Dark Places

Emily, Scott's sister, bought me Dark Places by Gillian Flynn for Christmas. About four days after getting it, I finished it. It follows its main character, Libby Day, who is somewhat despised throughout the book for accusing her brother of murdering her family in a massacre when she was just a little girl. Years later as an adult she realizes she has no money, no motivation to get a job, and becomes willing to subject herself to the critical eyes and inquiring minds of the Kill Club.

The Kill Club is a group of somewhat pathetic creatures who are obsessed with murders of the past and present - but most specifically the murder of her mother and sisters. The catch is, most of these people (particularly the women) don't agree that Ben (Libby's brother) is the killer. Therefore Libby becomes the most hated person in their midst - she is the little liar who put her brother away for life - but the catch is ... her brother has his own secrets to hide, and Libby doesn't really know what exactly she saw that not long ago in Kansas.

Dark Places describes the places we are unwilling to go to in our lives. For Libby that dark place is the night her family was killed, and the thought that maybe her brother is innocent after all ... or maybe not. Her brother had a tormented and weird adolescence; ashamed of his family and their poverty, as well as the embarrassing nature of having to live with a household of women. He found solace in his friendships with people who had a dark nature to their personalities, and who thought of him as a loser to say it simply. Ben had his dark places, and Libby's mother had her dark places with trying to keep her family afloat. These dark places make for an interesting plot line that shifts abruptly, almost painfully from the present misery of Libby Day to the pasts of all members involved in "The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas."

This novel is excruciatingly inviting, horrifically deep and painful, but most of all it's purely uncomfortable and gritty. It draws you in, even as your nails are streaking down the pages trying to tear it apart so you can get out.

The ending was only slightly lackluster for me after all the buildup, but it's definitely worth a good hard read. It's an introspective and scarring version of the classic "who done it?" tale. This book will make you "feel" something ... it will make you feel guilty, and questioning, and dirty. It will leave an impression on you for sure.

Currently I'm going back and forth from my new books to the Southern Vampire Mysteries which provided the basis for the HBO hit "True Blood." They're great, and moderately short, so they're a fast read, but they really make you want to keep reading about Sookie Stackhouse and her torrid love affair and relationship with the vampires (and other worldly creatures) of the southern United States. It's an erotic twist on our deepest nightmares and fantasies. Definitely also worth a read. After I finish the third book in that series I plan on switching back to yet another Gillian Flynn novel. Flynn is definitely an author to keep your eye on, based on what I felt after reading her book Dark Places. 

Keep reading and look forward to my next entry!!!

Thanks all,
Britt