Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

★★★★ 1/2

"I was not a lovable child, and I'd grown up to be a deeply unloveable adult.  Draw a picture of my soul, and it'd be a scribble of frogs."

I don't normally read crime/thriller novels, but after finishing this book, I may need to read a few more!! The book caught my interest from the very beginning and I couldn't put it done.  I read "Gone Girl" a couple a months ago and was excited that this title was on the list for a workshop that I am going to next weekend.

Libby Day was seven years old when her mother and two sisters were murdered. Libby was the only one to escaped and later testified that her 15-year-old brother Ben was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Libby is a troubled and lonely adult and her brother still sits in prison. The money that she was given when her family was killed is quickly running out and she is contacted by a "Kill Club" that is willing to give her money to talk to them about the murders and help prove that her brother is innocent. Left with few other options, Libby decides to meet with the club and agrees to revisit her past and the people that may have paid a part in the murders. The more she learns the more invested she becomes in not only the money, but finding out what happened the night her family was killed. As the true story begins to unravel she is suddenly finds herself in danger herself.

The novel alternates between Libby's story in the present and her mom's and Ben's the day the murders happened. I really liked that the book was set up this way...as Libby was putting the pieces together of what happened, the stories of those who were actually involved play out throughout the day of the murders. I couldn't wait to find out what happened and was really surprised by the ending. The pieces fit so perfectly together and it was an insightful and intriguing story of the affect that tragedy has on  it's victims.

This book was #7 on my top ten list of 2013.