Twenty-four years after her mother and two sisters are brutally murdered in their own home in the early hours of January 3, 1985, Libby Day is out of money and seemingly out of options. Being only seven-years-old at the time of the murders–giving a coached testimony that would convict and send her brother Ben to jail for the crime–Libby looks back into her painful past and uncovers secrets and twists that will change her life and her family forever. When Libby gets caught up with a “Kill Club,” a group of crime-obsessed locals, she is encouraged to investigate and eventually discover the unthinkable truth regarding her family’s deaths.

Dark Places is simply a gripping story that will take you for loops. A chilling portrayal of the human experience after such devastation such as losing your whole family, Gillian Flynn creates a haunting puzzle in which you won’t mind spending an entire weekend putting together. With clever writing full of twists and turns, Dark Places will not let you go until the very last page. It will certainly leave you thinking about it long after you’ve closed the book.

If you haven’t gotten the chance to read any of Gillian Flynn’s novels–not just Dark Places–you should take this summer as an opportunity to do so. In addition to Dark Places coming to the silver screen, one of her other critically acclaimed novels–Gone Girl–is being made into a movie this fall. Flynn’s writing already jumps off the page, her characters and story so real and vivid. Hopefully Hollywood will do the novels justice.

Availability: COSMOS
Review submitted by: Taylor Schafer
Rating: Highly Recommended