Dark Places

“The truly frightening flaw in humanity is our capacity for cruelty - we all have it.”

I loved Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and have heard so much praise on her other books but it still took me a few years to finally read another one of her books.  So many books to read, so many other things occupying my time!  I really have to admit though I have put a huge focus on trying to read books that I have sitting around my house before getting newer books unless I'm doing them for review because I need to make more room in my house!

Description: Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice" of Kinnakee, Kansas.” She survived—and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, the Kill Club—a secret secret society obsessed with notorious crimes—locates Libby and pumps her for details. They hope to discover proof that may free Ben. Libby hopes to turn a profit off her tragic history: She’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club—for a fee. As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started—on the run from a killer.

“I am, I guess, depressed. I guess I've been depressed for about twenty-four years. I can feel a better version of me somewhere in there - hidden behind a liver or attached to a bit of spleen within my stunted, childish body - a Libby that's telling me to get up, do something, grow up, move on. But the meanness usually wins out."

My overall opinion is this was a disappointment.  We read this for our Books & Bars August pick and no one said they liked it better than Gone Girl, but those who hadn't read Gone Girl liked it more than those of us who have read both. 

We discussed that perhaps it is because this was written before Gone Girl and she had time to perfect her writing, which is somewhat true for many authors I think.  There were times when I had to skim read because I was ladeda a little too much detail or something I didn't really care about.

There were a few twists.  Nothing as dramatic as Gone Girl, in my opinion but there were some.  The clues are there if you are paying close attention. 

It is dark.  It is haunting.  It's a tad disgusting.  But if you like suspense and you like darker books, you should check it out.

“There are few phrases that annoy me more than I won't bite. The only line that pisses me off faster is when some drunk, ham-faced dude in a bar sees me trying to get past him and barks: Smile,it can't be that bad! Yeah, actually, it can, jackwad.”  

Have you read any books by Gillian Flynn? What dark books have you read recently?