Sharp Objects – Gillian Flynn

Broadway Books | Paperback | July 31, 2007

In honor of the HBO TV series...

Reluctantly Camille returns home to a mother that has the compassion of a warhead candy and a two-faced town. As one would expect all the progress Camille has made since her discharge comes to a halt. Traumatic memories (i.e. the death of her younger sister, sexual abuse, and much more) come flooding back and in turn, her inner demons rear their ugly heads. And in the midst of helping Kansas detective Richard Willis solve the case, Camille comes to a series of sickening discoveries about her family.

Flynn’s ability to generate tension is phenomenal. She puts the screws to her readers from the start and never eases up. It’s a textbook example of what a psychological thriller should be because even during the novel’s quieter moments the gritty descriptions and inner conflicts Camille works through evoking an inescapable sense of dread. But no matter how unbearable it gets you can’t stop reading. The sick and twisted parts of you need to find out what happens next.

The key to the thrill Flynn crafts is Camille’s complexity and unpredictability. At times she can be so brutally (and grotesquely) honest it makes you squirm in your seat, and then other times she is so coy that it makes you want to hurl the book across the room. Camille—like all the characters in Sharp Objects—are unapologetically flawed and within these flaws, we glimpse pieces of ourselves. The novel is populated with the kinds of people we have, do, and/or will cross paths at one point or another. So matter how bizarre or outlandish Flynn’s plot may get her characters keep the story and readers grounded. Their flaws, their complexity, and inconsistent nature not only ring true but also allow Flynn to craft a true page-turner.