07-13-2013, 02:33 PM
This is Gillian Flynn's second book. The one that everyone is talking about is 'Gone Girl' which I have also read. Basically, I'm reading her books in reverse.
It doesn't matter, they are all stand alone at this point.
When Libby Day was seven, she watched her brother murder her mother and two sisters. It was Libby's testimony that sent her brother, Ben to jail.
But twenty five years on and Libby Day's life is still in a mess from that night. Through the help of a serial killer fan club, she is getting money to revisit that night and finally make sense of what happened.
Hitchcock always opined that murder mysteries were the best type of stories to tell because you got to tell two stories: how the murder happened and how the murder was solve. Gillian Flynn takes this idea and runs with it. It has multiple narratives going on with multiple viewpoints. Basically, there is Libby now searching for the truth and then with Ben and Libby's mother on the day of the murder. It is a great exhibition of weaving stories together to come up with a compelling narrative.
But all the characters in the book are horrible. Libby's family is dirt poor with the father a local drug dealer. Libby can barely function. She would rather spend the time in bed but she is out of money and the only people that will give her funds are members of killer fan clubs. They all get together to discuss old murder cases of which hers is a prime example. Everyone Libby meets on her quest is disreputable in one way or another. It is just a miasma of the dregs of society all around you as you follow Libby on her journey.
It is really well written, but a squalid environment.
It doesn't matter, they are all stand alone at this point.
When Libby Day was seven, she watched her brother murder her mother and two sisters. It was Libby's testimony that sent her brother, Ben to jail.
But twenty five years on and Libby Day's life is still in a mess from that night. Through the help of a serial killer fan club, she is getting money to revisit that night and finally make sense of what happened.
Hitchcock always opined that murder mysteries were the best type of stories to tell because you got to tell two stories: how the murder happened and how the murder was solve. Gillian Flynn takes this idea and runs with it. It has multiple narratives going on with multiple viewpoints. Basically, there is Libby now searching for the truth and then with Ben and Libby's mother on the day of the murder. It is a great exhibition of weaving stories together to come up with a compelling narrative.
But all the characters in the book are horrible. Libby's family is dirt poor with the father a local drug dealer. Libby can barely function. She would rather spend the time in bed but she is out of money and the only people that will give her funds are members of killer fan clubs. They all get together to discuss old murder cases of which hers is a prime example. Everyone Libby meets on her quest is disreputable in one way or another. It is just a miasma of the dregs of society all around you as you follow Libby on her journey.
It is really well written, but a squalid environment.
So much for the flickr badge idea. Dammit