In my opinion, Dark Places was probably the book that had the most satisfying falling action - a part of her novels that, while not usually seen as integral, is nonetheless consistently lackluster. Dark Places delivers a story of mystery that makes the reader re-evaluate their assumptions with each new revelation. The idea of switching between modern day Libby Day, the "only" surviving member of the brutal massacre of her family, point of view and the point of view of her mother and brother on the day of the events created a fascinating parallel that served to both continue tension and immerse the reader.

I did feel that the actual murderer(s) [mild spoiler alert] were a little surprising. In some ways, Gillian Flynn had foreshadowed the second murderer, yet they still felt a little out of left field. It made sense and connected with the plot, yet was by no means the motivated murder one expected from such a hideous crime. While Flynn explained the murderer's reasoning for hacking up little girls and slicing people open, in general it seemed a little bit of a far reach. It wasn't so far that it shattered my suspension of disbelief, but it definitely bordered on that.