting at a party in Brooklyn and sharpen all the character traits blunted by five years of marriage. In those days, handsome, easygoing Nick wrote about pop culture for a men’s magazine, and beautiful, brainy Amy drew on her master’s degree in psychology to compose personality quizzes for the women’s market. But after losing their jobs in the publishing industry meltdown, Nick moved them to his backwater hometown and used the last of Amy’s trust fund to open a bar with his twin sister. Although he made a good case (“The world will always want a drink”), Nick comes to regret detaching his urbane wife from her natural habitat.

What makes Flynn so fearless a writer is the way she strips her characters of their pretenses and shows no mercy while they squirm. Nick would rather be arrested than reveal that he keeps old copies of his magazine articles hidden in a garage to read in secret, “like porn.” Amy would never give Nick the satisfaction of knowing that her treasure hunts are a cruel way of asserting her superior intelligence. Flynn dares the reader to figure out which instances of marital discord might flare into a homicidal rage.

Stories about dysfunctional families are boring. Stories about dysfunctional crime families are not. Terrier Rand, the protagonist of Tom Piccirilli’s caustic thriller THE LAST KIND WORDS (Bantam, $26), comes from a family of professional thieves named after (and bearing tattoos of) dogs. Terry’s father, Pinscher, is the alpha male in this kennel, but his brothers Malamute and Greyhound have their talents, and even Grandpa Shep, who is gaga, can still lift a wallet. But the one who drags Terry away from his honest work on a ranch is his older brother, Collie, due to be executed in two weeks for murdering eight people. Collie won’t explain why he disgraced the family by going psycho, but he insists he had nothing to do with one of these deaths and talks Terry into hunting down the actual killer.

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It’s Nick and Amy’s fifth anniversary. Three years ago, they made the move from their hip New York City condo to an ostentatious yet generic house in the small town of Carthage, Missouri. It was a family necessity. At least that’s what Nick keeps reminding Amy. The adjustment hasn’t been an easy one. But now it’s time to celebrate five years of marriage.

Amy always concocts a treasure hunt for her husband, with clues hidden in special places that he must figure out from her cryptic clues. Sometimes they can be more challenging than others, and sometimes they can be more damning too.

"The book is, quite simply, ingenious. Gillian Flynn couldn’t possibly surprise her readers any more than she has in this amazing thriller. If there ever was a must-read, especially for mystery lovers, GONE GIRL is that. And so much more."

That morning, Nick gets a call at The Bar, an enterprise he and his twin sister, Margo, have finally taken from a dream to a reality. On the other end of the line, his neighbor informs him that the front door to their house is wide open, and the cat is outside, which never happens. Nick’s mood isn’t great anyway, and now this. Margo watches him leave with mixed emotions.

At home, Nick eases inside, where he discovers signs of a struggle and, ominously, no sign of his wife. What has happened here? The police begin to investigate and, as most people would expect, soon turn their sights on Nick. Amy’s little treasure hunt is turning into Nick’s worst nightmare.

As a former journalist, Nick should have known how his story would look to the public, yet he has a too-calm aspect and comes across as all wrong. Proclaiming his innocence does little to sway anyone, of course, and evidence starts to pile up. Even Margo expresses doubt. Things don’t look good for him.

In the meantime, readers are treated to Amy’s yet-to-be-discovered diary. The entries go back seven years, to the time when she and Nick were dating. She shares how they met, how they played the mating game and how they ultimately got married. Now, in alternating chapters, Nick narrates his tale, then Amy’s diary tells hers, at least for Part One, when it changes around a bit.

It is easy to like Nick --- that is, until he throws a curve ball into his story. Then, just as you wonder what he meant by that comment and feel the hairs on the nape of your neck start to bristle, he reassures you that he really is a good guy. And Amy? Well, no one is perfect, but in this case, she is Amazing. Her parents are the authors of the famous line of children’s books, Amazing Amy . Beautiful, talented, famous, rich and brilliant. Amy Elliott Dunne is all of the above, especially brilliant. So what has happened to her?

Whatever you do, don’t be lulled into thinking you know what happened until the very last paragraph. By the time you figure it out, you will be gasping, shaking your head, and slapping your temple. You will have been batted around like a ping pong ball in a tight match, and you will feel like you have made just as many turnarounds. The book is, quite simply, ingenious. Gillian Flynn couldn’t possibly surprise her readers any more than she has in this amazing thriller. If there ever was a must-read, especially for mystery lovers, GONE GIRL is that. And so much more.

Reviewed by Kate Ayers on July 5, 2012

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Publication Date: April 22, 2014
Genres: Fiction , Suspense , Thriller
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Broadway Books
ISBN-10: 0307588378
ISBN-13: 9780307588371

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REVIEW: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

“‘What are you thinking, Amy? The question I’ve asked most often during our marriage, if not out loud, if not to the person who could answer. I suppose these questions stormcloud over every marriage: What are you thinking? How are you feeling? Who are you? What have we done to each other? What will we do?'” Just how well can you ever know the person you love? This is the question that Nick Dunne must ask himself on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, when his wife Amy suddenly disappears. The police immediately suspect Nick. Amy’s friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she kept secrets from him. He swears it isn’t true. A police examination of his computer shows strange searches. He says they aren’t his. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone. So what did really did happen to Nick’s beautiful wife? And what was left in that half-wrapped box left so casually on their marital bed? In this novel, marriage truly is the art of war.

Dear Ms. Flynn,

Truly, there is no justice in the world. Your book Gone Girl should be the best-selling work of fiction in the nation. But, no, the three books keeping you from that slot all have the word “Grey” in the title. And that is a damn shame because your book is a tour de force of plot, writing, humor, character, and hell-hath no fury like a lover scorned rage. From the moment I began reading it, all I longed to do was see how the tale turned out. (Not now, honey, I’m reading .)

I hovered in the doorway, watching my wife. Her yellow-butter hair was pulled up, the hank of ponytail swinging cheerful as a jump-rope, and she was sucking distractedly on a burnt fingertip, humming around it. She hummed to herself because she was an unrivaled botcher of lyrics. When we were first dating, a Genesis song came on the radio: “She seems to have an invisible touch, yeah.” And Amy crooned instead, “She takes my hat and puts it on the top shelf.” When I asked her why she’d ever think her lyrics were remotely, possibly, vaguely right, she told me she always thought the woman in the song truly loved the man because she put his hat on the top shelf. I knew I liked her then, really liked her, this girl with an explanation for everything. There’s something disturbing about recalling a warm memory and feeling utterly cold. Amy peered at the crepe sizzling in the pan and licked something off her wrist. She looked triumphant, wifely. If I took her in my arms, she would smell like berries and powdered sugar. When she spied me lurking there in grubby boxers, my hair in full Heat Miser spike, she leaned against the kitchen counter and said, “Well, hello, handsome.” Bile and dread inched up my throat. I thought to myself: Okay, go.

Hours later, when Nick is at work, a neighbor calls and says the Dunnes’ front door is open, their only-indoor cat is on the stoop, and something just doesn’t look right. When Nick gets home, not only is the door open in a “wide-gaping-ominous” way, the living room is trashed, the iron still on, and Amy has vanished.

Nick, like the reader, knows when a man’s wife goes missing, the husband is usually to blame. And, for much of this book, it seems eminently possible Nick did indeed murder his bride. Nick, narrating his side of the story, admits to choices that, hey, look hellaciously awful. When he met Amy, she was beautiful, extraordinarily charming, and very rich. Over the past five years, though, things for Nick and Amy have changed drastically. Amy, though still beautiful, isn’t the least bit charming to Nick (or so he says), and she’s lost all her lovely money. Nick moved them back to his hometown of North Carthage, Missouri, a place Amy detests (or so he says), borrowed the last of Amy’s money to start a bar with his twin sister Margo–everyone calls her Go–, whom Amy dislikes (or so he says), and began to hate his wife for her constant belittling and general nastiness (or so he says.)

Amy, the missing Amy, tells her side of the story through a diary whose first entry, on January 8, 2005–more than seven years ago–is about the night she met Nick.

