Book Review: Dark Places

Title: Dark Places
Author: Gillian Flynn
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary: To say that Libby Day's had a rough life would be an understatement.  Her two sisters and mom were killed in the famous "Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas."  Libby's brother was convicted for the murders, largely because of Libby's testimony.  Twenty-five years later Libby is broke and running out of ways to to profit from her infamous family and her troubled upbringing.  When Libby is approached by The Kill Club (a group obsessed with notorious crimes), she sees a way to continue to profit from her family's demise.  Her investigation uncovers long buried secrets that force her to face what really happened that day.

Review: For those that don't know, Gillian Flynn is the author of Gone Girl.  Dark Places is one of her earlier books.  If you read Gone Girl, you know how dark it is, and I'd been told that her other books were also dark.  I listened to this book on CD and I kept thinking, "huh, I don't find this book that dark.  I wonder what that says about me."  This was a great book.  It doesn't go into it specifically, but the amateur psychologist in me would say that Libby's trauma stunted her emotional development at the age of seven, when her family was killed.  You can feel sorry for her early losses, but trust me, she's no saint.  There's great buildup in this book to find out what really happened that night.

The main reason I didn't give this book the full five stars is I just didn't buy the explanation for the killing.  I couldn't suspend disbelief, it was all too..coincidental.  I don't want to give too much away, so I'll just leave it at that.

Time to write: 6:46