I consider myself a fairly eclectic reader; if a book has an interesting premise or gets a good recommendation, I will probably pick it up, irregardless of genre or style. One rule I have, however, is that I don't like to be scared. Isn't life challenging enough without adding fictional fears? This is why I mostly skip the thrillers.
I have read a few Stephen King novels, of which Dolores Claiborne was my favorite. Probably because, unlike IT and Carrie and The TommyKnockers, there isn't really a supernatural scary element. And for once, King really nails his female characters. But mostly I'd rather be reading hilarious celebrity memoirs or Jane Austen.
Clearly, I am not someone who is up-to-date on the hottest new books.
However, a few years ago, I requested a book from the library based on a blurb in a magazine. It sounded like it might be a little different, and the fact that it spent the year on best seller lists and must read trend posts had nothing to do with my decision to take it home with me. The title of the book? Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I whizzed through it in a weekend, at a time when that meant a serious sacrifice of sleep on my part and attention on my husband's. But I couldn't put it down.
What I loved about this book (and probably what made other people take notice) is that it tells a really interesting story. We follow Nick as he discovers that his wife is missing, dead maybe, and his life begins to unravel. Then, at the halfway point, this already good story gets a CRAZY twist and becomes something else. Even though I finished the book quickly, I couldn't stop thinking about it. I told friends to read it. I dissected Nick and Amy and their marriage with my husband. I went opening night to see the Ben Affleck/Rosamund Pike starring film adaptation. I even picked up a copy of Sharp Objects, an earlier novel of Flynn's. I enjoyed that book as well, though it left a different feeling, one of needing a shower and a desire to forget a story that was seared in my brain. Both stories have great characters, and realistic (though unlikely) plots. And they really made me wonder what sort of sick, messed up, dysfunctional life Gillian Flynn has led. (I looked into it, and apparently she's totally normal.)
More recently, I met an author at a local library event and decided to read some of her work. I brought home The Good Girl and Every Last Lie by Mary Kubica. I read The Good Girl first, and although I didn't think it had much in common with Gone Girl in its tone or story, somehow it reminded me of how I felt when I read it. The Good Girl is about a young woman who disappears (okay, so it has something in common with Gone Girl...) and it's told through the perspective of her mother, the detective investigating her disappearance, and the guy who kidnapped her. CREEPY. But The Good Girl is also told in this jumping timeline, so that some chapters occur during the search for Mia, and some tell the aftermath. In fact, this isn't even a spoiler, because it's only about 15 pages in that it is revealed that Mia returns home. The novel takes on this spiraling quality as it takes the reader to the final pages, where clues and information are scattered and only in the last chapter does a clear picture emerge. There's also a surprising twist that is only VERY subtly hinted at through the story, although I'm sure some internet braggart somewhere is claiming that he totally saw it coming the whole time. Congratulations sir, some of us still enjoy the wonder and mystery of life.
I was so impressed by The Good Girl and the technique and story mastery of its author that I hurried to read Every Last Lie, Kubica's latest. If I'm being honest (and why wouldn't I be?), it was a let down. The plot was just interesting enough to keep me going, though I often felt like each chapter was taking too long to get to the point, and the ending was disappointing. That being said, Ms. Kubica has a couple of novels I still haven't read, and I'm willing to give them a chance because the first was just that good.
I recommend skipping Every Last Lie, unless you have nothing else to do or need to be reminded how happy you are that your children are no longer breast feeding. Instead, read one of Gillian Flynn's books for a shivering creepfest that will make you turn to your husband at 2am and ask, "What have we done to each other? What will we do to each other?" or possibly make you question your own sanity. Or find The Good Girl and get sucked into a terrific puzzle that kept me guessing.
