Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (2012)

A wife disappears and her husband soon becomes the main suspect, and so much more.

Book Review:  Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn was so popular in 2012 that the best way to start a conversation while waiting in line, if anyone was willing to look up from their Kindle, was to mention the book. Gone Girl is a solid page-turner by a creative, clever writer.  Almost too clever for the book's own good, perhaps. Despite the increasingly unattractive characters, however, I kept reading and enjoyed the book.  Once Gillian Flynn had her hooks in me, it was too hard to give it up.  Am I different than other readers in that once my curiosity is aroused, I have to know how the book turns out?  I felt I had no choice -- and I'm unsure whether that's Flynn's fault or mine.  I had some personal debates about the fairness of some of the plot twists (that "too clever" thing!), rolled my eyes a couple times, but in the end always came out on the side of Flynn, and thought Gone Girl was well done as a whole. I'm sure other readers debated whether Gillian Flynn's insidious twists were fair or not, but there was no doubt that it caught the popular imagination. Always entertaining, tho I don't think any one could say it was uplifting; kind of destroys one's faith in human nature.  As a reader, it's doubtful I will ever read Gone Girl again, and I'm wondering how it will last over time.  Is it a flash in the pan? So much attention and still a solid read, but is it a sort of one trick pony, a gimmick?  Will Gone Girl become one of those books that become a lifetime favorite? Many readers will never part with their Harry Potter collection, and Stephen King fans tend to have a whole corner of their shelves for his books. The Hunger Games trilogy seems beloved by a whole segment of readers.  But will Gillian Flynn and Gone Girl become that kind of treasured read?  Probably not.  Once you've read the book, been blindsided by the plot twists, reached that curiously unsatisfying ending, and perhaps proposed a couple of better endings yourself -- depending on which character you found most unlikable -- why read it again?  As popular as Gone Girl was, and as great a job as Gillian Flynn did with it, it may well be one of those books that ends up in used bookstores, charity shops, and library book sales.  Maybe it'll be remembered when someone says, "the book I just read was kind of like Gone Girl," but mostly it'll just be gone. Despite the massive hype, I can see Gone Girl as a book that people will not keep on their shelves forever.  But it did make me want to read Gillian Flynn's other books, so as far as that goes Gone Girl was a success. [3.5 Stars]