Dark Places

Of course, I’m including Gillian Flynn in this list. You may have expected her most popular novel, Gone Girl. I like that one, but this is my favorite of her works so far. In my opinion, it nudges out her other book, Sharper Objects (though that one is my wife’s favorite). I think it was her first book. It’s a dark story of a family with secrets, pain, and a moral decision that goes horribly wrong. Again, this one has a strong theme.

What if you could sacrifice everything to ensure your kids had a better life than you?… show more.

This is the only book that has ever made me physically sweat while reading it. I admit to being a true crime junkie, and this book scratched that itch in a huge way – despite being fiction.

Jumping back and forth between the day of a family’s horrific murder and present-day, where the surviving daughter is obsessively sought after by true crime enthusiasts (heyo!) and internet sleuths, this book turned a glaring spotlight on the hardships of both the economically poor, and single parenthood.

To say this book left me devastated would be an understatement. Add in a touch of… show more.

I love the contrast between Libby Day as the innocent, young sole survivor of an apparent satanic massacre and as a broken adult with a messy life and few moral qualms. Having experienced severe trauma and lost her family at a young age, Libby has enough to do getting through daily life and making ends meet after various schemes, like a self-help book milking her trauma, fail to pan out.

I love how, after spending her whole life not wanting to talk about the murders and being annoyed with true crime fans and their theories about what "really" happened, she… show more.

I’m sure that when people think of Gillian Flynn they think of Gone Girl and when they think of her unreliable narrators it would be Nick and Amy. But I love Libby Day in Dark Places.

Libby’s family were massacred by her older brother. Twenty years on she’s struggling for money and agrees to do a guest appearance at ‘The Kill Club’ a group of true crime obsessives. As Libby unhappily revisits the past, all is not as it seems and there is a mystery to be unravelled.

It’s a real page-turner with Flynn’s trademark acidic prose and spiky… show more.

Years before Gone Girl became a huge sensation, I stumbled upon an online interview with Flynn hosted by the 92nd Y in Manhattan, a place I visited myself while studying English Literature in New York.

She spoke about how she wanted to write real, complex, and morally gray female characters which weren't particularly popular at the time.

This inspired her to write Libby Day, the messy, troubled, and snarky protagonist of Dark Places. I rushed to read the book right away. And then I was hooked.

This is exactly the type of female character I wanted to write: some who… show more.

Unexpected darkness is one of my favorite kinds. Stumbling on a neighbor’s horrifying secret, having them tell you about hurting someone in a blasé tone, however it comes out, I can’t get enough. Dark Places’ first sentence (which I won’t spoil) drops you right into a woman named Libby Day’s fractured life. She wants to piece herself back together, but she can only do that by learning the hard truths that come from hushed conversations and behind pulled curtains. Gillian Flynn takes the reader deep into the hearts of a town with many secrets, filled with lies, all while… show more.

I love Flynn’s visceral style and this book blows me away every time I read it. The survivor of a brutal childhood trauma, protagonist Libby Day has a sardonic, hard-edged voice that sucks you in while also ringing clear and true. As a writer and a reader, I strongly identify with that voice and with Flynn’s style. The brisk pacing, clever turns of phrase, and hard-hitting descriptions make this an intense read. 

Speaking of characters going through traumatic experiences as a child, Dark Places follows main character Libby, who has grown up knowing that her brother murdered her family—except, of course, the story quickly challenges what she thinks she knows. What made me love this creepy story was that it started out as arguably Flynn’s darkest story, and yet as you follow Libby along on this thrilling journey toward the truth, you get to see her grow as a character, and even see some warmth, healing, and hope—which, to me, is the best part.