Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

One of 2012's "it" books was Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn. I saw a lot of folks reading it around the pool and at the beach.  I put it on my hold list at the library and found that I was like 56th in line. Definitely a popular book.

A few weeks ago, I saw the author interviewed on Face the Nation and decided to go ahead and take the plunge.  The story was touted as "gripping" and "a thriller" and she was an interesting interviewee.  The premise for the book was vague though, and now I see why.

Don't get me wrong, its a good book; it keeps your interest and you want to find out what happens in the end. Its a story about a young couple who move from New York City to Missouri to take care of the husband's ailing father. One day he comes home to a wrecked living room and a missing wife.  He calls the cops and an intricate police investigation begins.  The husband is put directly in the police cross hairs as the missing person case morphs into a murder investigation.  

Pretty straightforward, one would think.  However, the story takes many twists and turns, unveiling the couple's dark past and a plethora of really nasty dysfunctions that make The Real Housewives look like a bunch of June Cleavers.  

I like mysteries, especially ones with surprises and this didn't disappoint.  The story followed the husband and wife, not the traditional police detective, and was more about their relationship than the investigation.  It was well written and plotted.  But about two thirds of the way through the book. I realized that I really hated both of the main characters.  They were miserable!  Both of them had mountains of emotional baggage and their marriage was built on lies and misdeeds.  I didn't care if they made it through the story.  I would have been just as happy if they offed each other and therefore were unable to breed successfully. The only thing I cared about was that they didn't bring children into such a toxic environment.

In the end, I got to wondering.  What makes this book so popular?  Why did it gain such popularity that it was added to almost all of the "Best of 2012" lists?  What does this say about our society?  I would venture to say that all popular mysteries investigate the depravity of our society - I have no problem with that. A voyeuristic glimpse into the dark side of suburbia can be fun. This seemed different because it was depraved, but within everyday limits and the outcome did not provide a good verses evil closure, but a evil verses pathetic one. Miserable!  Had the premise been more illustrative, I think I would have stayed away.

Maybe that's the trick that Ms. Flynn's publisher played on us. They hooked us with a vague story line, when once started, was gripping enough to be hard to put down, even though you wanted to.  Kind of like a train wreck, you didn't want to look, but you couldn't look away.  In this case, the train wrecked, and those that walked away were not the ones we care about.