Tuesday, March 18, 2014

#7: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

A young woman goes missing on her fifth wedding anniversary, naturally putting the husband in the police's sights; but nothing is what it seems in Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl.

Despite the contemporary trappings, this tale, told in both spouse's points of view in alternating chapters, is a classic example of a favorite subgenre in noir, the unreliable narrator.  The reader will be kept guessing through one surprising revelation after the next.

Gone Girl is a quick read, but is a notch above the average thriller with clever, sophisticated plotting and characterization and solid writing overall.

Not surprisingly, Gone Girl is about to be what I suspect will be a popular movie.  Recommended for thriller fans and beach readers.

My enjoyment of the novel was lifted more so, I suspect, by a very good audio book version that I borrowed from Morrisson-Reeves Public Library in Richmond, Indiana.


Tuesday, March 4, 2014

#6: The Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly

The Lincoln Lawyer returns when a pimp, accused of murdering one of his prostitutes, seeks out Mickey Haller on the advice of the dead prostitute herself in The Gods of Guilt.

Michael Connelly has built an admirable legal thriller series alongside his touchstone police series starring LA cop Harry Bosch (threaded with the legal series as the two are half-brothers).  This second series has garnered more attention perhaps since the movie starring  Matthew McConaughey (referenced in the books as well).

This is a good entry in the series as Haller finds he has additional impetus to solve the prostitute's murder, feeling somewhat responsible because of events going back a number of years.  Some nice surprises throughout make it a solid read.

I checked this out from the Farmland Public Library and read it quickly.