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Gone Girl

By: Gillian Flynn
Narrated by: Julia Whelan, Kirby Heyborne
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Editorial review


By Mysia Haight, Audible Editor

PSYCH OUT—THE JAW-DROPPING GENIUS OF GONE GIRL

Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl is among the all-time best crafted stories told by unreliable narrators—two of them, the perfect couple—and a gripping thriller filled with jaw-dropping twists. This dark mystery novel also shines a critical light on the media-fueled public rush to judge people suspected of crimes who, regardless of the evidence, simply look guilty—an unsettling trend that has only escalated in the decade since the book’s release. Along with its critique of media exploitation, the novel has been widely embraced—and hotly debated—as a manifesto of modern feminism.

Ten years ago, I was approaching that dreaded life stage—middle age. After years of doing my best to be a good wife, mother, aunt, sister, daughter, and friend; a good worker, mentor, and role model; and a good listener, problem solver, and crisis manager, I was feeling taken for granted and restless. What if I did something unexpected, something out of character—something bad?

Happily, I satisfied my yearnings by becoming immersed in the brilliant mind and devious machinations of Amy Elliott Dunne, the hero (or, depending on your perspective, villain) of Gone Girl. When it was published in 2012, Gillian Flynn’s ingenious novel about a missing wife and the husband increasingly implicated in her ominous disappearance stirred up a lot of buzz. As an avid fan of psychological thrillers, unreliable narrators, and contemporary fiction driven by strong, complicated women, I couldn’t wait to read it. And I was blown away! In spite of her questionable (to put it extremely mildly) actions, I found Amy, an amazing woman who was taken for granted—first by her parents and then by her husband—relatable and, yes, sympathetic. I kept rooting for her to get the life she wanted, even when I was appalled by what she did and who she hurt to make that happen.

Has Gone Girl changed my life? Well, it didn’t motivate me to change for the badder—old good habits die hard. Yet, thanks in part to Amy and other remarkable women characters like her, I’ve gradually become better at speaking up for myself and getting heard.

Years after first reading Gone Girl, I haven't forgotten Amy. I love the way Rosamund Pike brought her to life in the 2014 film adaptation, which I've watched in its entirety three times with three different women—my sister, my niece, and my daughter. So when I discovered that one of my favorite narrators, the remarkable Julia Whelan, voices Amy in the audiobook, I just had to go back and listen. Her performance is brilliant—so believable, it's chilling—and even though I know every twist in her twisted story, Amy continues to amaze me!

Continue reading Mysia's review >

Publisher's summary

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The “mercilessly entertaining” (Vanity Fair) instant classic “about the nature of identity and the terrible secrets that can survive and thrive in even the most intimate relationships” (Lev Grossman, Time)—now featuring never-before-published deleted scenes

NAMED ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY CNN AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE DECADE BY TIME AND ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Janet Maslin, The New York TimesPeopleEntertainment WeeklyO: The Oprah MagazineSlateKansas City StarUSA TodayChristian Science Monitor

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY San Francisco ChronicleSt. Louis Post-DispatchThe Chicago TribuneHuffPostNewsday

©2012 Gillian Flynn (P)2012 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Absorbing . . . In masterly fashion, Flynn depicts the unraveling of a marriage—and of a recession-hit Midwest—by interweaving the wife’s diary entries with the husband’s first-person account.”The New Yorker

“Ms. Flynn writes dark suspense novels that anatomize violence without splashing barrels of blood around the pages . . . Ms. Flynn has much more up her sleeve than a simple missing-person case. As Nick and Amy alternately tell their stories, marriage has never looked so menacing, narrators so unreliable.”The Wall Street Journal

“The story unfolds in precise and riveting prose . . . even while you know you’re being manipulated, searching for the missing pieces is half the thrill of this wickedly absorbing tale.”O: The Oprah Magazine

Featured Article: Hang On to Every Last Word of These Romantic Suspense Listens


Who says romance has to be all sweet and cuddly? Mystery and suspense romance books force the protagonists to wade through personal trials, physical dangers, and all manner of other terrors to earn their happily ever after. We've gathered a list of pause-resistant listens where the romance is exciting and the suspense is intimate. Each of these suspenseful romances make for the perfect escape whenever and wherever your life needs a little extra spice.

Editor's Pick: Best of the Decade

Get to the gone
"I’m a sucker for great story structure, and Gone Girl uses every inch of its narrative to subvert expectations in ways that shock and amuse. The perfectly utilized diary entries fold into a legendary mid-book reveal. The face-turn-heel of a seemingly perfect victim who revels in the way they’ve expertly managed your expectations. The unreliable narrators who reveal so much about themselves by what they don’t say—or how they shape emotional states into origami. And it all feels fair; while most twist-filled stories tend to seem rather flimsy under a microscope, the closer you look at Gillian Flynn’s masterpiece, the more you notice the sheer togetherness of it all, each part working in concert with another, coalescing to form a story that has one finger firmly on the pulse of popular culture, and one on the carotid of a serial killer."—Sean T., Audible Editor

What listeners say about Gone Girl

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Redeeming Characters Lost

Would you listen to Gone Girl again? Why?

