Book Review: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Title: Gone Girl
Author(s): Gillian Flynn
Genre(s): Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Publisher/Date: Weidenfeld & Nicolson / May 24, 2012 
Series: Stand Alone

“Because you can't be as in love as we were and not have it invade your bone marrow. Our kind of love can go into remission, but it's always waiting to return. Like the world's sweetest cancer.” -Amy Dunne

Case Study

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne's fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick's clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn't doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife's head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media--as well as Amy's fiercely doting parents--the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he's definitely bitter--but is he really a killer? 

As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn't do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet? (synopsis from Goodreads)

The Game's Afoot

Woah. Gone Girl is fucked up. Like, reeeeeally fucked up. But in the best kind of way. It's a story about marriage gone wrong. Very wrong.

Only in this story, it's not a love fern that dies.

On the surface, Nick and Amy seem like the perfect couple. She's a cool girl, the ideal sort of wife. He, the doting and dutiful husband. But on their 5th wedding anniversary, Amy goes missing and Nick quickly becomes a suspect, THE suspect, in her disappearance. As the story unravels through Amy's diary entries and Nick's narrative, so do their lies. It turns out that Amy and Nick aren't who we think they are. And this is where things start to go a little crazy.

Yes. Yes I am.

Let me tell you something about Nick and Amy Dunne. SPOILER ALERT: They are HORRIBLE people. I don't think there's a single redeeming quality about either one of them. Nick is a philandering, misogynistic douchenugget and Amy is a narcissistic, needy sociopath. They are AWFUL. Truly AWFUL. Their relationship is AWFUL and if I had the choice to spend my time Amy and Nick or spend the rest of my days in the pit of despair, I'd choose the pit every time. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

I'd much rather hang out with this guy.

There is seriously so much hate between them and the ridiculous lengths at which they go to torment one another is appalling. Each of them is vindictive and conniving and cruel in their own special sort of way. And this is exactly why they were made for eachother. 

But what's really surprising is that as unlikeable as the characters were, the writing was well-executed and the plot complex enough to keep me guessing, even when the majour twist was otherwise predictable. Flynn had me from the very first page. This is one of those stories where everything you're told and everyone you meet is unpredictable, unreliable. You'll spend the entire time forming theory after theory and it's misleading and frustrating and fucking brilliant. I always felt like I needed to know more, to delve further into the darkness of Nick and Amy's twisted relationship. I needed to be a part of their madness. It's sick. The whole story is sick, the characters are sick and I am sick because I loved every sick minute of it.

Oh god, and don't get me started on the ending. I can't even think about that ending without wanting to hide in a dark corner and pray for sunshine and unicorns and rainbows.

It was that sadistic. And powerful, so powerful. And perfect. Even if it was a total mind-fuck. And anyone who can evoke that sort of reaction out of me definitely earns some mad respect in my book. So well done, Flynn. Very well done.

Summary Prognosis

Gone Girl has to be the most twisted love story ever written. While full of loathsome characters, deception and misdirection, this dark tale will horrify you and satisfy you in all the right ways. Though I didn't find the big reveal to be all that surprising, the ending did catch me off guard. It's quite telling and will evoke a visceral reaction out of the reader, even if it's not a happy one. Gone Girl is the first book in a long time to take me by surprise in the way that it did and I loved every torturous second of it.

Rating: ★★★★★

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Audiobook Mini Reviews: Death Angel by Linda Fairstein & The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor

Title: Death Angel
Author(s): Linda Fairstein
Genre(s): Crime, Thriller
Publisher/Date: Dutton Adult / July 30, 2013
Series: Alexandra Cooper (Book #15)

When the body of a young woman is discovered in Central Park, the clock begins ticking for Assistant DA Alex Cooper and Detectives Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace to find the killer who has breached this haven in the middle of New York City. Is the body found in the lake, under the unseeing gaze of the Bethesda angel, the first victim of a deranged psychopath, or is the case connected to other missing girls and women in years past whose remains have never been found? Just as the trio gets their first lead, the investigation is almost derailed when Mike and Alex become embroiled in a scandal. As Alex attempts to fight the accusations leveled against her and Mike, she follows clues that range from the park’s most buried — literally — secrets all the way to the majestic Dakota, which has experienced its own share of tragedies. When another young woman is attacked in the park, a new question arises: is this enormous urban park a sanctuary—as it seems to the thousands of New Yorkers and tourists who fill it every day—or is it a hunting ground for a killer with a twisted mind? (synopsis from Goodreads)

Summary Prognosis

My dad and I have been listening to this audio series for years and we love it. It's like Law & Order: SVU meets CSI. Her books combine crime, drama, mystery and intrigue and SMARTLY written characters all in one deliciously intense game of cat and mouse. Oh yeah. I'm a sucker for that stuff. Plus, I adore narrator, Barbara Rosenblat. She's consistent with her voices, each one distinctive and wholly appropriate and I love listening to her.

