Gillian Flynn’s 4 Best Mystery & Thriller Books, From ‘Gone Girl’ To ‘Sharp Objects’

Which of Gillian Flynn's books have been adapted for the screen?

Like mentioned before, Gone Girl, was a mega-hit on the shelves and in the box office when it was adapted to screen with Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck. But it's not the only best-seller of Gillian Flynn's to be adapted for the screen. Her book, Sharp Objects, was also made into a TV show with Amy Adams.

Sharp Objects was actually Flynn's debut novel that she published in 2006, but it wasn't made into a series until 2018. Her second book, Dark Places, got the movie treatment in 2015 starring Charlize Theron by A24, but now it's currently being turned into an HBO show where Flynn will be the co-creator, writer, and co-show runner. The Grownup, a short story Flynn wrote, has been rumored to be adapted into a movie for some time now, but nothing has moved into production just yet!

Find All Gillian Flynn Books Here!

Gone Girl

The most notorious book by Flynn is Gone Girl. It's a mysterious thriller that tells the story of Nick and Amy Dunne, who are to the outside world, a happily married couple of 5 years. That is, until Amy suddenly disappears without a trace, and Nick becomes the prime suspect in her disappearance. His old "golden boy" image is soon going out the door as he parades lies and suspicious behavior to the public, leaving the whole town wondering if he really was capable of murder. Inside the house, Nick finds Amy's diary which has him discovering that maybe Amy wasn't the perfect girl he thought she was.... and maybe there was a darker side to her that he hadn't yet experienced. The real question is: Who are these two people, and did they ever really know each other?

Sharp Objects

In this daunting mystery, a reporter name Camille leaves a visit from the psych hospital to go straight into a new assignment on writing about the murders of two young girls. The only problem? It's in her home town which she left years ago. Now Camille must face her insanely neurotic mother who she hasn't spoken to in years, and her very young half-sister. She soon discovers that these murders will be harder to crack than she thought, and first she must unravel her own past traumas to solve this mystery. Will she be able to crack the case, or will her past demons come to haunt her? Read this suspenseful mystery to find out!

Dark Places

In this twisted mystery, Flynn writes about a woman named Libby Day who was seven when her sisters and mother were killed. She famously testified that it was her 15 year old brother who committed the killings. Fast forward 25 years later, Libby is approached by a local club that's investigating the crimes that went down on that disturbing day — they think her brother is innocent, and want to free him. Meanwhile Libby is trying to turn her tragedy into some cash, so she charges them for her services (or rather, information). But soon, a mysterious event, leads her right back to where she started...on the run from a killer.

The Grownup

This short story is a thrilling psychological mystery that tells the story of a con artist who decides to pose as a fortune teller for money — only to get entangled in one of her clients' gripping mysteries. The client believes that her son is possessed and her house is haunted. This con artist is in for a ride with this suspicious case.