Tra and la! I am smiling a big adopted-orphan smile as I write this. I am embarrassed at how happy I am, like some Technicolor comic of a teenage girl talking on the phone with my hair in a ponytail, the bubble above my head saying: I met a boy! But I did. This is a technical, empirical truth. I met a boy, a great, gorgeous dude, a funny, cool-ass guy.

When they met, Amy and Nick were both employed as writers. Nick wrote about culture for a magazine, Amy wrote personality quizzes for women’s magazines. And while neither are currently employed in their chosen field, they are still writers; fabulous, manipulative, creative authors, each competing to tell the story of their relationship. The book alters between Nick narrating what (or so he says) is happening in real-time–his chapters are titled The Day of , One Day Gone , Two Days Gone , etc…–and Amy narrating what happened in the past (or so she says), in chronological order via her diary.

Both Amy and Nick are liars. Nick favors lies of elision; Amy is the mistress of misdirection. Each is convincing, neither is believable–this is a book that doesn’t truly resolve its mysteries until the very last pages. And yet. Amy and Nick are also lovers. They loved one another when they met and it’s fair to say each is the other’s raison d’être. For the Dunnes, that thin line between love and hate is more like a continent.

This book is the sort I want to wave at other people exhorting them “READ THIS.” I found it to be addictive in the way the best stories are. Part of its impressive charm is all the shockers it drops–there’s no way I can write much about the novel without giving away the best parts. I’m serious–were I to enumerate all the spoilers lying in wait to ensnare lucky reader, I’d have inches and inches of whited out text. So, I’m not going there. With the exception of saying some readers may find the last few chapters rushed and/or may be disgruntled by the ending, I’ll write no more about the plot or about what happens to Nick and Amy.

I am willing, however, to pull my reviewer lens back and pontificate on this book’s vision of romantic love. I promise to be brief. In most romance novels, intimacy is the treasured goal. No matter what the era, men and women find their bliss when they know and are known for who they truly are. But, in the “real” world, intimacy is more fraught. As lovers grow closer, they become less the people they want to seem and more the people they actually are. Sometimes this is marvelous. Sometimes it creates utter ruination. Many times, it’s just hard and couples get through it. We are a flexible species–always adapting to meet our needs–and we recalibrate our views and expectations of that someone we’ve chosen to love. In Gone Girl , Amy’s and Nick’s ultimate goal is to show the reader the real person the other is. Their narratives are subtle, angry, and revealing; the relationship the two share is as intimate as any I’ve ever read.

When I read this book, I found myself agreeing with both Nick and Amy. The pulse of their anger worked for me. More than once, I found myself saying “Hell Yeah.” And then I’d realized I’d been manipulated. Take this bit where Amy, in her diary, writes about the perfect girlfriend. I am going to treat it as a spoiler simply because it’s a later entry in Amy’s diary. If you are the sort who doesn’t want even a hint of what’s to come, skip this bit.

[spoiler]Being the Cool Girl means I am a hot, brilliant, funny woman who adores football, poker, dirty jokes, and burping, who plays video games, drinks cheap beer, loves threesomes and anal sex, and jams hot dogs and hamburgers into her mouth like she’s hosting the world’s biggest culinary gang bang while somehow maintaining a size 2, because Cool Girls are above all hot. Hot and understanding. Cool Girls never get angry; they only smile in a chagrined, loving manner and let their men do whatever they want. Go ahead, shit on me, I don’t mind, I’m the Cool Girl.Men actually think this girl exists. Maybe they’re fooled because so many women are willing to pretend to be this girl. For a long time Cool Girl offended me. I used to see men—friends, coworkers, strangers—giddy over these awful pretender women, and I’d want to sit these men down and calmly say: You are not dating a woman, you are dating a woman who has watched too many movies written by socially awkward men who’d like to believe that this kind of woman exists and might kiss them. I’d want to grab the poor guy by his lapels or messenger bag and say: The bitch doesn’t really love chili dogs that much—no one loves chili dogs that much! And the Cool Girls are even more pathetic: They’re not even pretending to be the woman they want to be, they’re pretending to be the woman a man wants them to be. Oh, and if you’re not a Cool Girl, I beg you not to believe that your man doesn’t want the Cool Girl. It may be a slightly different version—maybe he’s a vegetarian, so Cool Girl loves seitan and is great with dogs; or maybe he’s a hipster artist, so Cool Girl is a tattooed, bespectacled nerd who loves comics. There are variations to the window dressing, but believe me, he wants Cool Girl, who is basically the girl who likes every fucking thing he likes and doesn’t ever complain. (How do you know you’re not Cool Girl? Because he says things like: “I like strong women.” If he says that to you, he will at some point fuck someone else. Because “I like strong women” is code for “I hate strong women.”)[/spoiler]

Here Amy (so she says) is sharing her anger with you, the reader, about the unfair deal women get stuck with these days. And I’m reading it and I’m thinking “Yes! Right on sister!” until I remember oh, this is Amy and it’s a bad plan to believe a word she (or Nick) says. I need to remember who I am and not get sucked into someone else’s bent world view. That I needed to do this is just one piece of what makes Gone Girl such a great read. Not only are Amy and Nick convincing–they are compelling and alarmingly alluring. Even now, that I’m done with their story, I’m still thinking about them, wondering what really happened, wishing I had just one or two more insights into their whacked-out world… it’s such a fascinating place.

So, if you are looking for an antidote to conventional romance, if you long for a love story gone wonderfully wrong, read Gone Girl. It’s a work of deceptive genius–Nick and Amy and their adroit, delusive narratives will stay with you after you’ve finished their tale. In fact, if you’re like me, you’ll be reading the book a second time, marveling at all the things you missed. I give it a B+.

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Review: Gone Girl

I don’t often read outside of my comfort zone. I love Science Fiction and I love Fantasy and not much else holds my interest. Every once and a while though I’ll take a risk and venture outside my safety bubble. GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn ( Amazon ) was recommended to me with infectious enthusiasm. It wasn’t my usual cup of tea, but the premise was perplexing and so I decided to give it a shot. WOW, I am so glad I did not let this one pass me by.

On the morning of Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary she goes missing. As the investigation gets rolling evidence leads the police and the public to suspect the obvious: it’s always the husband. There is more to the story than Nick Dunne will let on but does that necessarily mean he is to blame for the disappearance of his wife? It’s always the husband. Right? Maybe not… GONE GIRL is the best sort of book. This is the sort of novel that will challenge your preconceived notions. This is the sort of novel that will absorb you fully and not let you go until you flip the final page. Even then you are bound to continue mulling it over in your head. This is the sort of book that dominates your conscious, whether you’re at work or school or whatever it is you people do. I don’t take time to reflect on books as I read them. I just don’t have the luxury. With GONE GIRL I was pausing every fifty pages or so to contemplate what it was that I had read. And even then I finished it in a few sittings. I got this book on a Tuesday and had finished it by Thursday night. At 400 pages and given the concerns of daily life that is no small feat.

So what makes GONE GIRL such an addictive book? For starters it is incredibly well written. From start to finish, GONE GIRL is a nearly flawless psychological thriller. The book is told from two perspectives, Nick’s and Amy’s. Nick’s POV picks up the day Amy goes missing and continues on with the investigation. Amy’s POV is past-tense, told in the form of diary entries leading up to the disappearance. For the entirety of the novel Nick maintains his innocence, but he also confesses to a number of indiscretions. The entries from Amy’s diary paint a very different picture of Nick, as well as a very different picture of Amy. Readers will experience the two falling in and out of love, the highs and lows of the marriage, from two perspectives that don’t quite match up.

The characters of Nick and Amy are real people. At least that’s how it feels. Flynn crafts remarkably authentic characters and utterly believable relationships. I developed genuine feelings for both leads, feelings that morphed and grew over the course of the novel. It’s impossible not to care about these people. That doesn’t mean they are necessarily likable. I’ve seen some complaints that they aren’t “likable enough.” Well yeah, that’s true in a sense, because they are placed under a high intensity microscope. The deeper you look into someone the less you will find to like. But it goes both ways. The deeper you look into someone the more you can find to admire. I had anxiety over finishing the novel because I cared that much about these characters.

