Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I know, I'm way behind on this one.  I'd been meaning to pick Gone Girlup for ages, and even managed to avoid any spoilers, but I never got around to reading it.  Then I started seeing previews for the movie last summer, and wanted to see that; but of course, I had to read the book first (I always have to read the book first).  I requested it from the library; so did every other person in Queens, so I didn't actually get it into my hands until December (I know, I'm late with the review).  (No, I haven't seen the movie yet.)

It's really good!  I'm not generally a fan of thrillers, but this is smart and well written.  It's also a sharply witty novel, as Flynn expertly satirizes modern romantic relations, the over-privileged, and the media (and people's obsession with it).  The first half alternates between Nick's first person narrative of the events following the disappearance of his wife Amy, and Amy's journal entries from the start of their relationship up until the disappearance; the dual narrative continues in the second half, in a different form.  It becomes clear rather quickly that neither is a reliable narrator, and part of the fun comes from trying to figure out who is playing whom, and what the next twist will be -- a bizarre, insane riff on the typical "he said, she said" depiction of a relationship.  Both Nick and Amy are highly intelligent and deeply, deeply flawed, and I alternated between wanting to see them succeed and fail in their manipulations.  Not until the very end did my detached (they are horrible people) enjoyment turn to horror when I realized an innocent party would someday pay for all that happened.  That thought left me genuinely distressed.