On the morning of their fifth anniversary, Nick Dunne's wife, Amy, disappears from their North Carthage, Missouri home. A few years before, they moved there from New York to take care of Nick's mother, Amy, a New Yorker by birth, wasn't too thrilled about this and even felt that she was being taken there against her will. Their marriage hasn't exactly been an all-American love story, but as tough as things have been, it's about to get worse.

By the end of the day, cops and news crews have invaded Nick's house, detectives have grilled Nick into exhaustion, and Amy's helicopter parents have swept in from New York to facilitate the search. As the days pass with no sign of Amy—other than the clues for her annual anniversary treasure hunt—the case's widespread media attention and the general public's outrage place the police under extreme pressure to find a suspect. Unfortunately for Nick, they're closing in on him.

“There’s something disturbing about recalling a warm memory and feeling utterly cold.”