Gone Girl as not at all what it seems to be

I hadn’t been able to find a good book to review in a while, so I asked a co-worker what she was reading. She told me she was reading Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. She also said it was unlike anything she’d read lately, and that she couldn’t wait to finish it. That sounded good to me, so I asked her what it was about. She shook her head and told me it was about a missing woman, and that was all she could tell me, because if she said anything more, she’d spoil everything.

So, I read the book.

She was right. It was completely unlike anything I’d read either. And I also can’t tell you about it, because I don’t want to spoil the experience. So here comes a reviewer’s nightmare – reviewing a book without telling you anything about it.

Well, that’s not completely true. The book begins with a missing woman, Amy Elliot Dunne, who has apparently been taken from her home by violence. Her husband, Nick Dunne, is completely unhinged. The police begin an investigation.

There. That’s something, right? You learn about these two characters from Amy’s journal, and Nick’s narrative. You discover they were a golden couple in New York, both writers, both in love, living the quintessential NYC lifestyle. Then they both lost their jobs. Amy’s trust fund money is given away. Nick’s mother is diagnosed with cancer. So they leave NYC and travel down to Nick’s home town, a dying southern city on the banks of the Missouri river. And because they have no other choice, they remain there after his mother’s death.

Nick and his sister buy and manage a local bar. Nick teaches writing at a local college. And what does Amy do? The brilliant, beautiful type-A wife? Well, that’s a good question.

You know that old saying – there are three sides to every story ; his side, her side, and the truth? Well, that is the essence of this book. You read Amy’s journal and think what a terrific woman she is. You hear Nick tell his story and imagine what a nice guy he is. But the truth creeps up through the cracks, especially with Nick, and you start to wonder – could he have really done it?

The first third of this book is a well-written thriller – the police start drawing in clues, Nick’s story starts to fall apart, the public imagination is fired up then inflamed by the story of a beautiful, devoted wife who has vanished. Amy has a special pedigree – her parents wrote a series of well-loved children’s books called Amazing Amy, and she had lived under the shadow of that ‘perfect’ character her whole life.

And then you find out something. And everything changes. And that’s when you have to sit in your chair, turn off the phone, and pray that your child/husband/dog doesn’t need you for the next several hours, because this OH MY GOD moment really takes you in a completely different direction.

Gone Girl is not a light, happy beach read. This is not even a bleak murder-mystery. This book is intense. It’s about the lies we tell to ourselves, tell to others, and, more importantly, the lies we’re willing to believe. It’s about identity, who we think we are, who we want people to think we are, and who we finally, really are when we’re sitting alone in a room in the dark.

You’ve probably read about this book already – there’s a lot of buzz around it. Believe it all. This is a terrific book. The ending will leave you thinking about it for days. Read it with a friend so you’ll have somebody to talk to about this book. Because you’ll want to talk to someone, believe me. Even if it’s just to say “Oh, my God!”

Defending Jacob will keep you glued to the pages

by Dee Ernst

I usually don’t read the books that are on the Barnes & Noble Bestseller shelves. Mostly it’s because it always seems to be the same authors week after week, and I am wary of anyone who can churn out a bestseller every month. I’m also not a fan of the political thrillers that find their way to the top. But a co-worker told me I HAD to read Defending Jacob, a new book by William Landay, and since I didn’t know the author’s name from twenty previous books, I thought I’d give him a try.

This is a really good book. One of those, I-can’t-put-this-down books. One of those, oh-my-God-really? books. One of those, you-can’t-end-this-now books. I galloped through it. Not only was it very well written, but Landay manages to weave several great themes together flawlessly. This is a good police/legal procedural. It’s also a psychological drama. It’s family drama. It’s about a marriage falling apart. It’s about being loyal to one side of your family while trying to forget the other side. There’s a lot going on, but it’s all good.

The premise is simple. The main character, Andy Barber, is an Assistant District Attorney in a small, comfortable suburban community. He learns that a 14 year old boy has been murdered. He finds out that the boy was a classmate of his own 14 year old son. The investigation seems stalled until his son is accused. He’s asked to take a leave from his job. Did his son do it? And the book races forward from there.

The characters are very believable. Andy is a good, moral man. He believes in the law. He also believes in his son. His wife, Laurie, is Mrs. Soccer Mom, doing the right things, knowing that she raised her child the best way possible. And Jacob is, well, a 14 year old boy. Withdrawn, uncommunicative, something of the nerdy outsider, but then, aren’t all boys that age hard to get to know? Aren’t they all struggling with issues of acceptance and loyalty? Haven’t they all been bullied a little, and haven’t they bullied back? Jacob seems like the EveryKid. How could he have committed such a crime?

The main question that struck me as I was reading was this – which is worse, having your child murdered, or having your child accused of murder? The Barber family pays a huge price for defending their son as the entire community turns against them, and as Andy and Laurie are slowly made aware of what Jacob may in fact be capable of.

The courtroom scenes are so well done – Landay is a former district attorney. He knows his stuff. But he’s also a great storyteller. As you read through the book, Andy is being questioned for something outside of his sons murder case, and until the very end, it’s as much a mystery as who killed that poor young man. And then there’s that moment in the end where it all comes together, and –WOW- you wish this guy would write another book. Soon.

If you’re longing for the kind of book that Grisham used to write, grab this one. You will not be able to put it down.

Book Review: Deal With the Devil by J. Gunnar Grey

I recently read Deal With the Devil – Parts One and Two – and enjoyed one of the best stories I’ve read in a long time.

I usually read contemporary women’s fiction, so a novel set in 1940s England during World War II (with a male protagonist) is a big departure for me. But Grey’s skillful writing grabbed me from Page 1 and held me throughout both volumes of the book.

Protagonist Major Faust is one of the most intriguing characters I’ve encountered in a long time. I like him, but I’m not completely sure I can trust him. Faust’s struggle against his British captors creates a compelling plot; his struggles against himself add depth to his character. The minor characters are interesting as well, and their personalities are revealed through their interactions with Faust. Each character stands alone, distinct from the others, yet they all mesh together to create a plot that kept me reading later than I should have on more than one evening. The murder of young women in the village (with Faust as a suspect) adds another twist to the tale. All the threads come together in the end in a stunning conclusion.

Anyone who loves a good mystery, history, and character study with a hint of romance thrown in will thoroughly enjoy Deal with the Devil – Parts One and Two. I whole-heartedly recommend it.

Trailer:   http://www.flickr.com/photos/61525509@N03/5599136573/

Synopsis:

Wehrmacht Major Faust has a dangerous secret: he likes England. But it’s May 1940 and his Panzers are blasting the British Army off Dunkirk’s beach, so he keeps his mouth shut even though it hurts. When the Waffen SS try to murder their English prisoners of war, Faust helps the POWs escape. Now it’s treason, with his neck on the line.

Then a friend gets him drunk, straps him into a parachute, and throws him out over Oxford during a bombing run. He’s quickly caught. Because he helped type the battle plan for the invasion of England, Faust cannot allow himself to be broken in interrogation. Two German armies depend on it. But every time he escapes, someone rapes and murders a woman and the English are looking for someone to hang. He’s risking disaster if he stays, someone else’s life if he runs, and execution by the Gestapo if he makes it home.

Major Stoner, professor turned British intelligence officer, sees three possibilities. Faust perhaps was joyriding in that bomber, as he claims. Or he’s on a reconnaissance mission for the German invasion. Or he’s a spy. Stoner must break Faust to learn the truth, no matter how it strains his old heart. He must save England, and his granddaughter.

Their battlefield is confined to a desktop. Only one of them can win. Someone must break. Someone must make a Deal with the Devil.