To date, Death Angel is my favourite book in this series. The grizzly murders and cold-case kidnappings, all set in the backdrop of New York City's Central Park, was the perfect combination. And while it might seem like there's a lot going on---rape, the murders and a kidnapping---it's never too much. Fairstein knows exactly when to bring on the intensity, making the cases bizarre but still believable. She's got a killer eye for detail and protocol, which is simply fascinating.

As a dedicated fan, I love watching the relationships between the characters grow, but as a new reader, I have no doubt they'll reel you in. Plus, I've been waiting a long time for this Mike and Alex thing to come to fruition (which it finally does!), so there's definitely a swoon factor too. Death Angel is fast-paced, action driven and full of twists and turns. Every time I thought I knew who the killer was, she'd throw me off kilter, so predictability was never a problem. And here's the bonus: while there are a few references to events in prior books, you don't need to read them in order to follow. 

Rating: ★★★★★  

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Title: The Looking Glass Wars
Author(s): Frank Beddor
Genre(s): Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher/Date: Dial Books / September 26, 2006
Series: The Looking Glass Wars (Book #1)

Alyss of Wonderland? When Alyss Heart, heir to the Wonderland throne, must flee through the Pool of Tears to escape the murderous aunt Redd, she finds herself lost and alone in Victorian London. Befriended by an aspiring author named Lewis Carrol, Alyss tells the violent, heartbreaking story of her young life. Alyss trusts this author to tell the truth so that someone, somewhere will find her and bring her home. But he gets the story all wrong. He even spells her name incorrectly! Fortunately, Royal Bodyguard Hatter Madigan knows all too well the awful truth of Alyss' story and he is searching every corner of our world to find the lost princess and return her to Wonderland so she may eventually battle Redd for her rightful place as the Queen of Hearts. (synopsis from Goodreads)

Summary Prognosis

I'm always down for updated takes on classic fairy tales, especially when they involve serious action and violence. The Looking Glass Wars is chalk full of potential, fusing the Alice in Wonderland we know with the historical Alice Liddell. Beddar takes the Wonderlandian characters with which we're familiar and tells their real story, because, apparently, Carroll got it all wrong. But so did Beddar.

While I think the bare bones of the story were really clever, overall, the story was a bit childish for my liking. I sort of expected the silliness, because c'mon, it's Wonderland, but not to that degree. The book is highly imaginative so Beddar could've afforded to go a bit more futuristic with his tale. A steam-punk take on Alice would've been really appropriate here. 

The Looking Glass Wars is a tad too long, cheesy and somewhat predictable but it's undoubtedly fun. The violence and lessons learned here is reminiscent of Harry Potter, only lacking that special something. Beddar does a lot of telling and not enough showing. It's not that this was a bad book, per say, it just wasn't my cup of tea and I'd recommend it to a much younger crowd. 

Rating: ★★½  

Read It:  Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible
Discuss It: Goodreads |  Author's Website

Movie Review: Now You See Me by Louis Leterrier

Title: Now You See Me
Director(s): Louis Leterrier
Genre(s): Crime, Mystery
Release Date (USA): May 31, 2013
Rating: PG-13

"Let me warn you. I want you to follow, because no matter what you think you might know, we will always be one step, three steps- seven steps ahead of you, and just when you think you're catching up, that's when we'll be right behind you. And at no time will you be anywhere other than exactly where I want you to be. So come close, get all over me because the closer you think you are, the less you'll actually see.“ -J. Daniel Atlas

Now You See Me pits an elite group of world renown magicians, The Four Horsemen, against a disgruntled FBI agent in an intense game of cat and mouse. With a serious vendetta against the illusionists, Dylan Rhodes (Mark Ruffalo) teams up with Interpol agent, Alma Dray (Mélanie Laurent) to catch The Horsemen off their guard. The illusionists have been given an impossible mission---to pull off a series of daring heists, stealing from a bevy of corrupt business leaders. And they do, in front of an audience during their show. And like modern-day Robin Hoods, they generously shower the stolen profits upon the unsuspecting crowd, all while staying one step ahead of the law.

I love movies that use real-life magic as a premise, movies like The Illusionist and The Prestige, so when I first saw the trailer for Now You See Me, I was really excited. Now You See Me had quickly become one of my most anticipated movies of the year. And much to my disappointment, it has also become one of the biggest letdowns of the year.

Fuck you, disappointment!

This movie has an all-star cast (Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Jesse Eisenberg, Morgan Freeman, Michael Cain & Dave Franco), intriguing premise and SO much potential. So where did it go wrong? Poor character development, a shoddy script and too much time focusing on befuddling the viewer, for starters. It very much reminded me of The Gangster Squad with it's lack of intellectual integrity and try-too-hard attitude. 

