After reading Gone
Girl a few months ago, I was curious to see what else Gillian Flynn had
written. So when Dark Places showed
up on the reserve shelf, it felt like the perfect read for a dark and stormy
(and finally) fall night.
Libby Day is the lone survivor of the "Prairie
Massacre." When she was seven-years-old she managed to escape as her
teenage brother allegedly killed her mother and two older sisters. Now that her
trust fund is running out, she receives a propitious invitation to speak at a
meeting of the Kill Club - a group of amateur sleuths obsessed with her
family's tragedy. As she and the group's leader contact the key players of that
notorious night one by one, the narrative flashes back to the actions of Libby's
mother and brother on the day of the murder in 1985.
Although I couldn't really stomach the gruesome details of
the bloodbath (admittedly skimming ahead), I was otherwise engrossed in the mystery,
the psychology, and the tragedy of the events unfolding on another, darker,
night.
