Dark Places: A Novel

Gillian Flynn

May 2009 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Rebecca Lowman, Cassandra Campbell, Mark Deakins, and Robertson Dean

About this audiobook

I have a meanness inside me, real as an organ.


Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their tiny farmhouse into the freezing January snow. She lost some fingers and toes, but she survived–and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who’ve long forgotten her.

The Kill Club is a macabre secret society obsessed with notorious crimes. When they locate Libby and pump her for details–proof they hope may free Ben–Libby hatches a plan to profit off her tragic history. For a fee, she’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club . . . and maybe she’ll admit her testimony wasn’t so solid after all.

As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the narrative flashes back to January 2, 1985. The events of that day are relayed through the eyes of Libby’s doomed family members–including Ben, a loner whose rage over his shiftless father and their failing farm have driven him into a disturbing friendship with the new girl in town. Piece by piece, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started–on the run from a killer.

Ratings and reviews

I just started listening to this, and I have to say that the monotone reading is killing me. I get that the character is dark and depressed, but this is horrible. I'm going to keep listening, though, to see how the plot develops. Edit: I just finished it. The storyline is interesting. It was very dark, but I had to keep going to see what happened. I still think that the reading was monotone and lifeless. I like audio, because I can do other things while I listen, but this is one I wish that I'd just read on my own.

this book is awful. the animal mutilation is disgusting and unnecessary. would not recommend this book to anyone.

love the drama and feel of the story. The story unfolds and moves just right. The narrators did a fantastic job.

About the author

Gillian Flynn is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Gone Girl, for which she wrote the Golden Globe–nominated screenplay; the New York Times bestsellers Dark Places and Sharp Objects; and a novella, The Grownup. A former critic for Entertainment Weekly, she lives in Chicago with her husband and children.