A Flicker in the Dark was just the kind of book I needed to get out or a holiday reading rut. I enjoyed author Stacy Willingham's writing style so much and this one kept me turning the pages until the very end.

found the storyline to flow well and I enjoyed the flashbacks that really help bring this story to life. This was a solid 4 star read for me and I look forward to what Willingham comes out with next!

Thank you to Minotaur Books for my gifted review copy.

The first five chapters were great. I loved seeing the main character, Chloe, do her job. It was interesting and held my attention but then it quickly went downhill. Chloe’s substance abuse problem is annoying and unnecessary. She became boring and illogical really fast. The characters didn’t really communicate. How did any of them find anything out when it seems like they barely talked about what was going on. How did some characters not recognize or really know each other? It seems unbelievable. There were multiple twists which were actually so predictable. Once you meet some of the characters, you just KNOW what’s going to happen and it made me wonder if I should even continue. The dialogue that does occur is overly dramatic especially when Cooper is speaking at the end. Everything Cooper said at the end just made me roll my eyes.
The flashbacks almost blend with the present and was a bit confusing. The decisions being made often made no sense at all. The ending felt super rushed. Exciting… but rushed.
I’ve never seen the word “flicker” used so much in my life. Also, there was a lot of other repetition throughout and some odd metaphors. The one that really stood out to me was “the air was warm and damp like a boiled egg burp.”
I didn’t enjoy this novel as much as I had hoped to but the premise was great.

This was an incredible debut from Stacy Willingham. Prepare to be completely fooled by this intricately plotted and deliciously twisted thriller. This spine-tingling and well written novel is sure to keep you turning the pages as quickly as possible. Perfect for fans of Gillian Flynn, Caroline Kepnes, or Karin Slaughter.

“A smart, edge-of-your-seat story with plot twists you’ll never see coming. Stacy Willingham’s debut will keep you turning pages long past your bedtime.” ―Karin Slaughter

A debut novel that has a blurb from Karin Slaughter? (And many others!) A Flicker in the Dark was a must read for me.

Chloe was twelve when her father confessed to the killing of six teenage girls in their small Louisiana town. Twenty years later, Chloe has tried to escape the past and the stigma, moving away and becoming a psychologist. When one of her teenage patients goes missing, it brings it all back. The similarities between this case and her father's crimes are eerily similar....

Willingham's lead character is wonderfully unreliable - a favorite device of mine. I love trying to see between the lines, interpret Chloe's memories, deciding what might be true and what may not. Alcohol and drugs magnify that unreliability. There's some gaslighting as well - again, another device I truly enjoy.

Willingham also gives us a myriad of suspects for the whodunit. The reader is kept guessing all the way to the final reveal with suspect behaviour, hidden agendas, ulterior motives and more. Willingham delightfully manipulates the reader and their perceptions with a final reveal that I only sussed out in the final pages.

The premise of a serial killer father isn't new, but Willingham has put her own stamp on this idea. The writing grabbed me and it was hard to put the book down. I look forward to Willingham's next book!

HBO Max and Emma Stone are working together to develop an adaptation of Stacy Willingham's upcoming novel A Flicker in the Dark. Pretty impressive for a first novel!

Another good psychological thriller. Good job on a first novel. Thank you to #netgalley for providing me with an ARC to give an honest review.

A woman faces her family’s serial killing history in A Flicker in the Dark.

Chloe is a clinical psychologist in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Twenty years ago, at age twelve, she turned in evidence that the police used to convict her father of killing six girls in their small hometown. The episode haunts her. Now, another serial killer has started copying her father’s killing spree. This time it’s personal. The second new victim had just left Chloe’s office when she was abducted. Who could be doing this new spate of crimes, and why?

This well-written thriller just sucked me into its dark universe. I guessed the conclusion’s twist early on. However, there are many more twists to enjoy. Plus, Chloe is an unusually complex character for a thriller. If you are in the mood for a dark and gloomy read, don’t miss A Flicker in the Dark. 4 stars!

Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

A fantastic psychological thriller that may be told by an unreliable narrator or an unstable one, at the very least. Stacy Willingham has readers second guessing everything from start to finish. Absolutely love the characterization, the development of the storyline, the perspective, and all the twist and turns. Highly recommended.

Thank you to #Netgalley and #Minatour for the ARC of #AFlickerInTheDark, which was read and reviewed voluntarily.

This review can also be found on Amazon & Goodreads

Wow what an AMAZING debut novel this was! This thriller gave off some serious true crime documentary vibes and I loved it. I enjoyed watching this story unfold with all its twists and turns. While the story was leading you in the direction of one suspect, two more come out of the blue. This story was fast-paced and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. Stacy Willingham did such an amazing job with this thriller! While I did guess the ending, I still really enjoyed how she made it all play out!