GONE GIRL is a psychological thriller of the highest order. Hitchcock style. The suspense is almost unbearable. Dark, twisted stuff that will leave you agog

The ancillary characters are also well drawn. It takes no effort at all to picture these people and their motivations and their relationships. There is no shortage of suspects, even though all of the evidence seems to be pointing in one direction. It is enough to make you wonder how thoroughly the media influences perception. Everyone always assumes the husband is to blame but that’s what we have been conditioned to believe.

GONE GIRL is a psychological thriller of the highest order. Hitchcock style. The suspense is almost unbearable. Horror movie directors need to take some freaking notes. This is how you do it. GONE GIRL is too involved for a movie but I would love to see it picked up and developed as a television mini-series. Even when I expected one twist I was still floored when my revelation came true. It’s just that good. There is some very dark, very twisted stuff here but none of it is beyond the realm of belief. And that’s what makes it so creepy. This could happen to you. It could happen to me. I really, really hope this doesn’t happen to me. It just goes to show you, sometimes the most disturbing thing of all is not knowing someone half so well as you think.

Recommended Age: 17+
Language: Plenty
Violence: Uh, wow I guess there really isn't any violence. But it is discussed.
Sex: Things get hot and heavy for a bit in one scene, and there's some discussions of sex
Gone Girl — Amazon — Audible

Author Links:

Gillian Flynn — Website — EBR Reviews

GONE GIRL got the Amazon Book of the Month for June 2012. Everyone is reading it. Don’t be the last loser to pick it up after everyone has already ruined the ending.

Oh.my. I've been waiting for such a book!! I normally don't buy a book unless I've already read it, adored it, & must own it. THIS book, I feel like I should go out & buy it right NOW!!!

You are quite welcome and I do expect you won't be disappointed! Enjoy the read!

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By Gillian Flynn

'Gone Girl,' published in 2012, is a world-renowned novel that follows a thrilling and extremely surprising story of a woman whose husband falls under suspicion after she disappears.

About the Book

Article written by Emma Baldwin

B.A. in English, B.F.A. in Fine Art, and B.A. in Art Histories from East Carolina University.

Readers who love twists and turns, true crime, dark narratives, and mystery are the ideal audience for this contemporary book. Since its publication, the book has been made into a feature film that has brought a whole new audience of readers to the novel.

Key Facts about Gone Girl

Title: Gone Girl
Published: 2012
Literary Period: Contemporary
Genre: Thriller
Point-of-View: Nick and Amy’s first-person perspectives
Setting: North Carthage, Missouri
Climax: When Amy murders Desi
Antagonist: Amy

Gillian Flynn and Gone Girl

Gillian Flynn is an acclaimed American author best known for her psychological thriller novel ‘ Gone Girl .’ The book, first released in 2012, follows the story of Nick and Amy Dunne and the events that unfold after Nick reports Amy missing.

Flynn has stated that ‘Gone Girl ‘ was inspired by novels such as Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train and Alfred Hitchcock’s film adaptation of the same name. She has also credited authors like Elmore Leonard and Richard Yates for their influence on her writing.

In addition to ‘ Gone Girl ,’ Flynn has written several other books , including Dark Places, Sharp Objects, and The Grownup. While each book has its own unique plot, they all share a common theme of dark humor and deeply flawed characters .

Gone Girl Plot

‘ Gone Girl ‘ by Gillian Flynn follows the story of Nick Dunne and his wife, Amy. Nick is a struggling writer, and Amy is a successful magazine writer. On the day of their fifth anniversary, Amy disappears without a trace. All the evidence points to Nick as the prime suspect in her disappearance.

The novel then follows Nick and Amy’s twisted tale of lies, betrayal, and manipulation that ultimately leads to the truth about what happened to Amy on that fateful day.

Throughout the novel, readers learn more about Nick and Amy’s past and how it has shaped their relationship. At the same time, they must also question who can be trusted as the plot unravels and both characters’ secrets become exposed.

The novel ends with a cliffhanger , leaving readers to guess what exactly played out between Amy and Nick after the novel’s final words.

Books Related to Gone Girl

Gillian Flynn is an American author best known for her bestselling novel ‘ Gone Girl .’ While the novel has made her a household name, Flynn has written several other books that readers have come to love.

Here are some of Flynn’s other novels and how they compare to’ Gone Girl’ :

‘ Dark Places ‘ is considered a thriller, though it is much darker than ‘ Gone Girl .’ It follows Libby Day, a woman who survived a massacre as a child and must deal with the dark secrets of her past. ‘ Sharp Objects ‘ is another related book. It was Flynn’s debut novel and is another great thriller. It follows journalist Camille Preaker as she returns to her hometown to investigate two murders.

‘ The Grownup ‘ is Flynn’s first venture into the horror genre. It tells the story of a woman who takes a job in an antique shop where supernatural events begin to occur. It is an eerie, suspenseful read that fans of horror and thrillers will enjoy.

A few other novels by different authors that readers might be interested in include ‘ The Girl on the Train ‘ by Paula Hawkins and ‘ Behind Closed Doors ‘ by B.A. Paris. The former is a gripping psychological thriller that follows a divorcée as she becomes embroiled in a missing persons investigation.

‘ Gone Without a Trace ‘ by Mary Torjussen is another great example. The plot loosely plays out when Hannah’s fiancé disappears without a trace, and she begins to unravel the truth behind his disappearance. ‘ I Let You Go ‘ by Clare Mackintosh is another strong recommendation. The novel is about a hit-and-run driver who kills a young boy and leaves his mother is left struggling with guilt and grief while trying to uncover the truth behind her son’s death.

Legacy of Gone Girl

‘ Gone Girl ‘ has had a profound impact on readers and film fans alike. After its release in 2012, it quickly became a bestseller and has since been adapted into a major motion picture. This novel tells the story of Nick and Amy Dunne, a couple whose marriage begins to unravel when Amy disappears on their fifth wedding anniversary.

The novel has been hailed as an important work in the contemporary literary landscape due in part to its exploration of modern marriage and its complex portrayal of female characters . It offers a unique perspective on gender roles and power dynamics in relationships. Additionally, it serves as a commentary on the power of media and public opinion to shape stories and shape our understanding of truth.

The film adaptation of ‘ Gone Girl ,’ released in 2014, was a box office hit and received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics. While it stayed largely faithful to the book’s storyline, there were several notable changes made to the cinematic version.

Some plot points were changed to make the story of ‘ Gone Girl ‘ more accessible to audiences, and some characters were altered or removed entirely. Nevertheless, the film was a major success and further solidified ‘ Gone Girl’s ‘ status as an iconic work of fiction. It has also inspired a number of new readers to seek out the book following viewing the film with it was released.

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GONE GIRL Book Review & Analysis

by Jenn | Books | 0 comments

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The cover for the bestselling novel GONE GIRL

GONE GIRL , published in 2012, is a mystery, thriller & suspense novel by Gillian Flynn. The movie was released in 2014.

GONE GIRL spent 8 weeks at #1 on the NYT Bestseller List. It’s estimated the novel sold more than 15 million copies worldwide by 2016.

“Okay.” I gave an angry shrug. “Do you need my sun sign too, or can we get started?”

Table of Contents

GONE GIRL Synopsis

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy’s diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

GONE GIRL Analysis Of:

Gone Girl is used as an example in the following posts. Check them out!

	A comparison of past vs present tense including modern fiction examples. Which is right for your novel?
	Writing a story in past tense is most common in genre fiction. Learn about 5 times to choose past tense.
	Present tense happens now. Check out 5 times it’s the best choice for your novel.
	The rising action is the period between the inciting incident and climax. Learn how to nail your rising action with these 4 elements.
	The falling action is an important part of your novel. Get it right with these 4 must-have elements.
	Learn the 3 required qualities of main character with modern fiction examples.
	Learn the importance of the skeptic character and their two roles. Plus, see modern fiction examples.

GONE GIRL Book Reviews

Gone Girl is a bit love or hate. I enjoyed it but it’s not something I would ever consider re-reading. And for me, that’s a bit of the standard.

