Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

I’ve read many books that feel muted. As if the author thinks the reader is unable to handle the raw, uncensored edge of real human emotion. Call me a pessimist, but I think there is more to learn in pain and loss. Looking at the bright side is a cheap pacifier to learning from failure.

Gillian Flynn’s book, Dark Places, shares a clear picture of life’s venom. The book starts off sharing a few details about one horrible night that sets the tone for the rest of the story. Although the scale of violence seems far fetched, to the point that one may be tempted to think the author is trying to overwhelm the reader with gore and brutality, as the plot progresses the complexities of the tale will reveal that the level of bloodshed is not merely a horror story.

The character intricacies really drive the potency of the story. Ms. Flynn uses a shifting first person point-of-view to give the reader a progressive timeline of events that build into an eruption of revelations about what really happened the night of that horrible night in January.

I have an inclination for books in which the characters are the story, rather than the plot pulling its puppets through a series of scenarios. Dark Places is definitely a book that shoved me through many distressing scenarios, but I was compelled to discover if those dark places were going to overwhelm them.

The story is gruesome, but it’s not without purpose. I really enjoyed the book and would consider re-reading it so I could grasp all the nuances I missed the first time around.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Dark Places on Amazon