By Reilly McKnerneySPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE

“Dark Places” is a mixture between “Sherlock Holmes” and the majority of Steven King’s novels.

It tells the tale of Libby Day and the murder of her mother and two sisters, often referred to as “The Satan Sacrifice.”

Despite being so young, Libby testifies against her 15-year-old brother, Ben, whom she believed to be the only possible killer. Libby was seven when the murders occurred leaving her to live another 24 years facing the world without her family beside her.

Due to her lack of money, coupled with her lack of desire to get a job of any kind, Libby takes up an offer from the young, socially awkward, Lyle Wirth.

Wirth takes part in the Kill Club, which focuses on theorizing or obsessing in many cases, over well-known crimes.

Libby could not refuse Wirth’s business proposal to attend a club meeting for a large amount of cash, which then turns into even larger amounts of cash, but only if she is willing to rethink her accusation from so many years prior.

And so it goes that Libby sets off to analyze the holes in many peoples’ stories, including her brother’s.

Gillian Flynn is completely unique in the way that she allows the reader to make their own judgments about the characters, but never allows us to feel secure in our educational guesses.

The book left me intrigued and compelled to continue every time a chapter ended, yet it gave me a sense of security because I had just learned a tiny bit more in order to piece together the mystery.

Flynn’s choices to jump between the present and past and character-to-character are key aspects to this novel’s success. We, as nosy readers, are intrigued by the events leading to the murder of the Day family, and even more intrigued by what many celebrity gossip magazines would call the, “Where is Libby Day Now?” chapters.

To anyone interested in mysteries, that loves a good plot twist and is desperate to leave their homework on the back burner for the day, this novel is for you.