Dark Places, Gillian Flynn

This is my first Gillian Flynn book, and wow, can she write!

Dark Places is a fabulous journey, not only regarding the storyline, but the way words are used, how commas are placed, and the cadence of the sentences - it all flowed so seamlessly, so real, so unscripted. So many writers, myself included, can get hung up on the properness of grammar, syntax usage, and the transition of sentences - because we are told that is the 'right' way to write. Ms. Flynn wrote Dark Places from her characters' voices without regard to rules and "supposed tos," and she nailed it.

Suffice to say, the writing is what I am most thrilled about, but the plot does not fall short or even come in second place - it too is worthy of much reflection. Dark Places is the name a survivor of her family's murders uses when she recalls what took place when she was seven years old. The book twists from the murders to the present (twenty-five years later), following how Libby, the survivor, is coping while learning the truth about the murders that left her brother sitting in prison.

An outstanding story with excellent writing; both readers and writers will enjoy Dark Places. I will read another Gillian Flynn book.