Books: The Grownup By Gillian Flynn

(Drivebycuriosity) - I like short stories. Often a writer has an interesting idea which carries a story about maybe 100 pages or less, but when she stretches the plot the story gets thinner and thinner and the text has too many fillers. Just a minority of authors is capable to keep the tension over hundreds of pages. Long books are often like watered down wine.

Amazon has a series of e-books, called "Kindle Single", which typically contain between 5,000 and 30,000 words - the perfect place for short stories & novellas (usually between 17,500 and 40,000 words).

Recently I read "The Grownup" by Gillian Flynn (just 62 pages amazon ). The story got my attention because I had enjoyed Flynn`s "Gone Girl" (book & movie driveby ). "The Grownup" is written in first person and told by a young woman, who earned her living by begging, soft-prostitution & pretending to be a psychic. Using her pretended paranormal skills she tries to exploit a new customer, a wealthy unhappy married woman with a troubled stepson. Don´t expect much action, it`s a psychological thriller full of lies & feints (this is a spoiler-free blog).

The story, which won 2015 the Edgar Award, for best mystery short story of the year, isn`t as quite as strong as the bestseller book. Many commentators on Amazon didn `t like it. Many complained that it was too short. But I enjoyed the "Grownup" anyway. I think a short story can be a sketch and doesn´t need to roll any idea totally out. It can leave the reader room for imagination.

"The Grownup" gave me something to think about. It´s  cool, spiced with sarcastic observations and is told with a sharp wit and a dry humor . But don´t expect a satisfying ending

"The Grownup" is a little treat for Gillian Flynn fans and connoisseur of twisted short stories.