This chilling tale from the author of Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn, recounts the story of the Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas in 1985, where a disturbed teenager allegedly murdered his mother and two of his three little sisters. To the neighborhood people, he had done it because he was possessed by the devil. To the police, he was just another sick perpetrator. But his only surviving sister, Libby, spends her life wondering what had caused Ben to snap. Dark Places, Flynn’s second novel, is as engaging as it is disturbing. Despite the overall darkness of the story, it becomes impossible to put down. Eventually, the truth comes out, and it is more chilling and twisted than imaginable.
Flynn’s style of writing, while possibly confusing, is certainly an interesting way of telling what really happened to the Day family. The narration not only switches between decades, but narrators as well. While most of the story is told by Libby Day, her brother Ben and her mother Patty also have chapters from their own perspective. One chapter is even told through the perspective of the family attorney. While her structure is rather complex, her prose is simplistic and to the point.
Those familiar with Gone Girl will recognize the very Flynn-esque style of writing in the novel. Dark Places switches between the events leading up to the Satan Sacrifice and the present day life of Libby and Ben Day. After Libby’s original testimony as a child that her brother had committed the crime, he was sentenced to life in prison. In her adulthood, Libby is hounded by a secret society of people obsessed with notorious crimes. These people, the Kill Club, try to convince Libby that she was mistaken as a child; her brother was innocent. It is then that she decides to investigate for herself, not to save her brother, but to prove her young self right and for the chance at getting more money in her pocket. Libby Day, arguably the main protagonist, finds herself creeping closer and closer to the poverty line, but her depression prevents her from getting a job. Because of this, she makes a living off of her family’s murders. The fame that she gained from her tragedy often brings her reward. She sold belongings of her late family for a profit.
Regardless of having an unlikable protagonist and a violent plot, Dark Places is definitely worth a read, especially for lovers of the thriller genre. However, to many the novel may be frightening or disturbing, especially considering Flynn’s knack for visual imagery regarding the scene of the crime.
Words by Casey