Gone Girl

We start with a wayward husband, a missing wife, and a crime scene that doesn't bode well. And here is the thing -as the husband starts missing his wife and reminiscing - all the things described in part one made me want to be better about my own marriage. Just little things that two people, over time, take for granted. So I am reading this novel, dead sure that the wife is gone and this husband will lament their lost time together forever.

Until you realize that Gone Girl might just relate to this missing/presumed dead wife's mental status. Part two unfolds and your realize that you don't even know half of the story. Part two is all her story. It takes you from being pensive about your marriage, to being dang happy that you found the mate that you did (at least in my case).
By the time part three unfolds, I was convinced I should get wife of the year. The journey author Gillian Flynn takes us on is terrifying and riveting. I could not put this book down. When I finally finished it, I recommended it to everyone I knew, including my book club, because I needed to talk about it with some other ladies. I-N-T-E-N-S-E!
Read it!

The Hallowed Ones

I just received this book as a review ARC and I couldn't put it down. I made the mistake of reading it while Jason was out of town one evening - and feared the attack of vampire spiders the rest of the night. It is young adult, but it is super creepy!
Here's the gist:

Katie and Elijah are Amish. They are looking forward to Rumspringa - a time when they are allowed to leave their community to see and experience the outside world. It's a time to measure your choices and decide if the Amish life is what you want. Katie wants to see a movie, have a coca cola, and do some things she hasn't been allowed to do.
Before she gets her chance, however, a contagion sweeps the world. Since the Amish are cut off from communication with the world at large, the news has to trickle in slowly. By the time it does, 2/3 of the population has been wiped out with the contagion still at large.
The contagion causes a mutation that is likened to a spider-vampire, and it spreads from victim to victim - if you aren't torn apart by these blood thirsty mutants.
The Elders of this Amish community decide to shut their gates and preserve their faith - no one in, no one out. This seems to keep the contagion at bay, but separates some family members, causing discord. One afternoon, Katie finds a man tangled in the barbed wire of the gate. Going against the word of the Elders, Katie moves him to the barn and nurses him back to health, something that will change her life forever.
This novel is intense, a real page turner. It is an eerie setting, and imagining the isolationism of the community sets the stage for a good horror novel. If I were using it in my library, I would say that it would be an interesting springboard for a religious discussion about the role of faith and a belief system.