Books to Read Before the Movie Comes Out

This adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s 2009 novel, out August 7, promises to put Charlize Theron back on Oscar’s radar for the first time in a decade: She plays Libby, who’s reckoning with the murder of her family 30 years ago and now uncertain whether she rightly condemned her brother for the crime. Go to the novel to watch Gillian Flynn hone the craft that made her follow-up, Gone Girl, such a smash. She masters whodunit suspense and a wild-twist ending while exploring the creepy satanic cults that were all over the news back in the ’80s. Dark. Riveting. Unputdownable.