Flynn sharpens the suspense in Sharp Objects

“It's impossible to compete with the dead. I wished I could stop trying” (Flynn 64). Most people know Gillian Flynn because of her New York Times Bestseller, Gone Girl, but her debut novel, Sharp Objects is just as good but obscure. The twisted novel shows what can happen when people are jealous of the dead.

Sharp objects follows Camille Preaker, a reporter for a small newspaper in Chicago. She is asked by her boss to travel back to her hometown; Wind Gap, Missouri to report on a series of missing, and most likely murdered, children. While there her mother, Adora, constantly berates Camille, making her remember why she left. As she comes closer and closer to finding the killer more evidence presents itself and Camille realizes she might be closer than she thinks.

Flynn was born in Kansas City, Missouri. There she constantly dove into books; even at a young age she was reading books like A Wrinkle in TIme. Flynn’s mom was an English professor and her dad was a Film professor, this in turn gave Flynn her interest in both topics. She spent some time in Chicago trying to be a crime reporter before she realized she was more cut out to write for Entertainment Weekly in New York City. All of these experiences led to her writing her first novel: Sharp Objects.

This book is absolutely amazing; it draws the reader in with the perfect amount of mixed with suspense. You won’t be able to put the book down because across every page is a new mystery that gets more complex with every page flip. Along with this, Flynn has a way of making you question but enjoy every character until the very end. On the other hand, this is not a light read; you will get lost if you are not paying attention to the little details hidden in every chapter. And if you aren’t one for a little gore or suspense then this novel probably isn’t for you.

Personally this book is worth the purchase, but if you want more than just my recommendation this book has a lot of recognition since its release. Like Gone Girl, Sharp Objects is a New York Times Bestseller; spending over 70 weeks on the list, it has been praised by many well known authors including Stephen King, and HBO recently made a TV show called Sharp Object, based off the book.