Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

For a book scoring above our monthly average, we were pretty critical. Steve summed it up: a readable tale with some very pertinent lines about modern life and relationships, but hampered by its length, its silly and increasingly unbelievable plot, and by being written by an American for Americans.

So we found it easy to read, creating tension well. We were hooked by the plot and looked forward to reading it. It quickly gripped as a roller coaster crime thriller with an excellent plot, a proper page-turning novel that had enough twists and turns for most people and probably too many for some. For some, despite the irritating Americanisms, destruction of English and silly punctuation, this was an enjoyable read.

We liked the portrayal of middle class America both in New York and in small town US, the effects of the financial crisis on them, the insights into the media industry and some insights into marriage: do we know the people we live with? That feeling of being stuck and powerless…The mechanics of the way it was done with the alternating points of view and the different means of communicating, her first via the diary and then later in the first person generally worked well.

But it was let down by implausible and shallow characterisation, (though some got involved with the characters, especially when they became nasty) and an increasingly unbelievable plot, a story telling mess, though Steve rather liked the gradual winding down of the tension and the ‘can’t live with ‘me, can’t live without ‘em’ sentiment, with an extra order of unease and ‘what next?' thrown in.

Incompetent police (for example, the anti-freeze poisoning would have been detectable in her hair samples, which she placed in various locations), unreal parents (Amy’s), unmemorable supporting cast were frustrating. Bring back Eagleby if you want a real sociopath, said Richard. And why all the swearing (some of us hadn’t noticed)?

Neil summed It up: for me this was a crime suspense thriller of sorts with a difference. Interestingly told and pretty well put together and I looked forward to picking it up far more than the current book I am reading (or possibly the one we will be reading next).

Richard: Such a good score because of the skilled plotting and page-turning writing; such a bad score (for me) because of the clichéd writing and the lack of any depth or substance to the characterisations.

Questions: were we just a bit jaded by all the thrillers we have been reading? Were we being set up at the end for the sequel?