Dark Places

I started reading the book last evening. I think it's going to go quickly - I have to keep remembering to stop and jot down comments, etc, so I don't forget them. It seems to be a popular book (at least around here) - the wait list at the library has grown to 180 people. More after I've finished.

I keep moving up--I'm number 10 on the list this week! If I can get a really good Borders coupon, I may break down & buy it!

Okay, I had a coupon and some gift certificates, so I broke down and bought it. I hope to get started on it this weekend--I'm in the middle of another book I need to finish first.

180 people!! My goodness! To me that's crazy- considering that our library has probably that many people with cards.
tloeffler will you let me know if it's worth buying? I'm the type that cringes to buy a book over 7.00, my frequent places are used book stores and the 1.00 books off abebooks.
However, if it's great I'll break down (like you) and spend a little more.....I always buy the new King books when they come out and they're at least 20 bucks. Also, I really enjoyed Sharp Objects, for several reasons.

I'm right there with you, Becky. I'm not sure I would have forked out 24 cold hard ones for it, but I had a 30% off coupon, and some Borders gift cards (my family's philosophy is "when in doubt, get Borders gift cards for Terri"), and since I have a birthday coming up next month, I was okay with using up my current cards to buy it!

I will keep you posted!

I just finished the book. I think you are really going to like this one - it's better than Sharp Objects.

The book has to go back to the library, so I won't be able to look anything up. I hope I've made good notes and can remember the rest.

Best Missouri quote: "The stretch of I-70 between Kansas City and St Louis was hours and hours of pure ugly driving. Flat, dead-yellow, and littered with billboards...."

That's a true statement! I drove that stretch a few weeks ago to pick up my son in KC, and thought, "Man, this seems longer than my usual drive to Nashville to see him!"

I started it on Sunday, and it's killing me, because I'm working a lot of hours this month, and only finding about an hour each night to read it. Last night I even considered calling in sick so I could just read it till I finished it today! I'm finding it very compelling.

I was going to ask you all if Sharp Objects would be worth me reading, but it doesn't sound like it. I hate to read the posts on it in case of spoilers. In general terms, was it worth the read?

Sharp Objects is definitely worth reading. I guess my comment should have been it's even better than Sharp Objects.

edit to fix italics

I finished Dark Places last night, so I'm ready to go when anyone else is.

I'm ready - quick before I forget. You go first since it's still fresh in your mind, then I'll chime in.

I just finished it yesterday, and totally agree with Sandy that it is even better than Sharp Objects (which I also liked a lot). I loved it. Could not put it down, even though I have huge stacks of boxes needing to be unpacked. Wow! I never saw the ending coming, although in retrospect she did put in a huge hint fairly early on.

I couldn't read the cow murder part - just too gross for me.

SPOILERS

#11 That early hint I think you're referring to - the talk among the Kill Club members about a possible serial killer of people in financial trouble (I'm trying to remember what they called him and coming up blank) - went right over my head at the time. I noticed the later hints - the strange phone calls and mysterious meetings with the mother. I just couldn't figure out at the time what they meant.

That whole sequence leading up to the cow sacrifice was pretty hard to read. Ben's feelings of despair alternating with agression and anger, the pressure from the girl friend, the constant taunts and ridicule, the drugs and alcohol were all nearly as upsetting for me as the violence and gore associated with killing the animal. Did you find it to be so, too, or do you think I'm overly sensitive to Ben because my own son is exactly his age? I know this is the mom in me talking, but what angered me the most about that entire incident was the girlfriend's total lack of consideration or awareness of Ben's feelings. So much of his feelings and attitudes are as a result of the family's poverty, he is so acutely aware of every coin while she spends a relative fortune on mundane things like socks. After they get back to the house and burn their bloody clothes, he discovered that she "accidently" got his jeans into the pile. Then, rather than taking something from her dad's closet for him to wear, she gives him her own purple sweats to put on.

I think one reason I liked this book better than Sharp Objects, was because Libby actually showed signs of healing and moving on by the end of the book, and the other girl really didn't. I liked that she seemed to be developing a friendship with Lyle, and building a new relationship with Ben. She knew she was damaged, and finally seemed to want to do something about it. One thing I wasn't sure of, though. What do you think Ben's relationship with Crystal had been, or will become?

I thought it was a great book. I had a hard time putting it down each night. Funny that you mention the "Angel of Debt." When they talked about him at the end, I remembered having read something about that earlier in the book, but it had slid right by me too. (love that moniker, btw).

