“You think you know the answer, you’re going to find peace? Like knowing is somehow going to fix you? You think after what happened there’s any peace for you, sweetheart? How about this. Instead of asking yourself what happened, just accept that it happened.” 

This has to be HANDS DOWN the BEST book I've read recently.  As you all know I am an avid thriller/ suspense reader and this set the bar! 

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up this book because I had a love/hate relationship when I read Gone Girl. It's not that I didn't necessarily like Gone Girl, it was more that I had a hard time buying into the characters you could say.. But Dark Places however, complete opposite! 

Gillian did an amazing job of keeping me reading, I honestly could not put this book down. I finished it in about a day and a half, literally reading at work and at home. I had about four or five different ideas of how this book was going to end, and none of the endings I thought I had figured out was the correct one. So kudos to Flynn for keeping me as a reader on my toes. That is generally the hardest thing to do as a Mystery/ Suspense author.  

The story itself is what the title explains, it's somewhat of a forewarning of the twisted shit that happens within the pages.  So take that as your warning now, even this review will have some spoilers that are again, dark.. 

It takes place in Kinnakee, Kansas where the Day family lives on a small farm. It does bounce between three characters and the past and present, Patty Day, Ben Day, and Libby Day.  Let's elaborate these characters a little, (again some spoilers so if you're going to read the book, which you should, skip to the end and don't read this middle section). 

Patty Day is a single mother to four children- Ben, Michelle, Debby, and Libby.  Throughout the story you hear about her financial issues she faces, and the incredible stress she is under with the farm and four kids. Patty has a not-so-good, on and off again relationship with her ex-husband Runner Day. I really liked Patty because even though they didn't have much of anything she really did love and care about her kids. Patty early on had a few suspicions about her son, Ben's behavior and changing attitude and involvement in unfavorable activities and friend groups ( I can elaborate more but I don't want to give any good secrets away). As any mother she wants to protect him from the rumors being told, but she has a difficult time with the possible fact that these rumors about her son are true.. 

Ben Day is our main antagonist, he is an outcast in his small town and doesn't seem to fit in with anyone, until a certain gang of "kids" aka "Devil Worshipers", is his escape from that solidarity. It's quick to notice that Ben is the black sheep of the family, he is the only boy in a house full of young girls and its easy to catch on to his annoyance at that. Ben is disturbed,  disturbed and easily influenced due to his longing for acceptance..

Libby. Ah, Libby. She's the main protagonist who I kind of wanted to hate for her depressive attitude and vast laziness but I couldn't.  No matter where the story went and what new information was revealed I couldn't help but be on her side regardless of what she does and how she goes about it.  Libby's story goes from past and present trying to uncover what happened the night of her families murder. Through new acquaintances and need for cash she explores the fact that Ben may not have killed her family.. 

If what I've wrote so far hasn't enticed you to check this book out from your local library branch or buy it on Amazon, I hope that these final thoughts will. 

If you skipped the character deets continue reading here 

The depth of characters and back story that the entire book has is quite amazing. Flynn did a great job providing subtle clues throughout the story that play out in the end which I loved as the reader.   There's no cliff hangers, so if you're not a fan of reading because you don't want to get stuck into a series, this is not the case here.  It was so good that I was hoping for some sort of hint that one of the characters stories could be expanded into another book but thats just me being needy. 

Real quick, let me say this louder for the people in the back, THIS IS NOT AN EASY OR LIGHT READ. So please don't email me and say I didn't warn you, and I was triggered, blah, blah, blah, cause this should be warning enough. Here's some of the hard stuff: devil worship, topics of child molestation, gore, and MURDER. 

I really hope that you read this if you haven't already, I'll be watching the movie tonight to see how close it is to the book. Overall I give this like 4.75 stars out of 5, again this has gone onto my favorite thrillers shelf, and I even purchased the book. 

If you have any questions or if you're a publisher/ author who'd like me to read and review anything I'd love to. You can also find me on Goodreads, and Twitter! Thanks for taking the time to read this & I should be having another review up in a few days! Byeeeee!