Wednesday 1 July 2015

Book review: Dark places


"I was not a lovable child, and I'd grown into a deeply unlovable adult. Draw a picture of my soul, and it'd be a scribble with fangs."


Libby Day was the only member of her family who survived when the rest were massacred and strangled in 1985. She was the only witness, too and based on her testimony, her brother Ben was the one accused of the murders. Decades later and after a difficult upbringing, Libby is a "broken", hardly normal adult; she still tries to forget this traumatic incident and to avoid going back to those "dark places" in her mind.

However, the money people had donated to her all these years are about to run out and she does not want to begin a conventional life to earn her living. The Kill Club approach her; its members have an obsession with famous crimes and a group of people are fascinated by the slaughter of Libby's mother and sisters. They, also, believe that Ben was not the one who killed his family. They agree to pay Libby to visit the people who played a role in the story in order to find out what really happened.

The story alternates between the present and 1985, and among three characters; Ben, Libby and their mother offer their perspective of the accounts that led to the crime. The end of the story and the answer to "who did it" could not be more surprising. Gillian Flynn offers an exquisite thriller with the ability to keep the reader till the final page and very well developed characters. All of them have issues, all do horrible, unforgivable things. The story touches issues like drugs, underage sex, Satanic worship, bullying; but it is full of suspense, well-paced, beautifully wrought.

It is a fantastic, freaking, gripping, Southern gothic, twisted, fascinatingly insane novel. Get yourself hooked.



+ well written, gripping, well developed/realistic characters
- violence, language, disturbing




(written by FK for Walkley Library)




Have you read the book? Give us your opinion in the comment section.








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