Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn (Crown; $25)

I finally got around to reading Gillian Flynn’s third mystery and boy, was it worth the wait! I had loved Sharp Objects, her first book, but had lost track of her. A friend recommended Gone Girl, and it was terrific. Full of huge, unexpected twists and turns, red herrings, and “OMG” moments.

Nick and Amy Dunne have it all. Both are beautiful, living the New York City glam life. The two magazine writers supplement their incomes with a trust fund set up by Amy’s parents, the authors of the “Amazing Amy” series of children’s books.  

But in a head-spinning turn of events, it’s over. Both are laid off, the trust fund is gone, and they lose the Brooklyn brownstone. When Nick’s twin sister calls from the Dunne family home in North Carthage, Missouri, to say that Nick’s mother is dying, he decides that he and Amy must move back to his family homet. They rent a foreclosed McMansion in a ghost town of similar properties and try to make a new life.  Using the last of Amy’s money, Nick and his sister open a bar.

On the afternoon of Amy and Nick’s fifth wedding anniversary, Nick gets a call at the bar from a neighbor, saying that his cat is outside, and his front door is wide open. Nick returns home to find signs of a struggle and Amy gone.

Model-handsome Nick has been anything but a model husband. He doesn’t help himself by lying to the cops.  The reader knows it’s just a matter of time before the cops learn what we know and put him away.

Until. . .

Sorry. I can’t tell more without giving away the best moments of a terrific story.

With such an outstanding plot, it seems somewhat petty to say that I hated how the book ended. Flynn pulled back at the last minute, with an ending that came across as surprisingly cowardly. I’d love to know why she lost her nerve. 

As soon as I have time, I'm going back to read Dark Places.