Dark Places

Dark Places: A Novel, by Gillian Flynn; Shaye Areheart Books, 2009

Reviewed by a Patron

I recommend Gillian Flynn's latest novel Dark Places, a very well-written story that is as good as her first book, Sharp Objects. Out of financial desperation, the selfish, hardened main character, Libby, becomes involved with a strange secret society which forces her to reexamine a past family tragedy. The book is full of extremely unlikeable characters, and shows the fallibility of traumatic memory. Leonard Downie Jr.'s The Rules of the Game seems too close to the real machinations of U.S. politics to be an enjoyable read. This author is a former executive editor of the Washington Post, so he knows Washington D.C. intrigue firsthand. On a lighter note, Valerie Laken's Dream House was easy to read. This book is full of psychological intrigue surrounding a couple's purchase of a dilapidated house that only one of them wants, and the resulting, irrevocable changes in their lives.