Gone Girl Author Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects: Yes, Please!!

Sharp Objects, the Novel

As the New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn is no stranger to the book-to-screen world. Now her first novel, Sharp Objects, is taking HBO by storm, and the rapid surge in popularity of Southern Gothic is a testament to Flynn's talent. Sharp Objects was the winner of the Crime Writers Association's New Blood Fiction Dagger and Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Awards, as well as a Duncan Lawrie Dagger nominee and an Edgar Award finalist.

Words are like a road map to reporter Camille Preaker's troubled past. Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, her first assignment from the daily paper where she works brings her reluctantly back to her hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls.

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. Back in her family's Victorian mansion, Camille is haunted by the childhood tragedy she has spent her whole life trying to forget.

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 has to confront what happened to her to survive her homecoming. With its taut, crafted writing, Sharp Objects is addictive, haunting, and unforgettable.

Sharp Objects, the HBO Blockbuster

If darkly twisted dramas that yank you in and keep you vacillating between fascination, dread, and "Whoa, what the...?!" are your thing, order your copy of Sharp Objects from us and get it on your watchlist TODAY. Do not wait, do not pass Go, and do not collect $200, because you won't need it to shop on ThriftBooks. Southern Gothic is in a category of its own, so even if psychological thrillers aren't your usual go-to, if you like unpredictability, the shock factor alone makes it worthy of taking a look.

The complex plot layers and disturbing intricacies of the characters make it impossible to do the story justice in a single blog, but #HBO says, "Based on the book of the same name by The New York Times bestselling author Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl, Dark Places), this eight-episode series tells the story of reporter Camille Preaker, who returns to her small hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. Trying to put together a psychological puzzle from her past, she finds herself identifying with the young victims a bit too closely." Set in Wind Gap, Missouri — the once-grand, now-struggling town she thought she had escaped—Camille is sent by her editor to investigate the disappearance of a preteen schoolmate of her half-sister Amma.

One of the more intriguing and sometimes disturbing elements of the series is its visual use of words throughout the episodes — some scratched into Camille's skin, some subtle, others hidden or in plain sight, and all intentional. Keep an eye out for them and see how many you can spot, then post them on Facebook or Twitter and tag us!

Gillian Flynn

Gillian Flynn is an author and woman of many talents who's seemingly lived a few lifetimes in one. Born in Missouri, she graduated from the University of Kansas with degrees in English and journalism, then got her Master's in journalism from Northwestern University in Chicago. Writing is obviously her forte, but as a kid, Flynn was an avid comic book and graphic novel reader, and even collaborated with illustrator David Gibbons (Rogue Trooper, Green Lantern) on a comic book story called Masks in 2015. She also worked as a television critic for Entertainment Weekly and a tuxedo-wearing yogurt cone in her teen years, but it's her gift for writing female villains that really sets her apart. "I've grown quite weary of the spunky heroines and soul-searching fashionistas that stock so many books. I particularly mourn the lack of female villains—good, potent female villains."

In addition to her novels, Flynn's short story, The Grownup, was published as a standalone in 2015.

Read more by Beth Clark