This held my interest despite the undistinguished prose until it became clear that an entirely implausible and contrived twist was coming, as it duly did.

A Flicker in the Dark features Chloe Davis, who at 12 years old was living in a small town where girls were disappearing all summer, only for her father to be arrested at the end of summer for all of their murders. Now nearing the 20 year anniversary, Chloe is a psychologist in private practice, engaged— only for young girls to start going missing all over again.

The beginning of this novel really draws you in and makes you keep turning pages! Chloe turns out to be a very unreliable narrator, one who is grasping onto her happiness. The plot is really interesting and atmospheric reads are my absolute favorite. While the book gets to a point where it isn’t as page-turning as it initially was, it does constantly keep you trying to figure out the plot and guess what’s going on, and it does pick up and grip you again! I thought the ending was satisfying and the best plots are ones that make sense to a certain degree when you figure out what really happened/is happening, like this one did.

This was a great read from one of my favorite publishers recently; they have just been a powerhouse of putting out some of my recent favorite thrillers! I’m in a cabin in the middle of the mountains with almost no internet so I missed publication day by a day, but happy publication day! Thank you so much to Minotaur Books, Stacy Willingham, and NetGalley for this copy.

A Flicker in the Dark convincingly portrays the inability of a woman to trust the people in her life after experiencing the trauma of finding out her father is a serial killer. It's one of the reasons Chloe becomes a psychologist and is determined to help others.

But a series of coincidences (and perhaps her anxiety and reliance on prescription drugs) cause her to suspect the people around her when a new crop of girls go missing. But will the police think she's crying wolf? After all, she's not the most reliable witness.

This book reminded me of a TV series, only this one would be called "The Prodigal Daughter". You can just visualize Chole's father mentoring a whole new generation of serial killers. But not so quick! The characters you thought you liked in this book may give you whiplash when the twists start coming!

I'm pleased to have been introduced to Willingham's writing through this debut novel through the generosity NetGalley and St. Martin's Press.

This is a fantastic debut from Stacy Willingham. In Chole's small town six girls go missing and one of them was her older friend. Soon her father is arrested as a serial killer. Her world is thrown into a tail spin, event after event that changes her life forever. Now an adult she's managing but the a series of girls start to go missing and its eerily familiar.

I really liked the writing, It kept me interested with the view of what its like to be related to Someone who was a killer but also had a part in the capture. I struggled with the first half of the book, being a slower pace, there was a lot of internal monolog. But once I got about half way it flew by. I was CONVINCED I knew who the new killer was and I'm usually terrible at figuring it out...but turns out I still am! I love that feeling of being so sure and got thrown for a loop.


Thank you to Minotaur Books and Netgalley for my advanced copy for review!

An excellent debut thriller I was so caught up in the story I wound up reading much too late.A very smart thriller that kept me guessing through all the twists and turns will be recommending and following this debut author.#netgalley #randomhouse

My Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/ 5 stars

This is a debut thriller from Stacy Willingham about a psychologist named Chloe Davis in Baton Rouge,Louisiana who had a traumatic childhood - Her father is the infamous serial killer, Richard Davis. 6 girls went missing twenty years prior and she would remember vividly finding evidence at 12 years old that would tie him to their disappearance. He is now behind bars. It is now 2019 - and girls are going missing again with the same M.O. in the same town. After the 2nd girl is linked as being her patient, Chloe has to come to the realization that it might be connected to her or if there is a copycat killer out there.

The story starts out like the average thriller - but Stacy has such a way with words that is eerily haunting and gripping. I was constantly guessing the entire book to the very end and there was still a twist I did not expect. Overall, a very solid debut and I look forward to reading her next book!

Thank you to Minotaur Books / St. Martins Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

This book is really hyped up and I have to admit, I was disappointed. I found the first 50% to be pretty slow and boring; however, it definitely picked up in the second half.

I thought from the beginning that it was her brother who murdered all the girls, but WHY would her father go to prison and let him be free? .

There were a lot of twists, and I didn't guess all of them. Overall it was predictable but enjoyable, especially the last 50%.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review of the book.

I have a mixed response to this one and am in the minority with my overall opinion. So let's tease it out here.

What works: This was a decent page-turner. Though there's a lot of telling (often a characteristic of 1st person POV in an early novel), the narrative does propel you to keep going. The idea of how a person would move on in life after having their father arrested as a serial killer is an interesting angle and, while I've seen several books attempt this notion, I was up for exploring how this novel would handle it. Also, as a first novel, I think this shows a lot of promise for Willingham.

