Dark Places (novel)

This article is about the 2009 novel. For the 1973 horror film, see Dark Places.

Dark Places
Front cover of US first edition
Author(s)	Gillian Flynn
Cover artist	Lynne Amft
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Mystery
Publisher	Shaye Areheart Books
Publication date	05 May 2009 (1st edition)
Media type	Print (hardcover)
Pages	349 (hardcover edition)
ISBN	978-0-307-34156-3
OCLC Number	249137284

Dark Places is a mystery novel by Gillian Flynn published in 2009. The novel deals with class issues in rural America, intense poverty and the Satanic cult hysteria that swept the United States in the 1980s. Dark Places was shortlisted for the Crime Writers' Association Ian Fleming Steel Dagger Award and won the Dark Scribe Magazine Black Quill Award for Dark Genre Novel of the Year. It was also listed on the New York Times Best Seller List for hardcover fiction for two consecutive weeks.

Plot

Libby Day, the novel's narrator and protagonist, is the sole survivor of a massacre in Kinnakee, Kansas, a fictional rural town. After witnessing the murder of her sister and mothers in what appears to be a Satanic cult ritual, she escapes through a window and later testifies in court against her teenaged brother.

Twenty-five years after the massacre, Libby meets with a group of amateur investigators who believe that her brother in innocent of the crime. With the group's support, she begins an investigation of the events of the massacre, tracking down other witnesses and possible suspects.

Interspersed with the modern day investigation are flashbacks to the day of the massacre. These flashbacks are told from the points of view of Libby's mother, Patty, and her brother, respectively. These viewpoints paint a picture of a grim life of desperate poverty, marital abuse and abandonment that characterize life on the farm prior to the murder.

Reception

Dark Places was listed on the New York Times Best Seller List for hardcover fiction on May 29, 2009, where it was ranked #15 for the week ending May 23. It was included in an expanded listing of the top 35 best sellers that appeared only online. (Only the top ten best sellers are included in the print edition.)^[1] It remained on the best seller list for two weeks; the June 5 listing of Hardcover Best Sellers ranked Dark Places #25 for the week ending May 30.^[2]

Indie Bound, an independent booksellers section of the American Booksellers Association, included Dark Places in their May 2009 "Indie Next List" of recommendations by independent sellers.^[3][4]

Awards and nominations

The novel was nominated for Dark Scribe Magazine's Black Quill Award in the category of Dark Genre Novel of the Year on November 29, 2009.^[5] The award, which recognizes a "novel-length work of horror, suspense, or thriller from [a] mainstream publisher,"^[6] was awarded to Gillian Flynn on February 7, 2010.^[7] Dark Places was the Editor's Pick for the category,^[7] where it was one of six nominees.^[5]

References

1. ^ "Best Sellers - Hardcover Fiction - List". The New York Times. May 29, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/books/bestseller/besthardfiction.html?_r=1. Retrieved 2011-02-23. 
2. ^ "Best Sellers - Hardcover Fiction - List". The New York Times. June 5, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/books/bestseller/besthardfiction.html?_r=1. Retrieved 2011-02-23. 
3. ^ "May 2009 Indie Next List". Indie Bound. http://www.indiebound.org/indie-next-list?edition=200905. Retrieved 2011-02-23. 
4. ^ "Dark Places". Indie Bound. http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780307341563. Retrieved 2011-02-23. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Dark Scribe Magazine (November 29, 2009). "Nominations for the 3rd Annual Black Quill Awards". http://www.darkscribemagazine.com/3rd-annual-bqa-nominees/. Retrieved 2011-02-23. 
6. ^ Dark Scribe Magazine (October 20, 2010). "The 4th Annual Black Quill Awards". http://www.darkscribemagazine.com/announcements/2010/10/20/announcingthe-4th-annual-black-quill-awards.html. Retrieved 2011-02-23. 
7. ^ ^{a b} Dark Scribe Magazine (February 7, 2010). "Dark Genre Novel of the Year". http://www.darkscribemagazine.com/3rd-annual-winners/2010/2/7/dark-genre-novel-of-the-year.html. Retrieved 2011-02-23. 

External links

• Flynn, Gillian. Official Dark Places Website. Accessed 23 February 2011.