"Sharp Objects" by Gillian Flynn

For many, tattoos are only works of art with which to decorate their bodies. For others however, the ink serves as a symbol of the kind of life they had, the events they went through in their past.

Camille Preaker, a young journalist who had a brief stint in a psychiatric hospital, has a body covered in tattoos: GIRL across her heart, HARMFUL on her wrist, WICKED above her hipbone, BABYDOLL on her leg, NASTY on her kneecap, and WHORE on her ankle. This is Camille’s story.

As she comes out of the psych hospital and back to her job, she is being sent back into her hometown to report on a double homicide of two pre-teen girls. Ever since Camille left her town she rarely spoke to her hypochondriac mother or her half-sister, a majestic and beautiful little girl with some kind of strange and mystical grip on the town. Camille decides that the best place to stay is her family’s Victorian mansion, although when she settles in memories start to haunt her, memories of an incredibly tragic event she did her best to forget.

The investigation Camille leads into the lives of the murdered pre-teen girls is nothing short of eerie, as she identifies herself with the victims more and more with each discovery. Countless clues lead to dead ends… until Camille learns that everything is tied to the tragedy that befell her during her childhood. If she is to survive and unravel the truth, she will have to face what’s coming to her.

How good is the book? Well, in a nutshell, it’s pretty damn good. There aren’t too many really intriguing and grizzly mystery novels out there that can capture your attention like this one does. Yes, some of the moments in it reek of deja-vu, but that doesn’t stop Gillian Flynn’s first effort from being simply enthralling. 

You are not only going to find yourself trying to solve the double-homicide, but you will also be dying to find out where Camille comes from in terms of the events she lived through… and how she came to have her morbid tattoos. A great read for fans of mystery novels.

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Gillian Flynn Personal site Gillian Flynn is a former television critic and currently an American author who published three novels so far: Sharp Objects, Dark Places and Gone Girl. Though she is still making a name for herself, her talent for writing smooth and intriguing murder mysteries sure has captured the imaginations of readers around the world.