***SPOILERS*** (although I'm hoping if you're reading this, you've finished the book!)

I can see where you'd be sensitive to Ben because of your son. My sons are grown, but I kept thinking through all Ben's tribulations, "there but for the grace of God..." He wasn't a bad kid, he wasn't a mistreated kid, but the dice kept falling wrong. Diondra was a real problem. In fact, when he picked up the gun during the cow episode, I thought he was going to shoot her & Trey, and it made me happy! She was an unbelievable b---h.

My thoughts on the cow episode: It was very disturbing, but effective. I think we needed to be shown just what kind of state he was in to "excuse" (if that's the right word) his later behavior in the house during the killings. Imagine being Ben, having the day he had, then experiencing that carnage, drinking, on drugs, and then finding himself in that room. I suspect that sitting quietly is the only thing he would have been capable of.

I was also curious about the Ben/Crystal relationship. I could never figure out if she & Diondra had been visiting him or not. She sure had a weird relationship with her mother, didn't she?

And of course, there was the comment about "driving west on I-70 to Columbia." You'd think a KC girl would know that Columbia is east of KC! The only flaw I found in the book, though.

I am so upset!! My library doesn't have a copy, but the neighboring town does (it costs 20$ to get an 'out of town' membership through them), and it costs like 15$+ everywhere I look on the internet!
Will you guys let me know if you find it anywhere cheap (like under 10$)?

Hey, Becky, I am still waiting for a copy of Dark Places as well. You and I may have to do our own mini group discussion.

Well, I'm always willing to lend a book. Where are you guys at? Close enough to StL to do a hand-off? I'm always up for a road trip! Or I could mail it. But I definitely want it back!

#14 Becky, I looked on this book search site:

http://www.addall.com/

I found a (probably used) copy for about $11.50, including shipping - not quite $10, I'm afraid.

Will your library do an ILL? You'd have to wait for an available copy but they're usually free.

ETA - My library has an available copy in audio, but I don't know if they do ILL's for AV materials. No print copies, though.

I can't decide whether or not Ben ever met Crystal. For some reason, I don't think so. At least not much. I'm glad, though, that he ended up deciding to try to work on a relationship with Libby - they're both so in need of a family. I'm not sure if Ben will try to see Crystal, or not. I don't think so, for some reason. She did try to kill Libby, after all.

You guys are such a big help. I'm going to check out the addall site. Donna- that sounds good to me because by what everyone is saying it's worth talking about!

I'm so anxious for you to get your hands on the book and get it read. I can't wait to hear your comments, too.

One of my friends lives in the next town over that has a copy of the book. He put his name on the waiting list for me!!

I was at the St. Louis YMCA Book Fair last night and picked up another copy of Dark Places! I am going to put it on Bookmooch, but before I do I wondered if anyone here would want a crack at mooching it first.

The book is a book club edition with a tiny tear in the cover, but overall worth more than the $.50 I paid for it!

>22 annesion:: That was so nice of you, annesion. I had a copy on reserve at the library for months and was beginning to despair, but lo and behold, it is now in my hot little hands!!! I have already started it. It will be a relatively quiet Labor Day week end for me so I should have no trouble reading it in the next few days.

Some random thoughts about Dark Places with plenty of **Spoilers** ahead...

First of all, nice review, Becky. I read it in two days as well. It was just that hard to put down. Not my usual slow, navel-gazing type of book. It is good to read something totally different occasionally, although Devil worship is a stretch for me. Flynn nailed it with Diondra's comment after the murders that maybe they really did screw (my word) with the devil.

It is a testament to Flynn's writing that I stayed with a book that was so disturbing to me. I laughed at her comment in the Acknowledgments thanking her husband who knows how she thinks and is still able to sleep next to her with the lights off.

I have been thinking about what most disturbed me about the book. The family murders were horrible, the cow scene was gruesome, but I think the part that struck home with me was the hopeless poverty of the family and how it affected their outlook on life. I taught school in a poor section of town years ago and saw firsthand what a struggle life can be for some families. No wonder people turn to alcohol and drugs to escape. I agree, Sandy, that Libby showed signs of overcoming her unspeakable past and gave a glimmer of hope towards the end.

Can we do a happy book next time. :-)

I'm with you on the happy book, Donna!

Did we ever decide how we were going to choose?