Gone Girl loses all of it’s appeal once you know what happens. The writing itself? The characters? They’re all pretty meh. It’s the suspense of “what’s going on?” that drives interest in the book.

So if you haven’t read it (or seen the movie or heard what happens), give it a read.

Now that’s just my opinion. What do others think?

Gone Girl is one of the most ridiculous books I have ever read, one that comes with an inordinate amount of hype and disguised as a “clever”, “dark”, twisterific thriller that supposedly deals with serious shit like “when a marriage go bad”. – The Book Smugglers

Gone Girl seems a divisive sort of read as a result, and largely relies on whether or not you can play along with the author’s theatrics. – Cuddle Buggery

It is a dark, funny, intricately plotted and intelligently written fast-paced novel with enough twists and turns making it absolutely unputdownable stuff. – Youth Kiawaaz

Writing Practice

Check out these writing exercises and prompts inspired by GONE GIRL.

Prompt: The Opening Paragraph(s)

This is the opening paragraph of the novel. Ignore everything you know about the story and use it as a writing prompt.

Your Task : Using as much detail as possible, write another 300+ words.

Nick Dunne: The Day Of (Chapter 1)

When I think of my wife, I always think of her head. The shape of it, to begin with. The very first time I saw her, it was the back of the head I saw, and there was something lovely about it, the angles of it. Like a shiny, hard corn kernel or a riverbed fossil. She had what the Victorians would call a finely shaped head. You could imagine the skull quite easily. I’d know her head anywhere.

Exercise: Rewrite

Choose any chapter – one you (at least mildly) dislike would probably be easiest.

Your Task: Rewrite your chosen scene (or at leas the first couple of pages) in the 3rd person (limited or omniscient) point of view.

Your Options: Change the scene however you want. Add or subtract details and information as you see fit. Leave the scene exactly as is, except the point of view * The more you rewrite, the easier it will be to see any effects of point of view

Think about it: Which did you choose – limited or omniscient? Why? How does this change the feel of the work? Would you have preferred if the novel was written in 3rd person? What are the advantages and disadvantages to the choice of 1st person?

NOTE: *This is a great exercise to do with any piece of fiction to really get a feel for the differences in points of view and how they can change a novel.

Need an idea?

This could be a straightforward exercise. You don’t have to make any changes except the point of view.

When I made this drill initially (as a warm up for myself), I chose a Nick chapter. I didn’t like Nick, at all. So switching to 3rd person meant I could distance him a bit.

The first time I did this drill (because I’ve done it more than once), I did the beginning of chapter “Nick Dunne – 2 Days Gone.” I stopped at the dialogue. Here’s an example of the first paragraph of that chapter.

woke up on the pullout couch in the Elliotts’ suite, exhausted. They’d insisted stay over— home had not yet been reopened to him insisted with the same urgency they once applied to snapping up the check at dinner: hospitality as ferocious force of nature. So did. spent the night listening to their snores through the bedroom door, one steady and deep—a hearty lumberjack of a snore—the other gaspy and arrhythmic, as if the sleeper were dreaming of drowning.

My thoughts: – I chose Limited, but this paragraph alone isn’t enough to see that – It feels less personal. – I would have preferred to have Nick’s parts written in the third person – but that might be related more to my dislike of Nick and less to my preference for 3rd person

The first chapter of Part 2, “Amy Elliott Dunne: The Day Of” we learn a lot about Amy. She’s giddy with excitement for having pulled off her own ‘murder.’

This chapter is a good blend of present and past tense. Amy is giving us the quick scoop about how it all started (past) but she’s obviously doing it now (present).

Your Task: Change it all to past tense. The whole chapter. You should keep it in 1st person – one challenge at a time!

Think About It : Why do you think Gillian Flynn chose to write in present tense? Which do you prefer – the original work or your rewrite? How did the change of tense affect the feeling of the work? Do you have a clearer idea of past and present tenses after this exercise?

If you’re not sure how or where to begin, I’ll get you started:


	I so much happier I dead.Technically, missing. Soon to be presumed dead. But as shorthand, I dead. only a matter of hours, I better: joints, wavy muscles.

someone pulling on a heart on a fish hook

GONE GIRL Facts

	Mystery
	Jun 05, 2012
	434 pages
	2,028 KB
	Crown

GONE GIRL Thoughts?

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The Legacy of Gone Girl

Ten years after its publication, this literary sensation still casts a long shadow over the psychological thriller market. But does the novel hold up?

preview for Gone Girl clip: 'Should I know my wife's blood type?'

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No matter how many times it happens, I’m still excited every time I get my hands on an advance reading copy of a book that has yet to be published. How thrilling to turn to page one with almost no idea what I’m in for, before review coverage has begun, before any overly enthusiastic friend gives too much away.

When I received a galley of Gone Girl in 2011, I had no preconceived notions other than the fact that I knew that author Gillian Flynn had written two prior thrillers, and I’d been a fan of her work when she was on staff at Entertainment Weekly . I was certainly not primed to expect a perfectly paced and perfectly nuanced he said/she said story, especially not one with an audacious plot twist that strikes right smack in the middle of the book and absolutely blows up every word that has come before. I had never read anything quite like it. I still have never read anything like it. Although now, ten years after the official publication of Gone Girl , many others have tried to emulate its style and edge.

When Gone Girl came out in the summer of 2012, readers were enthralled with Nick and Amy Dunne, the troubled married couple who take turns narrating the novel so marvelously unreliably, keeping bombshells both from readers and from each other. Gone Girl soon became a bona fide publishing sensation, selling 6 million copies in hardcover alone⁠—the 2014 paperback release would coincide with the release of the movie adaptation starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike.

It’s Marketing 101 to expect that when a book like Gone Girl comes along that both subverts a familiar genre and achieves great commercial success, hundreds of wannabes will follow. The other breakout books of 2012 had their fair share of imitators: 50 Shades of Grey spawned multiple other series about Billionaires Who Like To Spank, while The Hunger Games deluged the Young Adult market with Teenage Dystopian Fantasies But With Nice Romantic Subplots. But the success of Gone Girl launched a whole new strain of crime fiction that has dominated bestseller lists for the past decade; even now, it shows no sign of stopping.

Gone Girl kicked off a boom in the market for domestic suspense, a genre that focuses on interpersonal mysteries, often in the home, rather than police procedurals or detective novels. It has been around for ages and was popularized in the last century by the likes of authors from Daphne du Maurier to Patricia Highsmith. But over the past decade, “for fans of Gone Girl ” has become shorthand for a very specific kind of psychological thriller.

The domestic suspense novel of today is marketed mostly to women (as always) as a dark-covered fast-paced thrill ride that may feature an anti-heroine (at long last), or at the very least a main character whose defining quality isn’t “likable.” Readers expect to encounter an unreliable narrator and to enjoy trying to decipher what really happened , and they are absolutely primed for the plot to be riddled with twists—the twistier the better. Many such books are brilliant in their own right and are unfairly lumped in with the Gone Girl phenomenon as a reductive sales tool (please don’t sleep on authors like Megan Abbott and Laura Lippman), but many more are blatant copycats seemingly test-tubed in an office conference room.

Trying to recreate the original high of a singular reading experience has diminishing returns.

Trying to recreate the original high of a singular reading experience has diminishing returns: in the Gone Girl knockoffs, the heroines become increasingly one-dimensional and the morality in the world of the books becomes less complicated, even while the plot twists become more and more deranged (It was astral projection ! It was face blindness ! They were triplets !). The soapiness of such books and their film adaptations even inspired the Netflix satire The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window , a mashup of tired domestic suspense tropes starring Kristen Bell as a beautiful drunk with a tragic past who may or may not have witnessed a murder.

Originality is risky. How much easier it is for publishers to give readers what they say they want or what they think they want, rather than presenting them with something entirely new and trusting them to engage with it? As the publishing industry grows more and more corporate, why aim for ingenuity, which is never a sure thing, when there are plenty of metrics to support betting on a watered down version of a literary juggernaut?