They turn Agent Rhodes (Ruffalo) into a total buffoon which makes the whole cat and mouse thing a bust. If you're going to use that angle, the opposing forces need to be equally matched, drawing out the suspense. Such was not the case here. And then you expect to see this group of talented actors shine, instead, it's like attempting to pull too many rabbits out of the hat. It's just a bunch of terrific actors who are totally restricted and undervalued. The draw of the film, The Horsemen, are given less screen time than expected and they're really the ones you want to see. Give me more Woody Harrelson!

Now You See Me promises many things to the viewer but it never delivers upon those promises. It's not cerebrally challenging the way a magic movie should be. The twists and reversals weren't surprising and were completely unbelievable. You didn't see them coming, not because of skillful misdirection as was often implied, but rather because the explanations were crooked and expedient. Especially, near the end as we backtrack through the movie's big events, the reveals are less-than-convincing than if you were to simply believe in real magic. I'll take fantasy over the contrived solutions in this movie.

Now You See Me, like most magic, is all smoke and mirrors with no real substance hiding behind the curtain. Basically, it's just one big pile of bullshit.

Summary Prognosis

Now You See Me is a mix of Robin Hood meets The Prestige---only not quite so good. Sure, it's got all the misdirection that a magic movie should have, but much like bad magic, there's no integrity. Flashy, full of bells and whistles and big personalities, this movie has so much potential. Unfortunately, it completely fails in the execution, rendering it one of my biggest disappointments this year. If you want magic then you should watch The Prestige instead.

Rating: ★★


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Movie Review: Gangster Squad by Ruben Fleischer

Title: Gangster Squad
Director(s): Ruben Fleischer
Genre(s): Action, Crime, Drama
Rating: R
Release Date (USA): January 11, 2013

"Every man carries a badge. Some symbol of his allegiance. His were the scars of a boxer who'd used his fists to climb the social ladder of the mob. A Jew who'd gained the respect of wops through a homicidal lust. He'd sworn an oath of violence. And his master? His own insatiable will to power. He wanted to own this town. His name was Mickey Cohen."-Sgt. John O'Mara

It's Los Angeles in the 40's. There's booze a plenty and cash to be had, so long as you don't double-cross the wrong man --- and Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) is that man. He happens to be the most powerful mobster in LA and his uncontrollable thirst for power and total disregard for the law threatens the sanctity of the entire West Coast. In an effort to take back the city, Police Chief Parker (Nick Nolte), tasks Sergeant John O'Mara (Josh Brolin), with cleaning up LA. Thus is born "The Gangster Squad," a covert group of undercover officers who will stop at nothing to bring Cohen down. This roving band of misfits slowly facilitate their take down of Cohen's empire in the most unorthodox of ways, one operation at a time. But when Wooters (Ryan Gosling) falls for Cohen's girl (Emma Stone), the whole operation is suddenly at stake. The group must now prepare for a war that has the potential to destroy the entire city and them.

Gangster Squad was one of those movies that didn't generate a lot of buzz on the movie circuit but had me all hyped up anyway. With a cool premise and all-star studded cast, coupled with the fact that it's supposed to be inspired by true events (a story I'm vaguely familiar with), I figured I was in it for the win. God, I hate it when I'm wrong! Movies that are "inspired by true events" should always be followed by a disclaimer that it will play fast and loose with both the historical accuracy and details of the actual story. In all fairness, I really should've should known better.

Basically, Gangster Squad is one of those movies that talks the talk but it doesn't walk the walkIt's superficial in that it looks the part but in no way can it run with the big boys. It's all bark and no bite, see. I think you get the point. It actually reminded me a lot of my recent Great Gatsby experience in that the focus seems to be more on the outer surface than the inner core. There's no arguing that it's a beauty to look at --- it's slick and stylised with a neo-noir sort of feel---but the violence is cartoonish, the dialogue hollow and the characters are all parodies of what mobsters and cops should be.

And I think that's the thing that surprised me most. We have this amazingly talented cast, yet no one really manages to break out of their stock gangster stereotype. It felt like they were all fighting eachother for the spotlight and the result was that not one of them managed to shine. I guess you really can't do much with a bland character thanks, in part, to poor development and writing. I'd also like to note that the Sean Penn - Emma Stone coupling really creeped me out here. Just... gross. And while we're on the subject of Sean Penn (and his character)--- he's too much. There's too much drama, too much make-up, too much tie. I mean, seriously. Those giant lapels look gluttonous like they are practically vomiting up that awful tie.

