Search - Dark Places

This is a murder mystery story told from various characters' points of view and set in the Kansas City area in 1985. The characters in this novel are very realistic, and flawed in their own human ways. This book will keep you guessing until the very last page. Lock the door and call out sick to work, because this book will not let you go until you finish it!

7-year-old Libby Day survives the night her mother and sisters are brutally murdered in their home in Kinnakee Kansas. Libby testifies that her 15 year-old brother committed the crime. Now at the age of 32 Libby has no job and no money when a group of armchair detectives approach her to try and garner information that may free her brother. Information she trades for cash. The novel is told in both present and past vignettes through the eyes of Libby, her brother and her mother, spinning a tail of dysfunction and desperation that at times will leave you feeling sick to your stomach. This novel is a truly twisted psychological thriller, with no really likable characters. I had no sympathy for any of the characters, and yet it was an incredible read. At times I had to stop and put the book aside because of the intensity and the utterly dark and depressing places that this book took me to in my own mind, so leave the lights on.

4.0 out of 5 stars Haunting and disturbing...

Who killed Libby Day's family? This is the mystery that is presented on the first page and the subsequent chapters detail Libby's attempt - half-hearted at first, to get the answers she so desperately needs in order for her to get on track in life. The book alternates points of view from Libby in present day to various characters from the past - describing the events that led up to, and include the infamous day of the murders twenty-five years previous - January 2, 1985.

The book is paced and the author writes excellent and well developed descriptions of the characters - Libby's mother, aunt Diane, sisters and brother - as well as of the setting of the Kinnakee, Kansas farm and Libby's house on the bluff in Kansas City, Missouri. (As a KCMO native, I was surprised to find a book set in this Midwest city because it is so rare and I really enjoyed that fact about the book.)

Because of the way the novel is written, the various points of view in each chapter are used to advance Libby's determination and investigation into actually and finally finding out who killed her family and why. The plot is revealed in layers and the reader isn't quite sure how all of this is going to come together - but it does. This is not a heart pounding thriller, but a more dark and plodding one - you know that denouement is just around the corner - you're hoping that Libby is going to get the information she wants as she confronts first one and then another of the surviving family and others involved with the search for the killer(s) of her family. Indeed, the hangers on - the Kill Club members - and her father, the loser Runner, only add to her consternation as she seems thwarted at every turn. Even her own brother, Ben, imprisoned by her testimony, seems to put roadblocks up instead of providing answers in the case.

This is not a book for the squeamish and describes some grisly scenes that include depictions of bloody murder and one of senseless animal torture. Libby, the protagonist, is not a loveable character, but one who grows on the reader as we are drawn into her world. We almost feel her lassitude and recognize how much energy her efforts cost her. We root for her, but are wondering if we really do want to know the answers. Is Ben guilty or not? No one associated with this crime is free of criminal association or above suspicion.

All in all - a good whodunit with a very appropriate ending.

Dark Places was an excellent read.
I loved the way the author moved back and forth in time. The ending brought it all together perfectly!
I highly recommend this book.

As with Gillian Flynn's debut novel, Sharp Objects, in Dark Places, the author also deals with the psychology of someone who is mentally unwell (among many other issues including a farmer's tough life and the way things were in the 80's for them). In this case, the protagonist, Libby, is mentally unwell because of the trauma she suffered as a child. Her family was murdered by not just anyone, her brother. She was the only one that managed to escape. Since then, she has become very bitter, uncaring, lonely, clinically depressed, has developed kleptomania, and seems to have a difficult time forming healthy relationships. She believes all of these will keep her from functioning enough to get a job. In my opinion she should have seeked therapy as it might have helped her function. Because she does not think she can get a job where she won't get fired and is running out of the money she's been living on (money sent to her by well-wishers who know about the murders of her family), she winds up selling family memorabilia to the Kill Club. The Kill Club is a horrible group of people obsessed with murders. They challenge Libby's idea that her brother was the murder that fateful night of January 3, 1985. Throughout the book the readers are told (in flashbacks) about the events of that night and events leading up to it. All is told through the point of view of Libby, Ben, and Patty, their mother. Readers, like Libby, will begin to question whether Libby at the young age of 7 was correct in stating her brother was the murderer. I know it seems as if just by knowing that readers will think "okay so then Ben probably wasn't the killer." Trust me, there's a lot you won't see coming and it's all worth the ride. The fact that it's so fast paced and makes you turn the pages like a madman/madwomen, adds to the enjoyment level.

