Sharp Objects

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Title: Sharp Objects
Author: Gillian Flynn
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Publication: 2006

I liked Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl and Dark Places. Somehow missed the first one and wanted to read it for quite sometime. I love her female protagonists. They are nothing like other perfect, goody two-shoes I come across in other books. They are portrayed even ghastly for my taste. Nonetheless they are sickeningly bad, bordering sociopaths. I read it somewhere Flynn saying women can be pragmatically evil, bad, and selfish and I totally agree with her.

In Nutshell:  Camille Preaker, a reporter for a Chicago newspaper was sent back to Wind Gap, Missouri, her hometown on an assignment to cover a story about a missing girl that has a startling similarities with a girl's murder a year earlier. She reluctantly agrees to return to her childhood mansion to stay with her mother Adora, her step-father, and her 13-year-old half-sister Amma. Her mother is blatantly unwelcoming and horrified to learn about Camille's work. The relationship between mother and daughter is bad from the beginning, and she had one younger sister, Marian who died young of an unknown illness.

Once in Wind Gap, Camille starts her investigation, talking to parents' and peers of missing girls. The local law enforcement wasn't helpful as they are worried about the bad media attention. She meets Kansas City detective, Richard Willis who is here to investigate the same case and gets romantically involved with him. She gets to know more about her sister, Amma who has two sides to her personality; a childish teen at home while outside she is popular, wild, drug and alcohol abuser, sexually active, and a bully.

Camille herself is an alcoholic and was institutionalized for self-destruction. Whenever she is stressed or low, she carves into her skin with sharp objects. At present she constantly battles the urge to etch the words on her skin, though mentally she does so. During her stay she stumbles upon many secrets and was able to solve the mystery of gruesome murders. As this is a thriller I would not divulge how it ends.

Camille is a damaged character. She was a wild child too while growing up. Her self-mutilation tale started immediately after Marian's death whom she was very much attached to. She is bright, independent, and self-sufficient. She tries constantly to be a good person despite having a dark past.

Narration includes substance abuse, self-mutilation, promiscuity, bullying among others. I don't know if 13 year olds can be that nasty in real world. Surely I haven't met one. None of the characters are sane here, all are twisted and sick. One exception to this might be Richard, the investigating officer. It talks about Münchausen syndrome by proxy, a condition which I have not heard before. Once I finish the book I went and did my little research on the topic. Definitely a rare disorder, but can't deny its presence. This is chilling, gripping, and brilliantly written story, clearly not for the faint-hearted. I couldn't shake it off my mind for two straight days. Flynn is one author who made me sick inside about human beings. Having said that if she writes anything else I'm desperate to get my hands on it. I liked "Sharp Objects" better than Dark Places and Gone Girl. To my surprise HBO premiered the fist episode of "Sharp Objects miniseries this very month, Amy Adams as Camille Preaker and I know she will be wonderful at that. Since I have already narrated the story of the book to hubby it is easier for me to convince him to watch the series. And we shall do that in the coming months.