Bookworm: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

"My friend has just recommended a book to me, says it's the best book she's read in the last year," a friend at work said to me last week.

"Ooh what is it??" I asked. Across came a link on Amazon, to Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn.

I laughed. "No way! I'm reading that right now!"

I'd seen this fictional thriller reviewed in Stylist magazine towards the end of last year and as always, had made a note of those that caught my eye. Straight on to my 'to read' list on GoodReads.

So last week I decided my next book to read - of the five or so I'd recently downloaded - was going to be Gone Girl.

A wife goes missing. Is her husband really telling the truth? A thriller, and so on... Sounds like a lot of books of its type. Although reviews promised this was different and very dark.

Immediately I was a fan of the style of Flynn's structure in this book, split between Nick the husband's thoughts on events as they happened, as his wife Amy goes missing, and then diary entries from said wife, in the past, leading up to the day of disappearing.

There is not an awful lot I can say about this book without spoiling it.

What I will say is nothing is what it seems. This story constantly surprises you. Just when you think you have thing figured out Wham! Flynn comes and smacks you in the face with another surprise.

Feeling one emotion towards a character and then Smash! Flynn comes and slaps you hard with a complete turnaround.

There is quite a big number of characters in this fictional tale, but there many likeable ones - some surprisingly so.

I loved being constantly surprised, the unravelling of events and thoughts. Constantly unsure what was going to come next.

As a reader you get hooked. I wanted to read this book constantly. Approaching the end I was desperate to read more and see how it would finish, but also hesitant since I didn't want the reading experience to end.

Good points
Addictive page turner
Constant surprises
Strong characters
Great storyline

Not so great
Unsure about the ending
Sad to finish it!

I finished the book and even in the last few pages things seemed to change considerably and still surprised me. I didn't really 'get' the end, I was unsure how I felt about it, it surprised me. It was so different.

Of course it was though and that's the beauty, expect the unexpected.

Really recommend as something completely different. Now my only issue is what to read next to match up to it?

Bookworm: Never Tell by Alafair Burke

I finished this latest read last night - and proceeded to have some really odd dreams (you've been warned!)

After thoroughly enjoying one thriller I thought I'd go on to try another one I'd downloaded.

Never Tell focuses on the death of a rich popular American schoolgirl, the detectives starting their journey trying to decide if she committed suicide or was murdered.

What follows is a twist and turns tale involving popular kids, homeless friends, rich US families, the legal system, an ex prisoner and many many secrets.

This book keeps you wanting more and keen to find out who is linked to who and how. There's more than one story to this book and all are equally thrilling.

At times Burke's storytelling reminded me of Jodi Picoult's style - a good thing I feel. However, even better sometimes Picoult's courtroom settings and case descriptions can go on somewhat.

Not the case with Never Tell and its author, you get a snippet of all the interesting bits.

As I neared the end of this piece of fiction I admit it did get confusing at times - perhaps a tad too many characters and hints at situations and outcomes rather than being super clear and detailed.

However I can't deny I was hooked and felt I raced through this thriller.

What I also found with this title was there weren't easily guessed outcomes and scenarios, most points surprised me.

Good bits
Keeps you gripped
Good characters you're interested in
Lots of sub stories and snippets to keep you reading

Not so great
The ending I felt was rather confused
Perhaps a few too many characters, or rather not all were introduced as well as they could be
Sometimes you feel like you're guessing at what the author is suggesting and at times I felt I wanted to flick back to earlier sections to get things clear

Yes I would recommend it, particularly if you were a fan of Picoult but have grown tired of her too similar books - I guess this is a less wordy, more gripping, darker offering.

Bookworm: Vanished by Tim Weaver

Not a big fan of detective series I downloaded this book onto my Kindle and only then realised this was one of those stories – based around investigator David Raker.

As you know once I start a book though I can’t give up on it so I decided to still give this one a go and hope to be pleasantly surprised.

In fact I whizzed through this fictional tale and found myself unable to put it down, a real page turner, constantly making you want to find out more.

Vanished is actually the third in Weaver’s offering of thrillers, based around Raker this time we’re told he’s on the hunt for missing person Sam Wren. What starts as a seemingly tricky to solve missing person case (where the man seems to have just ‘vanished’ hence the book title) soon turns into a lot more.

If you’re not into all things gruesome, some of the descriptions may turn your tummy a tad. However, I soon found myself so engrossed in the story this wasn’t an issue and there isn’t gore for the sake of it, it does serve a purpose and help build up the characters and storyline.

I kept second guessing what was happening in this fictional piece and was convinced I’d got it all figured out early on (disappointed it was such a basic mystery to solve). How wrong I was. Weaver keeps the reader entertained with plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing.

Due to the type of book this was (i.e. detective/investigator series) I was also shocked when I reached the end of this story – and disappointed to have finished. I won’t give away anymore as I don’t want to spoil the story for future readers.

I was also pleased to note that you didn’t need to have read other tales in the series to understand who Raker is and what he’s about, something that has aggravated me in other similar reads.

Good points
Real page turner
Keeps you gripped and guessing
Good descriptions of scenes so you can place yourself there and feel the fear too
Liked the references to London

Not so great
Felt the end seemed a bit abrupt
Some people might be bothered by the fact some of the London underground references were inaccurate and made up

In summary I really enjoyed this book, I’ve read a lot of comical short stories of late and this gritty, dark, thriller was a welcome and refreshing change and one I thoroughly enjoyed.