Holy.
Fudging.
Shirt.
Ms. Flynn, color me impressed. This is a messed up story*.
I honestly don't know what I can say about this book, made even more famous by the spot-on movie that was just released, that won't ruin any of the numerous twists, turns and shocks.
In brief: it's Nick's anniversary, and he comes to find an mess up living room and no wife. Signs of a struggle? Maybe. He calls the cops, and off we go. The story alternates from Nick's perspective (first person-past, narrating The Search) and wife Amy's diary (starting with the entry right after she and Nick first meet, years before). The back and forth is very frustrating, as each chapter is a guaranteed cliffhanger.
And that's all I can say. It's wonderfully written - one of the most controlled narratives I've ever read. Flynn never lets go of the story in any way, nor can you tell if she ever took any diversions that weren't part of a tight outline (even if that outline emerged after a few chapters when she was writing).
Because of that control, the love-to-hate them characters, the fully realized world that is nonetheless described to us by unreliable narrators, this book gets 5/5 without hesitation.
Nominated for the Edgar Award for best novel in 2013, she lost to Dennis Lehane. Come on, people! Lehane has enough awards cluttering his shelves. Flynn deserved it more.
-EMH
*There are twisty endings and then there are things like this that would madden a corkscrew.
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