Lee Hunts

I just finished reading Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn. Finally, finally, after countless years, I have come around to reading this book. This is the first time, and I have never seen the movie, even. I was spoiled on the major twist of the story, so I kept putting both of them off. Now, that said, I think the twist would have been quite obvious on a meta-level if only because I've read Flynn's two other novels—admittedly, she is a bit of a one trick pony. The good thing is that my assumptions about the context of the major twist were actually wrong, so there were a lot of unexpected things in this novel. It was a wild ride, to be sure. This book apparently kickstarted the domestic thriller craze that is now commonplace today. At the very least, it came at the very beginning of the trend. It begins with Nick Dunne, a very normal husband, waking on his fifth anniversary to speak with his wife, Amy. Later in the day, he returns home to learn that his wife is nowhere to be found. He ...

I just finished reading Then She Was Gone, by Lisa Jewel. This book is a psychological thriller about a mother whose fifteen-year-old daughter disappeared unexpectedly, without explanation. A decade later, she starts dating this man who has a daughter who looks and acts fairly similar to her long lost daughter, Ellie. What follows is a rather creepy character study, as the mother, Laurel, begins to question what she knows. The read was rather quick, and I was drawn to the characters and the mystery, but in retrospect, I think the story could have had less predictable plot points and less instances of lazy execution. I'm not sure I can say much about the story without spoilers, so I will simply review the story with spoilers. Anyhow, these are the types of books you just pick off the shelf due to author recognition or because they are mystery alone. The best approach is to just go in blind. So, go read the story and then come back. Strides (Spoilers) What I liked most about the stor...