Gone Girl

How it reads

Gone Girl is thriller (psychological thriller, specifically), and its dominant mood is tense. The suspense is the kind you feel in your shoulders. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.

It's set in a small town setting, in the present day, told across two timelines. Its central concerns are secrets, identity and love. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending is left open, for you to argue about. At 415 pages it's an ordinary novel's length. It's a mega-bestseller — the book everyone seems to have read.