“For fans of Gone Girl” is a phrase still so frequently used in the parlance of book marketing that I recently went back to the galley to see how Crown, the division of Penguin Random House that published the book, had originally tried to sell it. After all, very few people knew they were thirsting for a book like Gone Girl when Gone Girl first came out. The copy contains no comparisons to other books, no “recommended if you like” or “for fans of.” In fact, the only reference to other art comes in a blurb from Adam Ross, the author of Mr. Peanut, who nods to cinema when he says that Gone Girl is “like a Scenes From a Marriage remade by Alfred Hitchcock.”

Later reviews would attempt to orient Gone Girl more firmly in the literary world, with Janet Maslin favorably comparing Flynn to Patricia Highsmith in her New York Times daily review. Stephen King goes even further in his list of best books of 2012 in Entertainment Weekly , saying that Gone Girl is “a plot Agatha Christie could have conceived; what elevates it is the clarity of Flynn’s observation and the Franzen-like richness of her prose.” Franzen-like prose! How many humble beach reads boast such a pedigree?

Broadway Books Gone Girl

Stephen King would later go on to tweet recommendations of books that reminded him of Gone Girl , thereby weakening the effect of his original endorsement. “Catriona Ward's THE LAST HOUSE ON NEEDLESS STREET is real. It's a true nerve-shredder that keeps its mind-blowing secrets to the very end. Haven't read anything this exciting since GONE GIRL, ” he wrote. “ If you liked GONE GIRL and THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, you might want to pick up THE WIDOW, by Fiona Barton,” he went on. “The first great thriller of 2017 is almost here: FINAL GIRLS, by Riley Sager. If you liked GONE GIRL , you'll like this.” It’s overkill, but King is far from the only culprit.

A decade after its publication Gone Girl remains the frame of reference for new psychological thrillers. Searching my inbox in 2022 for “Gone Girl” yields more than 150 results. The oldest emails are personal exchanges and ads from bookstores, but for the most part, the emails are pitches from publicists that contain marketing copy, lines from reviews, or blurbs from authors. A small sampling: The Wife Who Knew Too Much is “the perfect mix of Gone Girl and Netflix's upcoming show The Undoing with Nicole Kidman.” ( The Undoing aired on HBO.) People Like Her “reads like Gone Girl on steroids in all the best ways — Bookreporter .” No One Will Miss Her is “a Gone Girl for the gig economy,” says Woman in the Window author A.J. Finn. “Ready for the next Gone Girl ? Then pick up this chilling novel. — InStyle .” I include no specific book example in the latter InStyle quote because really, it could be any of them.

With Gone Girl still so present in the discourse, I opened my galley to see if the book I’d loved more than ten years ago holds up. I’m glad to report that it does, brilliantly. It’s still a masterfully plotted pageturner, so tight in its construction that every detail pays off. It’s so rare to turn the final page of a thriller and think, “There are no loose ends to tie up.” I’m entirely satisfied.

But remember those Franzen comparisons! Gone Girl is so much more than your average airport purchase. It’s also a scathing social satire of life following the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, when America was in decline and a feeling of doom pervaded. Both Nick and Amy have been laid off from their traditional magazine writing jobs, victims of the rise of the smartphones and the 24-hour news cycle. In 2022, this feels so prophetic it hurts.

When Nick and Amy move from Brooklyn Heights to North Carthage, Missouri to tend to Nick’s ailing mother, their new home is situated in a development of McMansions, most of which have been abandoned due to foreclosures. The mall that once sustained the town is closed down and derelict, and is now, as Nick says, “two million square feet of echo.” It’s a perfect metaphor for their marriage, which also feels as empty and hollow as the shoe store in the mall where Nick’s mom used to work.

As characters, Nick and Amy are still deliciously difficult to pin down. They’re finely drawn both as imperfect victims and perpetrators—neither are innocent, neither are entirely unjustified in their rancor. They’re deeply unlikable but charming, still so much fun to be around. They absolutely deserve each other.

If anything, the most outdated part of Gone Girl is Amy’s “Cool Girl” theory. Sure, there are still plenty of women pretending to be more laid back then they actually are in order to impress and placate men. Gender roles are a bitch. But such unrelenting anger about casual sexism feels quaint in a world after “grab them by the pussy,” after the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, after the question of our bodily autonomy is once again up for grabs. In fact, I hope Amy Elliot Dunne was just the beginning. There is still so much room for well-rounded anti-heroines in commercial literature, for anyone who’s not a cis straight man to bubble with murderous rage. Unfortunately taking action against the patriarchy, even when such action goes to dangerous extremes, still feels revolutionary.

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Book review – “Gone Girl” by Gillian Flynn

I am not a big fan of thrillers – they aren’t usually my reading of choice – which is the only way I can explain how this book passed me by when it was first published eight years ago. I have also, in the past, eschewed big bulky paperbacks in favour of something a little less… popular ! When I launched my 2020 Facebook reading challenge a few weeks ago, January’s theme was a major title from the last decade and Gone Girl was undoubtedly that. It spent several weeks at number one on the New York Times bestseller list, and sold over two million copies in its first year of publication alone. If you read any reviews of the book, you will see how difficult it is to write about without spoilers and that is something I too am going to find challenging here. I will simply start by saying – OH MY GOODNESS, WHAT A BOOK!!!

Our two main protagonists are Nick Dunne, an out of work writer from Missouri, and his wife Amy Elliot Dunne, from New York, the only child of two psychologists who made a fortune from a children’s book series, Amazing Amy , about a perfect little girl navigating her way in the world, making perfect decisions among imperfect other people. Amy, a psychology graduate like her parents, also chose a writing career though hers is more prosaic than Nick’s, she writes personality quizzes. They meet at a party, get together, get married and share an apartment in Brooklyn, bought for them by Amy’s parents. They have a seemingly perfect life until a number of events force them to move back to Nick’s hometown. First Nick and then Amy, lose their jobs, a result of the shake up in the publishing world brought about by the internet. Then, Nick’s mother becomes terminally ill with cancer and his twin sister Go (short for Margo), asks them to return to help take care of their mother and their father who suffers with Alzheimer’s and lives in a care home. Finally, Amy’s parents run into financial difficulty and ask Amy to give them the money from her Trust Fund. It also transpires that the house they had given the couple was heavily mortgaged and they can no longer afford the repayments, so it will have to be sold.

Nick and Amy have nothing to keep them in New York so they move back to Carthage, Missouri, rent a modern house on a ghost estate where most of the properties lie empty, unsold since the economic downturn of 2008. Nick invests most of the remaining money they have (Amy’s money) in a bar with his sister.

Although I have set the scene here, as readers we are not in fact given all this information from the outset; it is drip-fed to us throughout part one. One of the most astonishing elements of this book is its brilliant structure. Amy disappears from their home at the very start of the book, on the morning of their fifth wedding anniversary, in what at first seems to have been a violent bloody struggle. The chapters are narrated by Nick and Amy in turn; his chapters are reflections on the recent weeks, months and years of his life with Amy in the aftermath of her disappearance, and his dealings with the detectives investigating Amy’s disappearance, and her chapters are extracts from her diary, going back to the time the couple met. The police have not yet found the diary. In this first part we learn much about the couple’s history, but also about their respective feelings about their relationship and about each other. As a reader you get drawn into the complex workings of what was a difficult marriage for both of them, but in different ways, their respective efforts to make it better and how these fared. I found myself constantly torn between the two, first on her side, then his. It’s a roller-coaster! Towards the end of part one, the inconsistencies begin to emerge and it becomes clear that not everything is quite what it seems.

I can say little more than that without giving away the plot, and the twist is such a breathtaking thing that you really need to enjoy it! I thought the characters were brilliantly drawn, all the way from Nick and Amy down to the police officers involved in the case. The book is fantastic as a straight-up thriller, but also says a lot about sexual politics, both within relationships and in wider society. The author does not take sides, and no-one comes out of it particularly well.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it, although chances are you’ve already read it! I’m keen to watch the film now, although I’m told, and I’ve read, that it’s not as good. They rarely are!

I would love to know what you thought of Gone Girl , if you have read it.

