Thursday, July 19, 2018

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn


(pb; 2009)

From the back cover

“Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in ‘The Satan Sacrifice’ of Kinnakee, Kansas. She survived─and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, the Kill Club─a secret society obsessed with notorious crimes─locates Libby and pumps her for details. They hope to discover proof that may free Ben. Libby hopes to turn a profit off her tragic history: She’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club─for a fee. As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the unimaginable truth emerges, and and Libby finds herself right back where she started─on the run from a killer.”


Review


Dark is a fast-paced, mostly well-written and character-true mystery (there are a few transitional what-the-heck moments). It is a solid beach read with a satisfying and protagonist-redemptive finish. It is not as excellent as Flynn’s bleaker Sharp Objects, and it is better than Gone Girl (with its character-false end-twist). Dark is worth picking up for cheap, or borrowing from your local library.

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The resulting film was released stateside on June 18, 2015. Gilles Paquet-Brenner scripted and directed it.

CharlizeTheron played Libby Day. Sterling Jerins played Young Libby Day. Nicholas Hoult played Lyle Wirth. Christina Hendricks played Patty Day.

Corey Stoll played Ben Day. Tye Sheridan played Young Ben Day. Natalie Precht played Michelle Day. Madison McGuire played Debby Day. Sean Bridgers played Runner Day.

Andrea Roth played Diondra. Chloë Grace Moretz played Young Diondra. J. LaRose, billed as J LaRose, played Trey Teepano. Shannon Kook played Young Trey Teepano. 

Drea de Matteo played Krissi Cates. Addy Miller, billed as Adrian “Addy” Miller, played Young Krissi. Richard Gunn played Lou Cates.

Lori Z. Cordova played Magda. Natalie Jennifer Pierce Mathus played Diane. Dan Hewitt Owens, billed as Dan Owens, played Robert.


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