Mirkat Always Reading

Amy Elliott Dunne is somewhat famous, but not so much for anything she has accomplished for herself.  She is known as the inspiration for a series of children's books--"Amazing Amy"--co-authored by her parents, Rand and Marybeth Elliott.  The popularity of the series has waned as both "book" Amy and real-life Amy have grown up ("Amazing Amy" having married Able Andy before real-life Amy married Nick Dunne).  At the start of the novel, Amy and Nick have been living in North Carthage, MO--Nick's boyhood home--for two years.  Both had been laid off from their NYC-based writing jobs, and his sister Margo (known as "Go") could use help with their ailing, long-divorced parents (mother with stage-four cancer and father with Alzheimer's).  It is the day of Amy and Nick's five-year anniversary when Amy goes missing.

This book is no ordinary mystery.  Sometimes I would feel smug, thinking I knew what was going on, only to discover I was far off.  The twists helped keep me glued to this book (I kept switching between audio and text, often reviewing in one form right after the other).  Part II (of three) introduces a huge twist.  Funny thing is the twist was something I'd thought of but dismissed.  "Nah...  That couldn't be it!"

There is something so post-modern about the puzzles this book presents on appearances vs. reality; the question of whether anyone ever really presents an authentic self to the world.  Does everyone affect an identity to gain others' approval, envy, love, lust, etc.?

Only minor complaints:  I wanted at least a little bit more.  A few more chapters, a little more closure.  But I guess that's better than wishing the book shorter.  There was also an off-hand comment I thought would end up leading to a certain revelation that never happened.