“There’s something disturbing about recalling a warm memory and feeling utterly cold.”
If you love dark, twisty thrillers featuring unforgettable characters and shocking plot twists, Gillian Flynn may just be your next favourite author. Best known for the iconic thriller Gone Girl, Flynn has a small but powerful collection of novels that have helped redefine the psychological mystery genre. Whether you’re a first-time reader wondering what order to read Gillian Flynn’s books in, or a longtime fan, this guide has you covered. Here at What We Reading, we’re taking a look at the best Gillian Flynn books in order. From twisted marriages to deeply flawed characters and unreliable narrators, each tale delivers the gripping suspense that Flynn has become so renowned for. So, if you’re looking for a Gillian Flynn book list, or just on the hunt for your next dark read, scroll away – we’ve got every Gillian Flynn novel so you know exactly where to begin searching.
Gone Girl (2012)
Where else could we begin in a list of the best Gillian Flynn books than with the tale that put her on the map, Gone Girl? Who are you? What have we done to each other? These are the questions Nick Dunne finds himself asking on the morning of his fifth wedding anniversary when he discovers that his beloved wife, Amy, has suddenly vanished.
The police suspect Nick. Amy’s closest friends reveal that she was afraid of him, that she was keeping terrible secrets from him. He swears that it isn’t true. A police examination of his computer shows a number of strange searches. He claims that they weren’t made by him. And then there are the persistent calls on his mobile phone. The question the police and the local community keep returning to remains: What did happen to Nick’s beautiful wife? On the back of its heavily lauded adaptation starring Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck, Gone Girl has become one of the most iconic and influential domestic thrillers in literature, redefining how stories about secrets behind closed doors are told across the genre.
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Sharp Objects (2006)
Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: returning to her hometown to cover the unresolved murder of a preteen and the disappearance of another. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her hypochondriac mother, or the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the whole town.
Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family’s Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the victims of this disturbing case – perhaps a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle that is her own past if she ever wants to get the story and survive this unpleasant homecoming. With sharp prose and a deadly atmospheric setting, Sharp Objects is a chilling portrait of mental illness, family toxicity, and the scars that never fully heal.
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Dark Places (2009)
Libby Day was only seven years old when her evidence put her fifteen-year-old brother behind bars. Since then, she has been drifting. But, when she is contacted by a group who are adamant about Ben’s innocence, Libby begins asking questions she has never dared to before.
Was the voice she heard her brother’s? Ben was undoubtedly a misfit in their small town, but was he really capable of murder? Are there secrets to uncover at the family farm, or is Libby deluding herself because she wants her brother back? She starts to realise that every member of her family has something to hide from that day, especially Ben. Now, twenty-four years on, the truth is about to be brought to light. Another one of the most pulsating Gillian Flynn books for anyone who loves chilling small towns and shocking family secrets, Dark Places is a tale brimming with tension and suspense.
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The Grownup (2014)
A canny young woman is struggling to survive by perpetrating various levels of (mostly) harmless fraud. On a rainy April morning, she is reading auras at Spiritual Palms when Susan Burke walks in. A keen observer of human behaviour, our unnamed narrator immediately diagnoses beautiful, rich Susan as an unhappy woman eager to give her lovely life an injection of drama.
However, when the “psychic” visits the eerie Victorian home that has been the source of Susan’s grief and terror, she discovers that she may not have to pretend to believe in ghosts anymore. Miles, Susan’s teenage stepson, doesn’t help matters with his disturbing manner and grisly imagination. The three of them soon find themselves in a chilling battle to discover where the evil truly lurks and what, if anything, can be done to escape it. Whilst she may be more known for her psychological thriller novels, The Grownup is a chilling short horror story that shows Gillian Flynn is an exceptional storyteller, no matter the length.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
