by Gillian Flynn
*short review without spoilers*
I got a giftcard for my birthday from a great friend and was faced with the difficult task of trying to decide what books to buy. My book list is never ending so this is quite a daunting task limited to what I'm in the mood for currently. This book caught my eye for about the millionth time and I finally picked it up to read the back.
At first skim these themes stood out: Horror, psych hospital recovery, murder investigation, overcoming personal demons.
In short the synopsis I got was: a recovered crazy person is investigating a murder that will cause her to question her own sanity.
I was sold. I love psychological horror novels
However I did not expect this book to be as good as it was. The cover has a the quote "keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction" -Chicago Tribune and this is all too true.
The main character, Camille, is a recovering cutter (not a spoiler, you read this very early on) sent to go back to her quaint home town to investigate a serial child murder case. Camille is a reporter for a "little name" newspaper who wants to capture a big story in hopes of making a name for themselves and as Camille is from this town, its the perfect opportunity. However, we soon find out why Camille was all too reluctant to go back. Her family is far from functional and at times the reader has to question who the real crazy person is, our main character the clinically unstable one, or every other character in this story and town.
As a debut novel this book is phenomenal. Its dark, and haunting and the characters leave quite an impact on both the reader and the story. I think its rare for an author to truly capture a believable level of crazy that Flynn has here. I had, however, guessed the ending ahead of time, but there were enough twists and turns throughout the story that kept me reading nonstop like a zombie till it was finished. Its a short read at less than 300 pages and well worth the time.
For a horror novel I give this 5/5 as I truly enjoyed this book, it gave me chills, and would recommend it to others