Author: Julia's books

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Gone Girl is a good movie but the book is excellent

I just finished reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and I have to say I really really enjoyed it. I had seen a movie about 2-3 times and I also liked that very much, but I'm really glad that I read a book because some of the things ... made much more sense. Also, this story has a lot of different layers, that never occurred so well in the movie.

For example, Nick's relationship with his father and sister. In the book, there is described well how much his relationship with his father affected him. How he was really afraid that he might end up just like his father. And of course his relationship with his sister Margo. When I started reading the book, it definitely seemed to me that he liked his sister much much more than his wife. (For example, giving an explicit description of how her sister looked like, but not much about Amy, etc.) Again, in the movie, I really couldn't see their relationship being so deep.

And in the end. Nick decides to stay with Amy and play a happy couple. To me, in the movie, it really didn't seem logical at all that he decided to stay after all that crap. But book: after reading everything that happened in both of their heads, you could say they are both awful people. Of course, Amy was an absolute psycho, but Nick wasn't a good man either. Nick had so so many insecurities, and Amy needed constant validation. Like the book said: they really enjoyed themselves most, when they were faking it.

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Gone Girl | Gillian Flynn | Book Review | A gripping Psychological Thriller

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is a gripping psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page. The novel is a brilliant exploration of the dark, twisted depths of the human psyche, and Flynn’s masterful writing will leave you feeling both exhilarated and disturbed. So, read the book summary, book quotes, reading age, book release date, genre, trigger words, and book review of “ Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn” in this post below.

Follow @TheGillianFlynn as she takes you through the edgy mystery behind a too-perfect marriage...Read #GoneGirl #BookReview #BookQuotes & more on #NjkinnysBlog #NjkinnyRecommends Click To Tweet

About Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn:

No. of Pages: 415

Book Release Date: April 22, 2014 by Broadway Books

Genre: Psychological Thriller, Crime Fiction, Mystery, Drama, Adult Fiction, Domestic Thriller

Reading Age: 18 years and above

Trigger Warnings: Coarse Language, Rape mentioned, Domestic violence mentioned, Cheating, Murder, Death of a parent recounted, Poisoning mentioned, Disappearance of a spouse, Animal death

Can be read as a standalone? YES

Buy From: AMAZON

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn Book Summary:

Written by Gillian Flynn, “Gone Girl” is a psychological thriller novel. The story revolves around the disappearance of Amy Dunne on the morning of her fifth wedding anniversary, and her husband Nick’s subsequent search for her. Her husband Nick Dunne becomes the prime suspect in her disappearance.

As the investigation unfolds, it starts to uncover the dark secrets and lies behind their seemingly perfect marriage.

It becomes clear that Nick is hiding something, and the media frenzy that ensues turns his life into a nightmare. But as the layers of the story are peeled back, it becomes clear that nothing is as it seems, and the true nature of Amy and Nick’s relationship is revealed in all its twisted, dark glory.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn Book Review:

The book is divided into three parts, each narrated alternately by Nick and Amy. The first part focuses on the investigation and the media frenzy surrounding Amy’s disappearance. The second part takes a surprising turn as the reader discovers more about Amy’s past and the events leading up to her disappearance. The third part concludes the story with an unexpected twist and an unsettling resolution.

The characters in the book are complex and flawed, with their own motivations and secrets. Flynn expertly weaves together a web of lies and deception, making it hard for the reader to determine what is real and what is not. The book delves into the themes of marriage, betrayal, manipulation, and the media’s impact on public perception.

I often don’t say things out loud, even when I should. I contain and compartmentalize to a disturbing degree: In my belly-basement are hundreds of bottles of rage, despair, fear, but you’d never guess from looking at me.”

Flynn’s writing is taut and evocative, and she effortlessly weaves together the different threads of the story into a seamless whole. The characters are complex and nuanced, and their motivations are never simple or easy to understand. This is a novel that will challenge your perceptions of right and wrong, good and evil, and the nature of human relationships.

My mother had always told her kids: if you’re about to do something, and you want to know if it’s a bad idea, imagine seeing it printed in the paper for all the world to see.”

But what sets Gone Girl apart from other psychological thrillers is its fearless exploration of the darker aspects of human nature . Flynn is unflinching in her portrayal of the sometimes ugly, sometimes beautiful, but always complex ways in which people relate to each other. The result is a book that is both deeply unsettling and incredibly compelling.

There’s something disturbing about recalling a warm memory and feeling utterly cold.”

Conclusion:

In conclusion, Gone Girl is an absolutely stunning piece of writing that is sure to stay with you long after you’ve finished reading it. It is a novel that will challenge your beliefs and leave you questioning your own perceptions of the world around you. So, if you’re looking for a gripping, thought-provoking, and unforgettable read, look no further than Gone Girl.

It has not only become a popular bestseller but was also adapted into a successful movie in 2014. Njkinny recommends this twisted psychological thriller to all thriller, mystery, and crime fiction fans above the age of eighteen.

You will also love reading:

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
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Money blog: Oasis resale U-turn as official reseller lowers fee amid criticism

The Money blog is your place for consumer and personal finance news and tips. Today's posts include Twickets lowering fees for Oasis tickets, the extension of the Household Support Fund and O2 Priority axing free Greggs. Listen to a Daily podcast on the Oasis ticket troubles as you scroll.

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Twickets has announced it is lowering its charges after some Oasis fans had to pay more than £100 in extra fees to buy official resale tickets.

The site is where the band themselves is directing people to buy second-hand tickets for face value - having warned people against unofficial third party sellers like StubHub and Viagogo.

One person branded the extra fees "ridiculous" (see more in 10.10 post), after many people had already been left disappointed at the weekend when Ticketmaster's dynamic pricing pushed tickets up by three times the original advertised fee.

Twickets said earlier that it typically charged a fee of 10-15% of the face value of the tickets.

But it has since said it will lower the charge due to "exceptional demand" from Oasis fans - taking ownership of an issue in a way fans will hope others follow.

Richard Davies, Twickets founder, told the Money blog: "Due to the exceptional demand for the Oasis tour in 2025, Twickets have taken the decision to lower our booking fee to 10% and a 1% transactional fee (to cover bank charges) for all buyers of their tickets on our platform. In addition we have introduced a fee cap of £25 per ticket for these shows. Sellers of tickets already sell free of any Twickets charge.

"This ensures that Twickets remains hugely competitive against the secondary market, including sites such as Viagogo, Gigsberg and StubHub.

"Not only do these platforms inflate ticket prices way beyond their original face value but they also charge excessive booking fees, usually in the region of 30-40%. Twickets by comparison charges an average fee of around 12.5%"

The fee cap, which the Money blog understands is being implemented today, will apply to anyone who has already bought resale tickets through the site.

Mr Davies said Twickets was a "fan first" resale site and a "safe and affordable place" for people to trade unwanted tickets.

"The face value of a ticket is the total amount it was first purchased for, including any booking fee. Twickets does not set the face value price, that is determined by the event and the original ticketing company. The price listed on our platform is set by the seller, however no one is permitted to sell above the face-value on Twickets, and every ticket is checked before listing that it complies with this policy," he said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people have complained to the regulator about how Oasis tickets were advertised ahead of going on sale.

The Advertising Standards Authority said it had received 450 complaints about Ticketmaster adverts for the gigs.

Some expressed their anger on social media , as tickets worth £148 were being sold for £355 on the site within hours of release, due to the "dynamic pricing" systems.

A spokesperson from ASA said the complainants argue that the adverts made "misleading claims about availability and pricing".

They added: "We're carefully assessing these complaints and, as such, can't comment any further at this time.

"To emphasise, we are not currently investigating these ads."

Ticketmaster said it does not set prices and its website says this is down to the "event organiser" who "has priced these tickets according to their market value".

Despite traditionally being an affordable staple of British cuisine, the average price for a portion of fish and chips has risen by more than 50% in the past five years to nearly £10, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Sonny and Shane "the codfather" Lee told Sky News of the challenges that owning J-Henry's Fish and Chip Shop brings and why prices have skyrocketed.

"Potatoes, fish, utilities, cooking oil - so many things [are going up]," he said.