Absolutely, this book is so twisted. It keeps you guessing at all turns and on the edge of your seat. You simply cannot stop listening.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The cat! Geez, not a single redeeming character in this book. You think you start to feel bad or like one and they end up turning your world upside down.

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Sequel?

This is a very well written book. I'm not just talking about stellar character development, excellent pace and plot, the vertigo twists and turns. No, I'm talking about the rare gift that some authors have to string together a sentence and make you want to write it down so those words could come out of your mouth some day. When I start hearing that, I really start getting excited about a book.

The ending of this book was a tad disappointing. While this could be the end of the book, period, done, no more...I doubt it. This is feeling like a sequel is coming. I guess I can't blame authors. Writing is a business and I'm sure publishers put pressure on them to end a book in such a way that if it is a success, another can follow and cling onto the hype. I guess the days of a commercially successful, well crafted book just standing on its own merits and entirely self-contained are over, and I'm grousing about that. But I will definitely buy the sequel and start looking for other titles by this author.

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WOW

Would you listen to Gone Girl again? Why?

YES! Let me start by saying that I get the hype for Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and why it's getting so much attention, both on the sales charts and in the media. We have all heard those stories where the wife goes missing and the husband is the suspect. Gillian Flynn's psychological thriller is so well written and hard to put down, but now with that said I have to say I hated every single person in the book, but never enough to give up on the book. I did want to write my own book where everyone dies and I know that sounds creepy, but if you read it you'll understand. Don’t jump to conclusions that this is a horrible book, because it’s not I just never felt like I had a hero and someone I could side with. I find myself talking about this book a lot and the best way I can sum it up is dark and twisted and something you really have to experience for yourself. Julia Whelan and Kirby Heyborne did a great job as narrators of the audio book. I knew Kirby would be great because he is the narrator for Breadcrumbs, which is one of my favorite audio books. Julia also did a great job I would gladly listen to other books she reads. I need to read a lot of happy books before I pick up another book by Gillian Flynn.

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Those fears you have about some peoples' motives?

I was hesitant about this book for some reason, perhaps it was too popular....when you've listened to this story you will see the irony in that.
I very much enjoyed this book. Amy's character is a blown up version of a scant few people I have met in life and always had a sinking feeling about their motives. Frightening look at trial by media. Gillian Flynn gathers as all that is left unsaid in relationships, words that are lost at the back of your throat, left to fester and for Amy, turned into fuel for the ultimate comeback....

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Unique and Entertaining Tale

There's nothing as interesting as the human psyche gone awry and Flynn has captured this well. These personality disordered people are completely captivating. In fact it was difficult to put this one down.

The only problem was with the male narrator. His voice did not fit the character. I would have preferred someone like Grisham's Michael Beck who would have nailed this. The female narrator was great!

All in all, I loved this book!

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Keeps you guessing until the very end

What was one of the most memorable moments of Gone Girl?

You feel that you're figuring things out and picking up on some nuances in Part 1... then you get to Part 2. The story completely changes!

What does Julia Whelan and Kirby Heyborne bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

the narration of this book was perfect -- told in the first person from two sides, their narration really brought the story to life, and the acting through their voices really brought something else to the characters.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

this book will make you laugh (in a perverse way). I didn't cry.. but I could see how someone might!

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Murder Mystery Psyco Twist!

Would you consider the audio edition of Gone Girl to be better than the print version?

Never read the book, so can't compare.

What other book might you compare Gone Girl to and why?

Momento maybe? I don't usually read mysteries.

Have you listened to any of Julia Whelan and Kirby Heyborne ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Not sure.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

My reaction was more of surprise. What you are reading at the beginning turns out o be fake, so you are finding out half way through that the characters have completely different personalities than you thought! It was a very unique way of writing that I thoguht was brilliant!

Any additional comments?

This book is brilliantly written giving twists and turns that you don't see coming. The characters aren't who you think they are!

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Great!

I truly enjoyed this tale. It had just the right amount of crazy to keep me interested! So many twist and turns, great job.

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Wow!

Hard to review without a spoiler. Suffice it to say lots of psychological insights and twists along with some drama and strong mystery.

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Such a great book!

Would you consider the audio edition of Gone Girl to be better than the print version?

Yes the audio version is better because they have two actors to tell the story from the perspective of Nick and Amy, which makes it even more compelling.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

The plot twists in this story kept me interested until the very end. You find yourself "rooting" for one character and then suddenly hoping that the other characters come out on top.

Which character – as performed by Julia Whelan and Kirby Heyborne – was your favorite?

Julia Whelan did an amazing job playing both sides of Amazing Amy's personality.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The bad parts were so bad they were good!!

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