Dark Places: Book Review

Title:  Dark Places
Author: Gillian Flynn
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books
Publication Year: 2009

Book Blurb: Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in 'the satan sacrifice' of Kinnakee, Kansas.' She survived and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five-years later, the kill club-a secret society obsessed with notorious crimes-locates Libby and pumps her for details. They hope to discover proof that may free Ben. Libby hopes to turn a profit off her tragic history. She will reconnect with the players from the night and report her findings to the club-for a fee. And Libby's search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started-on the run from a killer.

My take: The story is told in three point-of-views; one from present day Libby and other two from Ben (brother) and Patty (mother) in 1985. That is the day when Ben allegedly murdered his mother and two sisters. However, Libby escapes the massacre and instrumental in putting Ben behind bars. Now after 25 years, Libby is financially broke and has zero intention of working to make ends meet. She has lived her entire life on donations from the sympathetic and kind people after the tragedy. At this time, she was a approached by a killing club whose members genuinely feels Ben is innocent. Though shocked initially by their caustic accusations of calling her a liar, Libby promises to look in to things in exchange for money. She meets Ben, her good-for-nothing father, and few other people involved directly or indirectly in the murders. Is Ben really guilty or not? If he is not, then who is the real murderer? How the mystery unravels?   

I know this one is going to haunt me for a long time the moment I read the book blurb. This is my second Gillian Flynn book and I'm reading in a reversal order, Gone Girl, Dark Places, and yet to be read Sharp Objects.

I really don't know what goes into author's head. I even googled her wiki page just to check whether she had troubled, abusive, neglected childhood. Well, to my disappointment, she had a pretty normal life. Stable family, professors for parents, master degree in Journalism, and happily married with two kids. After reading "Gone Girl" I was under the impression that none of the protagonists can be as twisted or wrenched as Amy. That opinion changed the moment I was introduced to Libby Day. A kleptomaniac, lazy, liar, anti-social, selfish, violent are not the characters we are looking for in a protagonist, but it is in Flynn's world. I was repulsed from her in the beginning, but as I get to know her, she grew on me.

This is a story of dysfunctional family in all aspects. It is absolutely not for fainthearted. It has brutal and horrific murders, bullying, molestation, underage sex, animal slaughtering, drugs, satanic rituals.  The ending was a serious jolt as I failed to untangle the mystery.  I enjoyed it better than "Gone Girl". A total dark and gloomy story that stays with me for a long time. And I'm eager to get my hands on Flynn's first book "Sharp Objects".

PS: I'm yet to watch film adaptation of same name starring Charlize Theron.