Shane also said that he is used to one thing at a time increasing in price, but the outlook today sees multiple costs going up all at once.

"Potatoes [were] priced right up to about £25 a bag - the previous year it was about £10 a bag," Sonny said, noting a bad harvest last year.

He said the business had tried hake as a cheaper fish option, but that consumers continued to prefer the more traditional, but expensive, cod and haddock.

"It's hard and we can we can absorb the cost to a certain extent, but some of it has to be passed on," Shane added.

After a long Saturday for millions of Oasis fans in online queues, the culture secretary says surge pricing - which pushed the price of some tickets up by three times their original advertised value to nearly £400 - will be part of the government's review of the ticket market.

On today's episode of the Daily podcast, host Niall Paterson speaks to secondary ticketing site Viagogo. While it wasn’t part of dynamic pricing, it has offered resale tickets for thousands of pounds since Saturday.

Matt Drew from the company accepts the industry needs a full review, while Adam Webb, from the campaign group FanFair Alliance, explains the changes it would like to see.

We've covered the fallout of the Oasis sale extensively in the Money blog today - see the culture secretary's comments on the "utterly depressing" inflated pricing in our post at 6.37am, and Twickets, the official Oasis resale site, slammed by angry fans for its "ridiculous" added fees at 10.10am.

The growing backlash culminated in action from Twickets - the company said it would lower its charges after some fans had to pay more than £100 in extra fees for resale tickets (see post at 15.47).

Tap here to follow the Daily podcast - 20 minutes on the biggest stories every day

Last week we reported that employers will have to offer flexible working hours - including a four-day week - to all workers under new government plans.

To receive their full pay, employees would still have to work their full hours but compressed into a shorter working week - something some workplaces already do.

Currently, employees can request flexible hours as soon as they start at a company but employers are not legally obliged to agree.

The Labour government now wants to make it so employers have to offer flexible hours from day one, except where it is "not reasonably feasible".

You can read more of the details in this report by our politics team:

But what does the public think about this? We asked our followers on LinkedIn to give their thoughts in an unofficial poll.

It revealed that the overwhelming majority of people support the idea to compress the normal week's hours into fewer days - some 83% of followers said they'd choose this option over a standard five-day week.

But despite the poll showing a clear preference for a compressed week, our followers appeared divided in the comments.

"There's going to be a huge brain-drain as people move away from companies who refuse to adapt with the times and implement a 4 working week. This will be a HUGE carrot for many orgs," said Paul Burrows, principal software solutions manager at Reality Capture.

Louise McCudden, head of external affairs at MSI Reproductive Choices, said she wasn't surprised at the amount of people choosing longer hours over fewer days as "a lot of people" are working extra hours on a regular basis anyway.

But illustrator and administrative professional Leslie McGregor noted the plan wouldn't be possible in "quite a few industries and quite a few roles, especially jobs that are customer centric and require 'round the clock service' and are heavily reliant upon people in trades, maintenance, supply and transport".

"Very wishful thinking," she said.

Paul Williamson had a similar view. He said: "I'd love to know how any customer first service business is going to manage this."

We reported earlier that anyone with O2 Priority will have their free weekly Greggs treats replaced by £1 monthly Greggs treats - see 6.21am post.

But did you know there are loads of other ways to get food from the nation's most popular takeaway for free or at a discount?

Downloading the Greggs app is a good place to start - as the bakery lists freebies, discounts and special offers there regularly.

New users also get rewards just for signing up, so it's worth checking out.

And there's a digital loyalty card which you can add virtual "stamps" to with each purchase to unlock discounts or other freebies.

Vodafone rewards

Seriously begrudged Virgin Media O2 customers may want to consider switching providers.

The Vodafone Rewards app, VeryMe, sometimes gives away free Greggs coffees, sausage rolls, sweet treats and more to customers.

Monzo bank account holders can grab a sausage roll (regular or vegan), regular sized hot drink, doughnut or muffin every week.

Birthday cake

Again, you'll need the Greggs award app for this one - which will allow you to claim one free cupcake, cream cake or doughnut for your birthday each year.

Octopus customers

Octopus Energy customers with smart meters can claim one free drink each week, in-store from Greggs (or Caffè Nero).

The Greggs freebie must be a regular size hot drink.

Make new friends

If you're outgoing (and hungry), it may be worth befriending a Greggs staff member.

The staff discount at Greggs is 50% on own-produced goods and 25% off branded products.

If you aren't already aware, Iceland offers four Greggs sausage rolls in a multi-pack for £3.

That means, if you're happy to bake it yourself, you'll only be paying 74p per sausage roll.

Millions of Britons could receive extra cash to help with the cost of living this winter after the government extended the Household Support Fund.

A £421m pot will be given to local councils in England to distribute, while £79m will go to the devolved administrations.

The fund will now be available until April 2025 having been due to run out this autumn.

Councils decide how to dish out their share of the fund but it's often via cash grants or vouchers.

Many councils also use the cash to work with local charities and community groups to provide residents with key appliances, school uniforms, cookery classes and items to improve energy efficiency in the home.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: "The £22bn blackhole inherited from the previous governments means we have to take tough decisions to fix the foundations of our economy.

"But extending the Household Support Fund is the right thing to do - provide targeted support for those who need it most as we head into the winter months."

The government has been criticised for withdrawing universal winter fuel payments for pensioners of up to £300 this winter - with people now needing to be in receipt of certain means-tested benefits to qualify.

People should contact their local council for details on how to apply for the Household Support Fund - they can find their council here .

Lloyds Bank app appears to have gone down for many, with users unable to see their transactions.

Down Detector, which monitors site outages, has seen more than 600 reports this morning.

It appears to be affecting online banking as well as the app.

There have been some suggestions the apparent issue could be due to an update.

Another disgruntled user said: "Absolutely disgusting!! I have an important payment to make and my banking is down. There was no warning given prior to this? Is it a regular maintenance? Impossible to get hold of someone to find out."

A Lloyds Bank spokesperson told Sky News: "We know some of our customers are having issues viewing their recent transactions and our app may be running slower than usual.

"We're sorry about this and we're working to have everything back to normal soon."

We had anger of unofficial resale prices, then Ticketmaster's dynamic pricing - and now fees on the official resale website are causing consternation among Oasis fans.

The band has encouraged anyone wanting resale tickets to buy them at face value from Ticketmaster or Twickets - after some appeared for £6,000 or more on other sites.

"Tickets appearing on other secondary ticketing sites are either counterfeit or will be cancelled by the promoters," Oasis said.

With that in mind, fans flocked to buy resale tickets from the sites mentioned above - only to find further fees are being added on.

Mainly Oasis, a fan page, shared one image showing a Twickets fee for two tickets as high as £138.74.

"Selling the in demand tickets completely goes against the whole point of their company too… never mind adding a ridiculous fee on top of that," the page shared.

Fan Brad Mains shared a photo showing two tickets priced at £337.50 each (face value of around £150, but increased due to dynamic pricing on Saturday) - supplemented by a £101.24 Twickets fee.

That left him with a grand total of £776.24 to pay for two tickets.

"Actually ridiculous this," he said on X .

"Ticketmaster inflated price then sold for 'face value' on Twickets with a £100 fee. 2 x £150 face value tickets for £776, [this] should be illegal," he added.

Twickets typically charges between 10-15% of the ticket value as its own fee.

We have approached the company for comment.

Separately, the government is now looking at the practice of dynamic pricing - and we've had a response to that from the Competition and Markets Authority this morning.

It said: "We want fans to get a fair deal when they go to buy tickets on the secondary market and have already taken action against major resale websites to ensure consumer law is being followed properly.

"But we think more protections are needed for consumers here, so it is positive that the government wants to address this. We now look forward to working with them to get the best outcomes for fans and fair-playing businesses."

Consumer protection law does not ban dynamic pricing and it is a widely used practice. However, the law also states that businesses should not mislead consumers about the price they must pay for a product, either by providing false or deceptive information or by leaving out important information or providing it too late.

By James Sillars , business reporter

It's a false start to the end of the summer holidays in the City.

While London is mostly back at work, trading is fairly subdued due to the US Labor (that's labour, as in work) Day holiday.

