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Dark Places
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman, Cassandra Campbell, Mark Deakins, Robertson Dean
- Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Mystery
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A modern masterpiece, expertly performed!
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Meh!
- By Amazon Customer on 2020-02-09
Written by: Ruth Ware
Publisher's Summary
Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who've long forgotten her.
The Kill Club is a macabre secret society obsessed with notorious crimes. When they locate Libby and pump her for details, proof they hope may free Ben, Libby hatches a plan to profit off her tragic history. For a fee, she'll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club...and maybe she'll admit her testimony wasn't so solid after all.
As Libby's search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the narrative flashes back to January 2, 1985. The events of that day are relayed through the eyes of Libby's doomed family members, including Ben, a loner whose rage over his shiftless father and their failing farm have driven him into a disturbing friendship with the new girl in town.
Piece by piece, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started...on the run from a killer.
What the critics say
"Gillian Flynn is the real deal, a sharp, acerbic, and compelling storyteller with a knack for the macabre." (Stephen King)
"A gritty, riveting thriller with a one-of-a-kind, tart-tongued heroine." (Booklist)
“A riveting tale of true horror by a writer who has all the gifts to pull it off.” (Chicago Tribune)
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What listeners say about Dark Places
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Chantelle
- 2018-09-07
I had a hard time putting Dark Places down.
I bought this book because it sounded interesting and I needed something to listen to while I painted my house. I ended up getting hooked and needing to know what happened next. Needless to say I had to find other things to entertain me while painting because I finished the audiobook well in advanced.
2 people found this helpful
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- TL
- 2018-12-18
Very dark
This is the second book I’ve read of Gillian Flynn. First was sharp objects. Which I also thought was pretty dark. But dark places is far more dark. Found it difficult to get through the last hour or so of the book just because I was having trouble stomaching it. Just not my preference I guess. Book is well written. Performance was great. I just found it tough to finish it.
1 person found this helpful
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- Sherry walker
- 2018-09-20
It was pretty good
I liked this book, it kept me going. I really wanted to figure out what happened but when it got to the end it seemed far fetched. #Audible1
1 person found this helpful
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- Emmett Thiessen
- 2018-07-24
Another Great Read from Gillian Flynn
Just like the title of my review says, another fantastically dark tale from Gillian Flynn, albeit a lighter one as far as her stories go. The performances in this book I found to be superb, particularly for the two female narrators. I felt like they so perfectly encapsulated the characters they portrayed. Overall a riveting read from beginning to end, couldn’t recommend it enough.
3 people found this helpful
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- Hannah Geraldine Macdonald
- 2022-04-16
A little boring
I love Gillian Flynn’s other two books, but this one i overall found a little boring. I had to fast forward through the last 5 chapters and kind of wish i just stopped listening a quarter way through when i lost interest
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- Anonymous User
- 2022-02-16
Dark and Captivating
I ploughed through this story. If you like morbid mysteries and drama, this is for you.
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- Sarika Henry
- 2022-01-01
Great voice actors mostly good story
This was a good book. I enjoyed it…
The voice actors were really great. Thanks.
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- Ren
- 2021-12-18
Good
Ending was bit predictable and the voice for Libby was louder than the other two but very entertaining!
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- Chris&Krista
- 2021-11-24
Attention grabbing!!
Suspenseful book leaving you wanting to keep listening. Some of the narrators were very low, almost like a whisper but I got used to it.
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- Austin
- 2021-09-14
Gillian Flynn demolishes another
The characters, narration, plot, and Flynn's style are all amazing. I'm excited for her next. Random House's production for this novel was particularly engaging.
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- Gray
- 2012-12-09
Riveting but brutal
Dark Places is a fascinating story but not a fun read. The book takes pity on no one, least of all it's readers. This truly is the stuff of nightmares, one sadistic chapter bleeding over into the next. Although a work of fiction, Ms. Flynn's unflinching wordsmanship embues it with the realism of a true-crime whodunit. The saving grace, for me at least, was that I could repeat the mantra, "It's only make-believe" when the scenes became a little too intense for my sensitive nature.
Although I covet Ms. Flynn's talent, I wouldn't take it at any price if it meant having to live in her head (ditto Stephen King). Dark Places is not just an aptly-named novel, but probably an apt description of the author's warped imaginings. If I knew then what I know now, I would have stopped at "Gone Girl" and skipped this one entirely. And yet, as incongruous as it seems, I wholeheartedly recommend "Dark Places", just as I recommended "Gone Girl". The reason is simple: Despite the fact that they were dark and foreboding, that certain scenes will likely haunt me for a very long time, and that I can honestly say that I don't miss the characters (no, not a single one!), I am forced to admit that I thought they were riveting from start to finish. So, while I didn't like this book, I did love it.
And now, I'm going to run, not walk, to my bookshelf and find my copy of "Little Women" or "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" and try to subdue some of the ghosts from "Dark Places".
403 people found this helpful
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- Bond James Bond
- 2018-07-19
unrealistic ending
Although "Gone Girl's" ending was more preposterous, the ending of this one is pretty far-fetched. It's an ok story til the end. Narrators are fair. Overall an ok book but nothing better.
