Gone Girl- Gillian Flynn

Marriage is one of the most sacred of sanctums in human culture which eternally binds a man to a woman forever. Your spouse is the most prominent part of your life as you share your soul and life with them. But what happens if your partner becomes the opposite of what you have always believed him or her to be. What happens if you are afraid of them?

Amy, a beautiful and rich New York girl, is meticulous, planned and observant. An only child to her parents falls in love with Nick Dunne. Nick is the opposite of Amy, cool, calm and likes life as it is. They complete each other like puzzle pieces. They have a perfect relationship and get married to live a happy life. But on their fifth anniversary, Amy suddenly disappears. There is not a single trace of her to be found. Has she been abducted? Has she been killed? Nick is all fanatical and on the edge of breaking as the days go by, without any trace of her. She is used to create a treasure hunt for her husband every year, and this year it is no different. Nick follows the clues aimlessly, but with the passing of days the clues become clearer and frightening. The police investigations reveal horrifying evidences which point that Nick may have murdered her wife.

Amy’s diary are filled with disturbing facts, about Nick trying to avoid her, hurt her maybe even thinking of killing her. Nick is in turmoil as he is clueless about what is really happening around him. As the time passes, Nick gets under extreme scrutiny and is unable to prove his innocence. Did Nick kill Amy? Is someone trying to frame Nick for murder? Where is Amy? These questions keep hammering in your head for most of the first half of the book, so stay patient.

The book is a horrifying reflection of the downside of long relationships such as marriage. The human conflict with his/her own self. The length of extremities that obsession can make one go to, just to achieve their ultimate goal. It tells the dying love with time, how humans when not able to get what they want, can do anything to satisfy their egos and ids. The story displays the fact that a person can accomplish any task just to keep their relationship alive, even if it is dead inside. You can hate someone to the extremes and still love them. It showcases a lot of harsh realities of a breaking marriage, the loneliness and guilt. When you reach the end of the book, and clearly go over all the contents in your mind, you may question yourself in the end, who was the wrong person actually? I most certainly did. The ending is going to give you the chills. The book is a very refreshing take on love, hate and relationships. I will give it a 9/10.