Book Review: Gillian Flynn's Dark Places

Over this past summer, I have read all three of Gillan Flynn’s published novels. Each of the books held a common theme: A female in the middle of a dark, twisting, and disturbing tale set in Missouri.

In Dark Places, the reader follows a young woman named Libby Day. When Libby was seven-years-old, her mother and two sisters were gruesomely murdered in their Kansas farmhouse. Escaping the killer by fleeing into the winter-cold outside, the main suspect becomes Libby's older brother Ben. Ben’s reputation didn’t help, as rumors of devil worshiping surrounded him. After Libby testified that he was the killer, Ben was sentenced to life in prison. The story follows Libby 25 years later, who finds out that her testimony may have been inaccurate and her family’s real killer may still be out there.

Libby at 32-years-old is jobless and lives alone. She is also very low on money, after her trust fund has dried up from the strangers who sympathized with her after the murders. Gillan Flynn’s characters always have flaws that make you question if you are rooting for them or not. I think this makes the reading experience more complicated and emotional. Libby’s flaws include kleptomania, unemotional connections to other people, and willing to do almost anything for a few dollars. I found it hard to not sympathize with Libby though after all she has gone through.

Just as Libby is unsure of what she will do without any more money, a group contacts her about making an appearance at an event. This group is called The Kill Club, who are obsessed with discussing and dissecting infamous crimes. Lead by a boy named Lyle, the group tries to convince Libby that her brother is innocent. What Libby was once so sure of begins to fall apart and she sees an opportunity. In exchange for money, Libby agrees to track down the people involved with that night.

What is most interesting about this story is how Gillian Flynn writes it. The reader is taken through three different points of view in order to piece together the mystery. Each chapter focuses on Libby’s current point of view, and then back in time to Libby’s mother and her brother Ben on that night. Often the reader learns a little piece of information in one point of view, before it becomes important in another.

Libby’s search takes her around Missouri and Oklahoma. As her friendship with Kill Club leader Lyle grows, we slowly see a friendlier side to her. The story slowly reveals characters who know parts of the truth and terrible secrets that ultimately unravel what Libby thought she knew.

As a reader, you will have many suspicions and ideas about who was really behind the murders, and the final truth is more complicated and tragic than I would have guessed. Overall, Dark Places was hard to put down as I found it impossible to figure out until the very end. The different perspectives make the story truly engrossing, even as the troubling details emerge.

Also read my review for Sharp Objects and Gone Girl.