US markets will not open again until Tuesday.

There's little direction across Europe with the FTSE 100 trading nine points down at 8,365.

Leading the gainers was Rightmove - up 24%. The property search website is the subject of a possible cash and shares takeover offer by Australian rival REA.

The company is a division of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

One other point to note is the continuing fluctuation in oil prices.

Brent crude is 0.7% down at the start of the week at $76.

Dragging the cost lower is further evidence of weaker demand in China.

Australia's REA Group is considering a takeover of Rightmove, in a deal which could be worth about £4.36bn.

REA Group said in a statement this morning there are "clear similarities" between the companies, which have "highly aligned cultural values".

Rightmove is the UK's largest online property portal, while REA is Australia's largest property website.

It employs more than 2,800 people and is majority-owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp,.

REA Group said: "REA sees a transformational opportunity to apply its globally leading capabilities and expertise to enhance customer and consumer value across the combined portfolio, and to create a global and diversified digital property company, with number one positions in Australia and the UK.

"There can be no certainty that an offer will be made, nor as to the terms on which any offer may be made."

Rightmove has been approached for comment.

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COMMENTS

'Gone Girl,' by Gillian Flynn
419 pages. Crown Publishers. $25. A correction was made on. June 27, 2012. : The Books of The Times review on May 30, about the novel "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn, misstated the name of the ...
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Gone Girl is the alternating point-of-view, semi-epistolary novel that tells two stories about Nick and Amy. In the first story, Amy met Nick in 2005 and falls in love with him. They get married. It is blissful. Amy is the Best Possible Wife, she's funny, and smart, and beautiful, and RICH.
What "Gone Girl" Is Really About
The book version of "Gone Girl," so I've heard, is a crime novel: an absorbing, ingenious thriller in which, halfway through, a big twist upends everything. (Spoiler alert: I plan to discuss ...
GONE GIRL
13. Our Verdict. GET IT. New York Times Bestseller. A perfect wife's disappearance plunges her husband into a nightmare as it rips open ugly secrets about his marriage and, just maybe, his culpability in her death. Even after they lost their jobs as magazine writers and he uprooted her from New York and spirited her off to his childhood home ...
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn: Summary and reviews
Gone Girl builds on the extraordinary achievements of Gillian Flynn's first two books and delivers the reader into the claustrophobic world of a failing marriage. We all know the story, right? Beautiful wife disappears; husband doesn't seem as distraught as he should be under the circumstances. But Flynn takes this sturdy trope of the 24-hour news cycle and turns it inside out, providing a ...
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
The story is unfolded between two point of view. This choice of narration is what makes the book so great. Seeing the story through the eyes of two characters keeps you guessing till the end!" Title: Gone Girl. Author: Gillian Flynn. Publisher: Crown Publishing Group. Genre: Mystery Thriller, Psychological thriller. First Publication: 2012.
Gone Girl: by Gillian Flynn -- Review by Expert Book Reviews
798 ratings69 reviews. THIS IS NOT THE NOVEL, BUT A BOOK REVIEW. Gillian Flynn succeeds at creating a psychological thriller with her third novel, Gone Girl. After losing their writing jobs in New York City, Nick and Amy Dunne discover that their perfect relationship is not as solid as it seems. Nick decides to move to Carthage, Missouri to ...
Gone Girl: Gillian Flynn's Heart-stopping Thriller Novel
The Plot. ' Gone Girl ' is a heart-stopping thriller novel by Gillian Flynn. The story follows Nick and Amy Dunne as their marriage begins to disintegrate after Amy disappears. The story follows the investigation of Amy's disappearance, as well as the secrets that come out about the Dunne's marriage and Amy's choices when she finds ...
Review of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
The perfect novel for readers looking for fast-paced escapism. On its surface, Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl appears to be a run-of-the-mill mystery with a relatively standard plot: On the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne gets a call at work from a concerned neighbor: his front door is wide open.
Gillian Flynn's 'Gone Girl,' and More
In the face of such virulent contempt, a 14-year-old girl hasn't got a prayer. A version of this article appears in print on , Page 15 of the Sunday Book Review with the headline: The Avengers .
Gone Girl
by Gillian Flynn. Publication Date: April 22, 2014. Genres: Fiction, Suspense, Thriller. Paperback: 432 pages. Publisher: Broadway Books. ISBN-10: 0307588378. ISBN-13: 9780307588371. On a summer morning in Missouri, Nick and Amy Dunne are celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary. Or they would be, if Amy hadn't disappeared from their rented ...
Why 'Gone Girl' is One of the Best Novels of the Decade
Gone Girl is one of my favorite novels of recent years, a sensational story that works in many ways on many levels. On a basic surface level, it is a hugely entertaining read, with endless twists ...
REVIEW: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Gone Girl is the story of Nick and Amy whose marriage, like many, is full of lies, malice, sex, betrayal, love, and two bedazzlingly different sides of a story. I was utterly seduced by the middle of the first chapter. It is the morning of their fifth anniversary and Nick, not a happy camper, walks down to the kitchen to find Amy making crepes.
Review: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
From start to finish, GONE GIRL is a nearly flawless psychological thriller. The book is told from two perspectives, Nick's and Amy's. Nick's POV picks up the day Amy goes missing and continues on with the investigation. Amy's POV is past-tense, told in the form of diary entries leading up to the disappearance.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Gillian Flynn and Gone Girl. Gillian Flynn is an acclaimed American author best known for her psychological thriller novel ' Gone Girl .'. The book, first released in 2012, follows the story of Nick and Amy Dunne and the events that unfold after Nick reports Amy missing. Flynn has stated that 'Gone Girl ' was inspired by novels such as ...
Gone Girl (novel)
Gone Girl is a 2012 crime thriller novel by American writer Gillian Flynn. It was published by Crown Publishing Group in June 2012. ... On The Omnivore, in an aggregation of British press reviews, the book received an "omniscore" of 4.0 out of 5. [28]
GONE GIRL Book Review & Analysis
GONE GIRL, published in 2012, is a mystery, thriller & suspense novel by Gillian Flynn. The movie was released in 2014. GONE GIRL spent 8 weeks at #1 on the NYT Bestseller List. It's estimated the novel sold more than 15 million copies worldwide by 2016. "Okay.".
The Legacy of Gone Girl
But the success of Gone Girl launched a whole new strain of crime fiction that has dominated bestseller lists for the past decade; even now, it shows no sign of stopping. Gone Girl kicked off a ...
Book review
I thought the characters were brilliantly drawn, all the way from Nick and Amy down to the police officers involved in the case. The book is fantastic as a straight-up thriller, but also says a lot about sexual politics, both within relationships and in wider society. The author does not take sides, and no-one comes out of it particularly well.
Amazon.com: Gone Girl: 9780307588371: Flynn, Gillian: Books
About the Author. Gillian Flynn is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Gone Girl, for which she wrote the Golden Globe-nominated screenplay; the New York Times bestsellers Dark Places and Sharp Objects; and a novella, The Grownup. A former critic for Entertainment Weekly, she lives in Chicago with her husband and children.
Gone Girl is a good movie but the book is excellent : r/books
The HBO show Sharp Objects is a far superior adaptation than the Gone Girl film though both are extremely well done. Flynn was the screenwriter for both but had eight full hours to adapt 252 pages of story with SO versus 2.4 hours to portray 405 page.
Gone Girl
The novel is a brilliant exploration of the dark, twisted depths of the human psyche, and Flynn's masterful writing will leave you feeling both exhilarated and disturbed. So, read the book summary, book quotes, reading age, book release date, genre, trigger words, and book review of "Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn" in this post below.
Amazon.com: Gone Girl: 9780307588364: Flynn, Gillian: Books
Gone Girl Hardcover - June 5, 2012. Gone Girl. Hardcover - June 5, 2012. On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself ...
Money blog: Major bank to let first-time buyers borrow up to 5.5 times
Scroll through the Money blog for consumer and personal finance news, features and tips. Today's posts include free Greggs being axed by O2 Priority, a potential Rightmove takeover and Lloyds ...

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