Why did I pick up Gone Girl? Well everyone else seems to be. But I also kept hearing great things from the few trusted sources on the internet where I get my book recommendations from. 
 But I also think I was drawn to a book that seemed to be about a case you might see on Law and Order. I became obsessed with Law and Order during my one miserable year of grad school. I would return from class everyday and turn on TNT like clockwork. I'm not sure if I would've made it out of that year without the show. Well, I guess I would've but the show helped. 
 We see women murdered on shows like that all the time and husbands usually emerge as the main suspect. "It's always someone close to the victim," snarls the cranky detective. So I think what I most loved about Gone Girl was taking the dead/missing wife genre and flipping it on its head into something that is original. 
 Also Flynn's writing is terrific and the ending is pretty perfect. Afterwards, I wrapped myself in a blanket...in late August. Chilling. 
 Beware the spoilers... 
 (view spoiler)[I can't remember the last time I was purely terrified of a character like I was when it came to Amy. I really hope she's not a real person. 
 This quote from Tanner sums up the book perfectly: "You two are the most [bleep]ed up people I have ever met, and I specialize in [bleep]ed-up people." (hide spoiler)] 
 Will try more of Flynn's at some point and hopefully try some of the other hot female thriller writers such as Tana French and Megan Abbott.