Dark Places/Cat's Cradle (REVIEWS) in Back entries: 2013 - 2015

In Dark Places by Gillian Flynn (Pages: 424, including Acknowledgments), Libby Day has been spending several years drifting since giving damning evidence against her older brother in court as a child. When she is contacted by a group who believe her brother is innocent of the murders of their sisters and mother, she finds herself doubting everything she believed.

This was a so-so read. Not as involving as the first two thirds or so of Gone Girl, if I’m honest. I’m a bit torn around the ending - some of it didn’t sit right with me. Just a little too “seriously? That’s how [character] dealt with it?” sort of reaction.

Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut (Pages: 206), on the other hand, was brilliant. The premise is this: Jonah is writing a book on Dr. Felix Hoenikker, and the day when one of the atomic bombs hit Japan. He finds out that Hoenikker has left a rather worrying legacy to mankind - ice-nine. A chemical that can freeze the entire planet. Jonah sets off to find out where the ice-nine is, and winds up on a Caribbean island....

I picked this up as part of a “three for the price of two” deal one of the bookstore chains here are doing. I wasn’t sure, when I started reading, if I was going to like this book. I really enjoyed it. The beginning is a little slow, but when the story gets going I found that I couldn’t put it down. A book worth a re-read, and worth every penny I paid for it.

Last updated January 01, 2015