It's really wonderful when writers have a discourse and friendship that bridges genres. It's even more wonderful when little works like this are produced from those friendships. Knowing that Flynn wrote this after well-known author George R. R. Martin asked for a story just warms me up inside. I imagine my own writer-to-writer friendships I have made now, and I imagine the same coffee shop meet-ups to go over flash fiction and casual discussions of book ideas while walking down the sidewalk that I have had with people in my own life. I don't think Gillian Flynn and Martin's relationship is that consistent, but I like to imagine it. I like that.

The short story - and yes, I'll call it that, seeing as I'm not certain as to it's classification - is enjoyable, surprising, and very sound. The writing is tight, and classic Flynn; you have your off-the-beaten-trail main female, your mom complex (always a mom of some sort wrapped up in Flynn's mischief) and some murders and seedy undergrounds. It's well-paced, it's well-characterized - it's well done. I appreciate Flynn as a writer and her ability to put so much into so little, and provide us with enough to simultaneously steer us away from her reveal and give us understandings of her characters without becoming pointless or excessive. It's a hard-earned skill, and one that I laud her for.

I guess my only shortcomings is that, by knowing Flynn's characterization so well, I knew most of the twists and turns before they happened. This book follows her formula pretty directly. While not necessarily a bad thing, it would be nice to open up a bit and broaden the scope of her vision. Even with different settings and characters, the same themes are the same themes. And seeing the same ideas dressed up a little differently over and over is a tad boring after awhile. On top of that, the short nature of the story made it feel like a teaser for something larger that never quite came. A solid 3/4 of this novel were intriguing and fun, but then the end twisted suddenly into exposition-land and never really left. That's not really then ending you want to any book, but especially not a mystery-thriller. I guess I could put that criticism forward for all of Flynn's writing, though, as I find her endings lackluster a lot of the time.

Overall, I'd recommend reading this by a river or some body of water with a cold drink and some good friends nearby. That's what I did, at least, and it really made for a good afternoon. Nothing freshens you up like iced tea and a thriller short story. Definitely a fun vacation read for Spring Break!