 

Sorry, I was distracted by the tie and the 4 lbs of make-up he's wearing. I digress. Sean Penn was way over-the-top with his characterisation of Cohen and hecame off comical, not dangerous. Essentially, he was the embodiment of every stereotypical villainous trait you could think of. Controlling over his woman. Oh yeah. Former boxing champ. Yep. Maniacal laughter. Yep. Cheesy bad-guy quips. Yep. Inefficient henchmen. You betcha. It was near impossible to take him seriously! Even Gosling, who is apparently super choosy about his roles, was less than impressive. Well, as less than impressive as a specimen such as himself can possibly be.

  
Really, you should just watch this GIF followed by the Gangster Squad trailer followed by some more of this GIF and it'll be better than the movie as a whole. This is one of those films you've seen before, only everyone else did it better. Don't let your expectations get the best of you like they did with me. While it's all wrapped up in shiny and pretty packaging, it's totally lacking where it counts the most. Very few movies can pull off being so high on action and artfully shot (i.e. - Drive). Gangster Squad is shooting blanks.

Summary Prognosis

Gangster Squad is a movie loaded with promise and potential but, unfortunately, it fails in the execution. While it's an aesthetically pleasing film to watch, it's predictible. The dialogue borders on cheesy, the characters read as inauthentic and hollow and the villainy is too over-the-top. It's a real shame, given the talent, that no one manages to break the mold. This movie, overall, is unsubstantial and wholly unsatisfying and that makes me sad.


Rating: ★★½


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Movie Review: A Good Day To Die Hard by John Moore

Title: A Good Day To Die Hard
Director(s): John Moore
Genre(s): Action, Crime, Thriller
Rating: R
Release Date (USA): February 14, 2013

"Ah, no! No, no, no! You're not gonna open up to me before we die! That's not your thing, John!" - John McClane Jr.

Just when you thought McClane had yippee-ki-yay'd his way out of police work, he manages to battle his way back from retirement, only this time his problems are a bit more international. After traveling to Moscow to help his wayward son, Jack (Jai Courtney), John winds up knee deep in a nuclear weapons heist. It's up to the two McClanes to put aside their differences and prevent a global outbreak of war. Add in Russian politicos, the underground crime scene and a dash of Chernobyl and you've got yourself quite the awesomely bad vacation.

A Good Day To Die Hard is one of those awesomely bad action movies that's a mix of old school heroics and modern day technologies. But before I get into my review let me start by saying, this movie is really made for die hard fans of the Die Hard series. While it might be passable for something produced in the late 80's/early 90's, it would never fly past today's high standards. You really need to go into the movie with low/no expectations in order to come out satisfied because, in a word, it's ridiculous. I feel like each Die Hard movie is a little more over-the-top than its predecessor and now that we're on the 5th one, you can only imagine what that might entail. Exploding helicopters, massive car/tank chases through the busy streets of Moscow and expertly orchestrated prison breaks. You know, just a normal days work for the McClane family.

Bruce Willis delivers all the iconic McClane lines and executes them with his trademarked squint and snarky attitude. And for a man of 57, you have to appreciate how he can still kick some serious ass. He embodies everything we come to expect from John McClane: the stubbornness, sarcasm and a take-charge now ask questions later method. What was lacking though was the father-son dynamic between him and Jack. Their relationship is anything but engaging and borders on frustratingly repetitive and hollow. I liked Jai Courtney well enough for an action guy but I just wasn't buying him as McClane Jr. Their relationship fluctuates between stony and warm fuzzies with little progression in between.

As far as the cinematography goes, Moore had a more artistic vision in this film with slow-mo sequencing and well-framed shots, but I felt like for this type of movie, it didn't really work. Often it felt out of place, unnecessary and, at times, comical. I'm sorry but I'm there f or the action, not the art direction. What really worked in this movie, though, was the location. The change in scenery felt fresh and interesting. Sure, some of the old Russian communism "us versus them" mentality remains, but it works for all intensive purposes. I felt like they were able to get away with a lot of the outrageous action specifically because of the setting. It was in, no way, believable but I don't think it should be. All in all, A Good Day To Die Hard isn't the best action movie I've seen, but it's not the worst either. It hits all the marks of the traditional Die Hard film with all the cheesetastic, explosive, wry action that you could want. If you're looking for awesomely bad, then you've found it. Let's just hope that the franchise follows fast in McClane's footsteps and considers a long, hard retirement.

Summary Prognosis

While nowhere as perfect as the original, A Good Day To Die Hard contains all the elements essential to make it a decent addition to the high-octane Die Hard saga. It's got a ridiculous plot, over-the-top action sequences, cheesy one-liners and a whole lot of yippee-ki-yaying which are essential to keep the 80's actiony feel. And while I did get a kick out of the movie, I can only hope that this was the end of an era and they let John McClane's adventures stop here. Because this series needs a good way to die hard and this movie is it.


Rating: ★★½ 


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