16 people found this helpful
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- Steve
- 2013-06-05
Very Dark but Flynn's weakest offering so far
I enjoyed listening to "Dark Places" very much but found the ending disappointing. Flynn seems to test the limits of "no way that could happen" a bit too much in this novel. Too many coincidences. Flynn also delves a little too deep into grotesque description at points while ignoring more elaborate description at other points. I found just about every character incredibly unlikeable (more below). Lastly, the narrator who narrated Libby Day was a spot on choice for the voice of Libby. She used this desperate, beaten down defeated tone that really matched the character. Beyond that, her range was very limited. Several of the characters had the same voice including Diane, Lyle and Ben. If a character spoke without an introduction like "Diane said" sometimes I thought it was Ben speaking. I think she could be a very good narrator if she broadened her range.
*******SPOILERS*******
The premise of two murders happening about 45 minutes apart for two completely separate reasons took too much suspension of disbelief. the novel builds and builds to a who "dunnit" conclusion and it seems like Flynn took the easy way out. Additionally, one of the most unlikeable characters was the mother. Sure, Runner and all were awful people but the mother was an absolute failure as a parent and mother and the "out" she takes in the end was ridiculous. Flynn should have given her a history of suicidal tendencies or some background to suddenly account for the "mom planned her death" as a conclusion. Also, the description of the assault on the cow as unnecessarily grotesque and prolonged. At the same time, when Lyle picks up Libby at the gas station near the end and wants to take her to the police, Libby "said some awful things." It's like Flynn got near the end of the book and figured, I have to wrap this up. Here was a chance for Libby to expose her flawed, judgmental attitude and Flynn took a pass.
Anyway, I did enjoy the book despite then bizarre ending. Harsh review but based upon Flynn's other work, I have to downgrade this one.
24 people found this helpful
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- DQmaine
- 2016-08-12
Dark indeed
Gillian Flynn writes books that hook the reader quickly, but always leave this reader feeling a little bit "less" after reading. It certainly was a dark story about broken people. At least a little tiny bit of hope lingers at the end.
35 people found this helpful
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- tigrrlily04
- 2016-03-11
Ok story, but a bit gruesome
I did not particularly enjoy this book. The narration was excellent, but the book was pretty gruesome, and I didn't really latch on the caring who killed the family. The whole book I just wanted it to end. I give it three stars for the narration and the authors ability to tie the story together with segments from many different perspectives.
21 people found this helpful
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- Garrett Fortin
- 2016-03-17
To many Coincidences!
What did you like best about Dark Places? What did you like least?
I enjoyed the characters and there dark pasts/secrets. I really did not like how coincidental everything was. This was more like 2 stories merging into one, which can be good or bad, and for me it was to predictable. What really made me go 'seriously..' was Patty Day learned that Ben may have kept the little girls underwear...right before Ben buys a bag of underwear, used...for his to be daughter. LIKE CMON! After that I was very disappointed, the ax was right where it needed to be...the stories made to much sense. The ending did not make my jaw drop.
What could Gillian Flynn have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
Less coincidences, less predictable.
Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?
Libby
Was Dark Places worth the listening time?
Ya - I wouldn't waste a credit on it though
9 people found this helpful
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Overall
- V. C. Loman
- 2015-11-08
Not Gillian's best work
I loved "Gone Girl" and "Sharp Objects" but "Dark Places" is just awful. Her other two books were disturbing, but not needlessly, this felt forced and unnecessary. Even at the end of the book, I didn't care about a single character so the plot wasn't riveting. I highly recommend her other books, but not this one.
9 people found this helpful
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- FanB14
- 2012-11-30
Gone Girl first?
If you loved Gone Girl, chances are you looked for her other titles, as did I. Don't expect the same layered mythology and larger than life characters. But, do look forward to an exciting thriller working backward from present day Libby, the lone survivor of a family massacre. Her brother's backstory is the most interesting. He is currently behind bars for the murders, and pleads innocence. Dark, engaging, and well read by the female narrators. I didn't care for the male narrator, but it didn't detract from the overall performance. Gillian Flynn is one of those rare authors who learns and improves with each novel. Gone Girl was amazing, and Dark Places a solid read. Can't wait to see what she churns out next.
192 people found this helpful
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- Ayah
- 2017-03-04
Jumbled up mess
One of the worst books I've listened to. It was clumsy, cluttered and crass. I thought it would never end and when it did I breathed a sigh of relief and said "Finally!"
7 people found this helpful
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- Amanda
- 2012-06-13
Tragic and Unforgettable
Having just finished the author’s newest work (Girl Gone) I decided to give one of her other novels a try. What I found was a heart wrenching story of a troubled family so nuanced, so real, I’m having a hard time letting go.
There are three main voices to the narrative; Libby, in the story’s present day of 2009, narrates her struggle to feel safe and stable in the world (both financially and emotionally) as she re-opens the questions surrounding the night her family was killed. In alternate chapters, her mother Patty and her brother Ben take us back to that horrible day in the winter of 1985 that started out badly, and ended so much worse. These flashbacks are time stamped; starting in the morning, and slowly, surely, working their way to that night, and to the truth that’s been hidden for so long.
This is a story of hurt, damaged people told with gritty nuance and no sympathy for the cringing reader. No punches are pulled as the author proceeds to create a stark, uncomfortable, and painful world that engulfs you completely. Listening to this story won’t be “entertaining”, but it will be memorable.
Be aware that this book contains a lot of explicit material of all sorts; language, violence, and sexual content.
The narrators are superb (although I wish a younger sounding narrator had been chosen to represent Ben) and Libby’s voice will continue to play in your head long after you’ve stopped listening.
It’s only June, but I may have found my top novel of the year.
126 people found this helpful