Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Seeing the movie Gone Girl sparked my interest in Gillian (pronounced with a hard G, I am told) Flynn. Because the twists and turns in Gone Girl wouldn't be new to me. Also, my wife had read all three of her books and recommended that Dark Places was actually better than the aforementioned blockbuster.

Flynn certainly knows how to capture an audience:

“I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ. Slit me at my belly and it might slide out, meaty and dark, drop on the floor so you could stomp on it.”

From the beginning, she doesn't hide the fact that her protagonist, Libby Day, isn't innocent, and is a dark, real, flawed character. This setup (along with the twists for which she is renowned) caused me to doubt the character throughout the story,(view spoiler)[ and while the thoughts in Libby's head can often be unreliable-- I-don't-care-about-my-past, scheming-for-a-way-to-get-by-in-life type thoughts-- the events she recounts seem as honest and true as any narration in a postmodern world. (hide spoiler)]

Flynn is a master of point of view and perspective. While non-linear storytelling is certainly nothing new, Flynn's deliberate choices help govern the story and caused a level of suspense. Libby Day is the only first-person narrator in the story, which takes place in the present day. The past narrators, narrators from about 25 years earlier are told in third person, but Flynn alternates between the third person limited perspectives of Patty Day (Libby's mom) and Ben Day (Libby's brother who is accused of murdering Libby's family the day the past narration takes place). The use of the two continuous timelines often left me in suspense either in the present or the past (often both) as Flynn toggles between past and present.

My mind raced wildly as I read. Expecting a twist, I formulated all kinds of theories who committed the atrocious crime against the Day family and how it was done. There are many deliberate "white rabbits" which I believe Flynn expects us to follow down their respective rabbit holes. (view spoiler)[In the end, I wasn't all that surprised by the actual murderers, but it certainly wasn't exactly any of the theories that I had formulated. My favorite theory was that Patty Day would go completely insane and murder her family, but I was thankfully wrong, as that would make the character of Ben make far less sense. (hide spoiler)]. Honestly, the actions of the characters remain believable throughout the book, showing the author's fantastic sense of verisimilitude.

The significance of the family's last name, Day, was certainly something that I pondered. The family has become so bogged down and defined by a single day, a passing moment, that the name can't help but make sense. Their claim-to-fame and Libby and Ben's very identities are composed of a single day. I believe that this causes both characters to live in the past, haunted by this single day in their history for different reasons. Of course, their perceptions of this day are skewed, though skewed in different directions. (view spoiler)[ This slant causes Libby to not really live life at all, but use the day of the murders as an excuse for everything in life. Ben uses the day to imagine things as they are not: he no longer has any concept of the outside world while in prison, and his perception of Diondra and optimism and gullibility, as well as his sense of honor and courage, are sadly misplaced, as he is bogged down with the way things were the day that he allegedly murdered his entire family. (hide spoiler)] The day ironically causes both character not to actually live their lives. They are stuck on one day, therefore forfeiting their subsequent days. Both are characters that cannot and will not "live in the now" without some kind of resolution and justice.

The character of Diondra, Ben's girlfriend in the past storyline, (view spoiler)[ is one worth more exploration. If I were to reread the book (which I very well might, one day), I would concentrate far more on the character of Diondra. What I do recollect about her certainly jives with her actions at the end of both storylines. While extremely flawed, she even has a redeeming quality in the protection of her daughter, Crystal. Her abandonment by parents certainly precipitates her obvious personality disorders, which led me to think about a message Flynn might have about nurture vs. nature. I believe the message is that nurture is integral to the appropriate development of people, despite the "darkplace" inside us all. (hide spoiler)]

In all, I would characterize Flynn's writing as dark (heh), but powerful. A writer with lots of layers I am certainly interested in considering further.

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