Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn a Book Review.

Blurb:-
WICKED above her hipbone, GIRL across her heart.
Words are like a road map to reporter Camille Preaker’s troubled past. Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, Camille’s first assignment from the second-rate daily paper where she works brings her reluctantly back to her hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. NASTY on her kneecap, BABYDOLL on her leg.
Since she left town eight years ago, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed again in her family’s Victorian mansion, Camille is haunted by the childhood tragedy she has spent her whole life trying to cut from her memory. HARMFUL on her wrist, WHORE on her ankle.
As Camille works to uncover the truth about these violent crimes, she finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Clues keep leading to dead ends, forcing Camille to unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past to get at the story. Dogged by her own demons, Camille will have to confront what happened to her years before if she wants to survive this homecoming. With its taut, crafted writing, Sharp Objects is addictive, haunting, and unforgettable.
Review:-
Sharp Objects is a read-it-now thriller that should have you turning the pages in your quest to unravel the whodunit mystery. It's Gillian Flynn's first, and her development as an author is clearly evident if you read her next two books, I'm glad I began with Gone Girl. The story revolves around Camille who has more than a few personality problems--caused, supposedly, by maternal lack of affection. She is a reporter on a little-read newspaper who is sent back to her home town to glean a high profile story on child murders. The story is well written and the character is likable despite her hang ups. I did not find the relationship between the sisters as portrayed by the author believable. The chief protagonist is in her thirties and she socialites in an illegal manner with her thirteen-year-old sister? Hey.... but it's fiction, right? So read it to get a novel spin on a family saga that is more than a little twisted and certainly interesting.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn a Book Review

Blurb:-
I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ.
Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their tiny farmhouse into the freezing January snow. She lost some fingers and toes, but she survived–and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who’ve long forgotten her..
The Kill Club is a macabre secret society obsessed with notorious crimes. When they locate Libby and pump her for details–proof they hope may free Ben–Libby hatches a plan to profit off her tragic history. For a fee, she’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club… and maybe she’ll admit her testimony wasn’t so solid after all..
As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the narrative flashes back to January 2, 1985. The events of that day are relayed through the eyes of Libby’s doomed family members–including Ben, a loner whose rage over his shiftless father and their failing farm have driven him into a disturbing friendship with the new girl in town. Piece by piece, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started–on the run from a killer..
Review
I loved this book enough to read it straight through, you know what I mean--exclusively, which I don't often do. Then, at a particularly grizzly intersection, I just did not want to finish it. I was truly horrified, but then I guess if you don't want horror, don't read horror, crime fiction. I'm glad I did finish it. Kudos to you Ms. Flynn for an excellent, unfathomable plot, it was simply jaw dropping. I'll be picking up more books you write. However, please remind me, often, never to do anything to piss you off!.