I'm officially a big fan of this writer. I went crazy for DARK PLACES, so thought I'd read her debut effort. And I found it extremely dark and beautiful and scary and captivating. This is a crime story, and there's a fairly good twist at the end, but I didn't even need it, 'cause her ability to write true teenage girls in all of their beauty and awfulness rings incredibly honest and true. To wit:

On watching the protagonist's young teenage niece in action, being all hurtful and mean girl-ish: "Thirteen years old, I thought to myself, but I felt a spear of admiration for the girl. When I'd been sad, I hurt myself. [My niece] hurt other people. When I'd wanted attention, I'd submitted myself to boys: "do what you want; just like me." [My niece's] sexual offerings seemed like a form of aggression. Long skinny legs and slim wrists and high, babied voice, all aimed like a gun. "Do what I want; I might like you."

Even our protagonist's jaded eye continually jolts the book into some small but excitingly unforgiving prose:

On meeting a trashy family connected to the crime: "The children too, hovered about, little blonde ghosts trapped in a limbo between indolence and stupidity. The pretty girl might do all right. But the piggy middle child, who now waddled dazedly into the room, was destined for needy sex and snack-cake bingeing (sic)."

Ugh. Tough, but still really concise and insightful writing, in my opinion. I loved the book, even though I saw some of the twists coming. I think Flynn is absolutely amazing at presenting a unreliable narrator, but one that you still really care for. Her books don't have any heroes, but the truth within the books make it very much worth reading.

Thanks for reading.