I must state that this book had its merits, but it also had its downsides. I found myself unable to like the Kill Club, including Lyle. No matter what any of them say, they're just using Libby for their own entertainment and that is effed up. I will never find myself being okay with that. Libby played along because she wanted the money, which I think was horrible, yet I can see where her thought process was on that issue. Either way, she should have seeked therapy to help her. She did not need to resort to selling her family's items.

Concerning Libby's entire family; they are so flawed. All of them. I liked that. Don't get me wrong, it was unfortunate for them. For their flaws, I can understand why readers might find the family (even the younger sisters) unlikeable, but hey! People are like this in real life! I liked the honesty in this book. No matter how "messed" up everyone in this book was, you will find people like this in real life. Hopefully someone can come into their life and help them.

When I think about it, Libby and her family were not the only ones with mental issues. Pretty much every single character in this book had a problem.

In reference to memories, I had never thought about this issue before until I volunteered with an organization that helps children who have been abused. another organization had spoken to us about how back in the day, children who have gone through a trauma, were interviewed incorrectly. this led to false testimonies and many other consequences. one of the worst things that occurred was that the child would be forced to relive the trauma over and over because they would have to retell their story to numerous people like the local policemen, FBI, mother, father, aunt, etc. obviously this was not a good way to go about things. not only does it negatively affect the child, but what the child is saying may gradually change. it's not that the child is lying, but memories change the more you conjure them. It does not help when cops (they shouldn't do this anymore) used to ask children questions phrased in a way that would cause the child to believe something else occurred. for example, a cop may have asked a child "that man touched you didn't he? he hurt you? where did he hurt you?" the child might then start to believe that an event that did not occur, did in fact occur. the child will start to think that they were hurt by someone. If someone keeps repeating the same question to the child, "did you get touched by that man?" the child may end up giving the "right" answer, or the answer they believe the adults want to hear. they may then end up thinking the event really occurred. memories are a fragile thing. fascinating though. you're supposed to ask a child something like "what happened that day?" not "did he touch you?" I learned a lot of this from my psychology classes and research by Deborah Poole (among others). Look at something interesting a professor of psychology, Stephen Ceci, stated:
Our review of typical interviews from the 1980s shows many investigators blindly pursued a single hypothesis: Sexual abuse occurred. They would reinforce that hypothesis to the children, who would be led to believe in it.
It is essential to keep in mind now that most children with such implanted memories will have believed in their allegations of abuse for far longer than they were alive before those allegations first surfaced. Those 'implanted' memories are no less visceral than real-life memories.
Remember, this book took place in the 80's.

Quote:
Libby's father, Runner, talking to her:
"How long it's been since I seen you, little girl? You get that flamingo ashtray I sent you?" The flamingo ashtray I got more than two decades ago, when I was a nonsmoking ten-year-old.

Possible spoilers:
I feel that if Ben hadn't continued to be in an effed up relationship with Diondra, maybe he would have been better off. He may not have been as angry. All she did was tear him down. She and her step-brother Trey continually lowered his self-esteem. There is a reason that shouldn't happen to people. it can make them ANGRY! Anger leads to violence. Bad, bad things.
As for Michelle, I can completely see that girl growing up to be just like Ben. Demented, almost. By the end of the book, I wondered if there was a mental illness running in the family. Maybe not Patty, or their father (although alcoholism is technically a mental illness I don't mean that kind), but someone before them. Or maybe there was something in the water. *shrug* It's just interesting how Michelle, Ben, Trey, Deondra, and Crystal, were all off the wall. Okay, it was pretty much everyone in this book.

Movie News:
October 2010 - Movie rights to DARK PLACES sold!
I’m thrilled to announce that the movie rights to DARK PLACES have been sold, with French director Gilles Paquet-Brenner to adapt and direct. Gilles’ most recent film is a beautiful (and harrowing and suspenseful and elegant) adaptation of Tatiana de Rosnay’s internationally bestselling novelSarah’s Key, to be released in the United States in 2011. More news soon!
-Gillian Flynn

Resembles:
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn- If you liked S.O, you will like Dark Places. Psychological thriller + family issues = fun reading times. Well, not "fun" like jump up and down on a moonwalk but you know what I mean.
Criminal Minds (T.V show) - also deals with the workings of the inner mind
Dexter (T.V show) - ditto

I thought this book was awesome! I thought I had figured out the killer by the end of the book, but I was totally surprised by the end. I love the author's style of writing. Great book!