Publisher: Broadway Books
Pages: 452
Genre: Thriller
Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their tiny farmhouse into the freezing January snow. She lost some fingers and toes, but she survived–and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who’ve long forgotten her.
The Kill Club is a macabre secret society obsessed with notorious crimes. When they locate Libby and pump her for details–proof they hope may free Ben–Libby hatches a plan to profit off her tragic history. For a fee, she’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club… and maybe she’ll admit her testimony wasn’t so solid after all.
As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the narrative flashes back to January 2, 1985. The events of that day are relayed through the eyes of Libby’s doomed family members–including Ben, a loner whose rage over his shiftless father and their failing farm have driven him into a disturbing friendship with the new girl in town. Piece by piece, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started–on the run from a killer
First Impressions: It’s set in Kansas, my home-state. I can confirm that there are plenty of dark places in Kansas, and I’m not just talking about the Republican Governor’s office.
Review: Irascible Libby Day is the type of person you probably wouldn’t like if she existed in real-life, but on the page she is compelling and complicated. She is the only real survivor (if you don’t count an older brother languishing in prision for the rest of his life) of a brutal massacre of her family when she was only 7 years old. Now in her thirties Libby has rejected every opportunity or attempt to become a contributing member of society. She is crippled by even the simplest tasks, preferring to shut out the world or take handouts over an honest days work. Libby is acerbic and prickly to anyone who shows even the slightest interest in helping her or changing her mind. Getting Libby to the point where she questions the truth of the statements she made against her brother all those years ago, is like pulling teeth for the reader. But there is a part of her that knows the light was never truly shown on what happened that night. The Kill Crew, a secret organization investigating the truth behind murders, is finally able to tap into that small voice living in her subconscious. A voice that compels Libby to track down all the players of that infamous night. On a mission that takes her from Ben to her father and to minor characters who become major characters, Libby learns that the events of that night may not entirely be finished as long as she is still alive.
The story takes a methodical pace, jumping back and forth between Libby’s present day journey and the day of the murders. The flashbacks are split between Ben Day (the eldest) and Patty Day (the mother). This helped to deepen the emotion of events leading up to the Satan Sacrifice Kinnakee. Their juxtaposition will figure heavily in the events of that night. Patty is torn apart by the revelation that their town believes Ben may have molested a young girl. Ben is a secretive and morose teenager who thinks only about escaping their small town with his now-pregnant girlfriend. And even though you only meet the mother and Ben on one day, they come off as fully developed characters grappling with a multitude of emotions and uncertainties.
Flynn sets up some great payoffs in certain scenes. The interaction between Krissi, the child supposedly molested by Ben and Libby is intriguing mostly because of the truths they are hiding from the other. The note that Libby leaves for Krissi at the end was the perfect ending to that scene. Another entertaining scene occurs between Libby and her father at the superfund site. The settings are far from glamorous but they contain interesting details that add to the mood & characterization.
As Libby uncovers who Ben spent that day with, the truth seems to trace back to Ben’s pregnant girlfriend. But Flynn has just a couple more surprises waiting for us just when we think we figured it out. The truth is an elusive concept, and finding a resolution doesn’t exactly settle well with us. The conflicting emotions and uncertainties that remain after the final sentence are what make this novel a success.
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Overall: We all know that Flynn’s novels are bleak and gritty. I like getting to the core of characters and their shortcomings. A dark place exists in all of us and it’s the plot development that really puts this novel apart from others. Looking forward to reading Gone Girl now.
About the Author
Gillian Flynn is an American author and television critic for Entertainment Weekly. She has so far written three novels, Sharp Objects, for which she won the 2007 Ian Fleming Steel Dagger for the best thriller; Dark Places; and her best-selling third novel Gone Girl.
Flynn, who lives in Chicago, grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. She graduated at the University of Kansas, and qualified for a Master’s degree from Northwestern University.
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