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3.5 stars: Gone Girl is better than Sharp Objects but lacks the noir feel of Dark Places.

Nick and Amy are the couple everyone wants to be. She's the beloved only child of yuppy parents who make a fortune writing stories about a better version of her, a girl they dub Amazing Amy. Nick is a mid-Western boy with a twin sister he adores, a sweet mom, and a misogynistic dad. When they meet, sparks fly, except that they're each putting on a show, one that goes beyond the "I'm going to be on my best behavior for the first three months" act. On their fifth wedding anniversary, Amy goes missing; Nick looks like the prime (only) suspect. Did he do it? And if not, why does it look like he did? And why is he lying to the police?

Told in alternating points of view, the book dolls out not one but two unreliable narrators and takes us on a twisted, sexy ride, so creepy in fact as to be slightly farcical.

Flynn takes on more than just troubled marriage and the roles we play to get others to like (and love) us. Most of the story is set in the mid-West, where an entire town shuts down due to the retail bust. Gender roles are hung out to dry, as is the American public's never-ending lust for reality TV and sensationalism. Who doesn't love crime TV, the hero and villain? We all want a happy ending. Nick and Amy are no different; they just pay a higher price to get it (or a very sick version of it).

Ultimately, this is more than a mystery; it's a dark, weird thriller that left me vaguely unsatisfied. Maybe the issue I have is that neither Nick nor Amy is likable or redeemable, and the characters who have potential to feel real (Detective Rhonda, Nick's sister Margo) are only lightly sketched out. Maybe it's the hint of surreal that kept me reading but also shaking my head in disbelief, and disgust. I read it in one weekend, however, and that's worth the extra half star.