Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn – review

‘You’re in for a journey like no other – icy, eye-opening and unforgettable’

Gillian Flynn is known to many as the “Gone Girl author”. This is hardly surprising, considering the immense global success of both the novel and the movie, which was released in 2014 and swept that year’s awards ceremonies clean. With the exception of Gillian Flynn’s die–hard fans, and murder mystery fanatics, the author’s debut novel – Sharp Objects – seems to have faded into insignificance in comparison to Gone Girl, which is still widely talked about and praised, even after being on the shelves for over three years. As a besotted Gillian Flynn reader, who devoured Sharp Objects multiple times before Gone Girl, this is something that upsets me greatly, because in my opinion, Sharp Objects is hands down the best Gillian Flynn novel to date.

The novel tells the chilling tale of Camille Preaker, a Chicago based journalist originally hailing from Missouri, a self–harmer from a family with a troubled mother, a dead sister and a living stepsister whom she can’t stand. She is coerced by her boss to reluctantly return to her hometown – Wind Gap, Missouri – to cover the brutal murder of a local girl. What starts off as an isolated incident escalates into a series of murders, all occurring during Camille’s trip back home. As she joins the hunt for the killer and the case begins to unravel, Camille begins to discover the source of the evil may be a lot closer to home sweet home than she realises.

There’s something unique in the way the novel has been engineered, which sets both the book and Flynn apart from her contemporaries. Portions of this novel are plain agonising to read through; when the level of suspense reached its peak, I had to physically restrain my own fingers from betraying me and flipping to the last few pages so I’d finally be free from the misery of the constant guess–the–killer game I had going on in my head. I pride myself on having an instinct for guessing the right killer in each mystery novel I read – a side effect of overdosing on thrillers for longer than I can remember. This was the novel that cracked my perfect track record and for this reason, I commend Gillian Flynn. The slow reveals coupled with Gillian Flynn’s classic plot twists and stray characters tossed in here and there to throw the reader off all work in harmony and make this novel one that embodies everything a good thriller should be.

Although I would love to enthusiastically recommend this novel to every single person I meet, I unfortunately can’t do this – for quite a few reasons. The most obvious of these reasons is there are certain people who just won’t be able to digest the kind of darkness and gore that the author adds in generous helpings to her work. Many murder mystery and thriller novels have perfectly normal, well functioning people who are thrust into not–so–normal situations as a result of a psychopathic antagonist or a villain along those lines. Here, the protagonist herself is enough of a mess before this even messier, more frightening series of events begins to occur.

There are vivid descriptions of self-harm, substance overdose and animal abuse. Death and terror are elements of the novel discussed in a nonchalant, matter of fact tone. The relationships between people are satirical, almost as if happy, well–settled people were being made fun of. For these reasons, readers who want happy endings and a story that ends in hope and the promise of a better future for the protagonists, this isn’t one for you. However, if you do decide to take the plunge, you’re in for a journey like no other – icy, eye-opening and unforgettable.

• Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop.
  

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