INTO THE DARKEST CORNER by Elizabeth Haynes

RATING : 5 Stars

Into the Darkest Corner was a gripping, creepy and engrossing read. This book was recommended to me by a good friend of mine and of course many of my Goodreads friends. Since then i had this book in my to-be-read shelf. I don't have a clear explanation for putting off this book to a later read. Eventually i had to pick it up after seeing my friends gushing about it. It has the most chilling plot line that i have read in a very long time. I'm not a squeamish person, but surprisingly this book creeped me out. Haynes writing was intense and unputdownable.  

The book flips back and forth between past and the present happenings. The protagonist Catherine Bailey(past) has been enjoying the single life as a coquette for long enough to know a good catch when she sees one. She meets charismatic Lee and starts dating. Her friends too clearly agrees he is gorgeous. Their relationship starts out to be amazing but later Catherine finds out Lee has a darker side. Her friends start suspecting her for their rocky relationship, this is because Lee is a charmer and begins to tell her friends that aren't true about Catherine. She is driven into the darkest corner of her world, and trusting no one. She makes  a scrupulous plan to escape her predicament.

Four years later (present) Lee is  behind the bars and Catharine now Cathy(changes her name) is suffering from OCD and PTSD. She isolates herself  and starts checking things over and over. Every time she enters the house she ensures her apartment main door lock is safely secured, and checks the curtains,  bathroom doors, kitchen cabinets, room, her personal belongings. She has a count for checking. If she feels something is wrong she would start it again. Now Cathy doesn't trust anyone and always has a thought that Lee is watching her even though he is in prison. She meets Stuart, a psychologist who lives in the apartment above her and he convinces her to seek treatment for her OCD. Eventually they start liking each other but Cathy is wary in stepping into another relationship. After a while she finds out something strange at her place and realizes Lee is back.

While reading this book I felt like I was developing OCD and I did check my door. I kid you not, even the slightest noise scared me and my heart pounded. I wanted to slow down to take things happening in the book and assure myself that its a fictional one but I couldn't resist any longer and I whipped through book quickly. Yes, it was that gripping and intense. I was cringing in shock when I read the last few lines. In my opinion it is a Riveting novel.

I know what you're thinking now... Wondering what is Lee's darker side and how did Catherine  change to Cathy and what is Cathy's final move??? Well.. grab a copy of this book and find out for yourself!!

I would highly recommend this book to  anyone who wants to get sucked in a good thriller and  get creeped out. If by any chance you are going to read it before you hit the sack be ready to face your nightmares.

SHARP OBJECTS by Gillian Flynn

                                                      RATING : 5 Stars

After reading Gone Girl, instantly I became a fan of Gillian Flynn. My expectation for this book was high and i wasn't disappointed. Flynn's writing style is very dark. As you know I'm a sucker for Thrillers, and purchased this book immediately after finishing Gone Girl. I stayed up all night to finish this book and yes that is how the story was, it kept sucking me in.The first thing that comes to mind about this book is twisted, dark, disturbing. When you pick up this book ensure that you don't have pending works because you might tend to procrastinate your works once you start reading.  

Camille Preaker, a newspaper reporter is sent to her hometown to get the inside scoop on the murders of  two preteen girls, both strangled and had their teeth removed (Doesn't it sound weird about removing teeth? -yes it is, i had the same thought). She is reluctant to visit her hometown as she has a troubled past associated with it. Camille meets her neurotic mother, her half-sister and her step father in a Victorian mansion after eight long years. Everything starts from here. Clues keep leading to dead ends, forcing Camille to unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past to get at the story. Camille will have to confront what happened to her years before if she wants to survive this homecoming. 

Camille Preaker is a weird female with both strong and fragile nature. You will get to know that she is from a twisted family as you progress with the story. There is something unhealthy about this book- characters, relation between mother and daughter. This book is truly dark and creepy and has special stuff towards the end. I thought I figured out something half way through the story but Flynn made the ending a jaw dropping one. I was cringing in shock when i read the epilogue. Too much was packed towards the end but absolutely brilliant debut of Flynn. I don't want to giveaway a lot of details but all i can say is it's an amazing psychological thriller. I wouldn't recommend this book to squeamish, but if you have slightest inclination towards thriller, give it a shot.     

GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn

RATING : 4 Stars

SYNOPSIS : 

Marriage can be a real killer. It is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented Mansion on the Mississippi River. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents, the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter. But is he really a killer?

MY  THOUGHTS : 

This book had lots of buzz around the world and I wanted to check out what all the hype was about. Unexpected surprises wrapped up in a black book. Flynn's writing style is amazing. It was like watching a Hitchcock movie in which suspense builds up slowly. With razor sharp writing and her ability to build suspense till the very end of the book was astounding. Fast paced book which keeps you at the edge of the seat guessing till the end. It is said in multiple points of view and the wife's perspective as diary format was brilliant. Tense and twisted plot line. It has more dark and sudden curves than a roller coaster ride. I was not even 10 pages into the book but i found myself hooked. Now I am going to stop gushing about this book and the author and  I am going to check out other books of Gillian Flynn right away.