Gone Girl: A Novel

Where has his lovely Amy gone and where can she be, wonders Nick, who has, for five years seemed to be the model husband? But Nick isn't the only one wondering, so are her parents, the police and everyone else.

Gillian Flynn, one of the country's hottest suspense writers and New York Times bestselling author, has turned out another thriller in her book "Gone Girl: A Novel". With this novel, she establishes herself as one of America's leading mystery writers today.

Flynn, who has a way with words and chilling description (if you are reading this on a warm night, it still is a good idea to have a sweater around because her scenes can raise goose bumps), starts out with a seemingly all-American couple in middle America.

Nick and Amy Dunne are coming up on their fifth anniversary and there are parties to be planned, presents to be purchased and other plans to be arranged, when the unthinkable happens, Amy disappears.

Of course, being a good mystery writer, she immediately points the fickle finger of fate at hubby, Nick, who's All-American image seems to be tarnished as people start digging around looking for Amy.

Everyone from their friends and neighbors to her parents to the police, are sure that Nick has done it and they are trying to nail the target they've placed on his back.

But, is he really guilty? That certainty begins to get hazier and hazier, the deeper people probe. Indeed, it shows just how fine a writer Flynn is that she is able to make a simple scene into a real chiller with just a few well-chosen words and phrases.

Indeed, Flynn's writing prowess is shown better and better as the novel becomes more convoluted. Yet, while it still seems clear in this page-turner (you really can't put it down) that Nick is the one, it may not be just so clear.

Flynn is not only a master at setting scenes and providing richly hued characters (her characterization is excellent), she's also a master at knowing when to throw the proverbial monkey wrench into the finely oiled case the police and everyone else in town has built.

In the midst of everything they find Amy's diary and it shows that the marriage that looked so idyllic on the outside, may have fault lines on which it could have cracked or on which someone could have cracked.

Those fault lines not only pointed at Nick, but they also pointed at various sets of parents, friends, neighbors. In other words, a routine case that was considered "open and shut," by the local police suddenly begins to look more like a night on Wysteria Lane, surrounded by a group of "Desperate Housewives," and all of their problems.

Is that Flynn's strategy? You'll have to decide that yourself once you've picked up Gone Girl and started reading it yourself. Oh, if you do, be prepared to hear complaints about the time you come to bed or when dinner is late, because you'll find the day has gone and you still haven't put it down.