Dark Places 

by Gillian Flynn

2010

349 pages

Synopsis: 

Libby Day is introduced to the reader as the sort of person you don’t like but you figure she can’t help that; after all, when your sisters and mother are murdered and at seven years old your testimony is what sends your brother to jail for the horrific crime, it can be hard to adjust to a normal life.

Libby spends as much time as possible doing nothing at all but never lets herself think about that night, about the family she lost, and the family she put behind bars.

At least, not until she runs out of money.

Now Libby finds herself surrounded by true crime geeks, outsiders who have devoted hours to her family’s case and will pay her to help them access the people closest to the crime. Although reluctant at first, and defensive of their immediate claims on Ben’s innocence, Libby finds herself uncovering contradictory information and puzzling accounts of her family’s behavior in the day leading up to the first day of the worst of her life. Her grip on her faith in what she saw and heard that night is loosening, and she finds herself determined to uncover the truth, even at the risk of her own sanity…and possibly her life.

Key Genre Elements-Thriller

  • ·         Convoluted plot-the story switches back and forth between Libby in the present day and both Ben (brother) and Patty (mom) on the day leading up to the murders
  • ·         Flawed female lead-Libby Day is manipulative, apathetic, and a petty thief whose only memories of that night have been locked away in her “dark place” for 25 years
  • ·         Final twist at the end-no spoilers here but there’s a twist and then another twist, each satisfying

Read-Alike Titles

  • ·         Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (JK Rowling)-the first in a series about a moderately unlikeable detective who solves gruesome crimes
  • ·         Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight-a grieving mother pieces together the life of her teenage daughter as she tries to prove her suicide was staged
  • ·         The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins-Between a liar, a cheat, and an alcoholic, this book gives you one unreliable narrator after another before reaching the thrilling conclusion

Comments

  1. Erin CataldiFebruary 11, 2021 at 6:29 AM

    Fantastic annotation! Full points! Have you seen the movie version (I thought it was just ok). Fantastic job not giving too much away with the summary and fleshing out the annotation with some key genre elements. Keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete

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