What troubled me: The ending twist was too obvious, too soon (like, really soon). Often times, this doesn't bother me. I read a ton of thrillers and figuring out the culprit is part of the journey with each book. But other times, if the reveal is too obvious, too early like it is here--without sophisticated character development--it's problematic. About the character development: this was one of those stories that never let me forget I was reading a fictional book. I didn't feel invested in the characters. Moreover, there were too many convenient coincidences or downright questionable plot holes, particularly with some of the interactions between Chloe and the police. In addition--and this is probably a "me" issue--the author seems to be confusing psychiatry and psychology at times. It's correct that in some states a psychologist can prescribe meds, so that was okay. But educational routes are different between the two (Chloe would not have been in pre-med in her undergrad) and I don't think the timeline is really believable for her to have completed her education, her internship, practical, licensing, etc. and STILL have a thriving private practice (set up completely in 1 year) by the time she's 32. Oh, and you don't do your PhD and THEN pursue a Master's in the same field 😊 so this needs a little more research if the author wants to use an occupation as a setting and plot device. And finally, the ending. I guess I get what happened. But I'm not entirely sold on the motivations of some of the characters. There's a character especially at the end who seems to serve as misdirection only--if I'm understanding who did what and why. I felt that needed to be streamlined and made more plausible.

My final recommendation, however, is to give this one a shot. I think that people who like the thriller genre will find this to be a great page-turner. I also think that there's enough of a foundation here that Stacy Willingham will continue to evolve as a writer. I look forward to seeing what she does next.

A Flicker in the Dark is the debut novel by author Stacy Willingham. It's so fun to read a new author, and I love the possibilities. Sometimes I'm horribly bored, and it's such a disappointment. But then sometimes a story grabs me, and I cannot wait until their next book comes out. Luckily, this book totally fell into the second category. It's one of those rare thrillers that I really don't want to put down! Was it perfect? No. But I was compelled to stay up until 1 a.m. - on a work night - to finish. That's a good indicator of an engaging thriller.

Chloe Davis was 12 and living in her small Louisiana community when six teenage girls went missing. At the end of the summer, her father was arrested as a serial killer and put in prison for life, leaving the family to deal with the fallout. Twenty years later, Chloe is now a psychologist in a private practice in Baton Rouge. She's about to get married to Daniel Briggs, a man who makes her feel safe and happy. So what if she sometimes secretly self-medicates when the past tries to drag her back down? Then suddenly, a local teenage girl goes missing, followed by another. Are there really parallels to the killings of 20 years ago, or is she just paranoid? Then again, she may be closer to a killer more than she knows.

This book started out a bit slowly, and it sometimes got confusing when time periods of Chloe's life went back and forth. Soon, however, I fell into the rhythm of the story and I was hooked. Chloe wasn't always a likeable person, but it was understandable with all the pain and trauma she went through in the past. She was about to marry Daniel, a successful and caring man, and she was close to her brother Coop, but he didn't trust Daniel. That made her current life difficult, as did dealing with their mother who was in a nursing home, under care due to an incident after her husband's conviction. When the first girl was taken in Baton Rouge, the story really became compelling! From the beginning I thought I knew who the killer was, and I was partly right. However, other suspects also had secrets and stories that began to bubble up to the surface; it turns out that even Chloe had secrets that I didn't see coming! There were so many twists and turns that I HAD to finish the book before bed! Listen, I don't want to ruin anything by revealing secrets. Just take a chance on a new author. I hope I don't have a long wait until her next work comes out!

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley. I received no compensation for my review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

This was fantastic. I loved this debut as a thriller and I cannot wait for more from this author. This was a unique concept that I loved. I read it very quickly. I I felt the writing style was easy to get into and enjoy if you like mysteries.

I find it hard to believe that this is the author’s debut novel. The suspenseful writing and plot twists made for a great page turner. I changed my mind multiple times as to who did it. I’d read a line and be convinced it was foreshadowing the ending, but then another twist would come to change my mind. As more proof that it was a great book - I didn’t like any of the characters. None. If I can dislike every character and still love the book, it’s a great story that is holding my interest. I’m definitely looking forward to her next book.

This is story of Chloe. When she was a child, 6 teenage girls went missing in her small town to which her father plead guilty and went to jail. As the 20th anniversary of the abductions draws near, 2 teenage girls disappear in her current town and she knows one of them. Chloe is sure they are somehow related to her past. Is she paranoid? Is it a copycat? Or is it completely unrelated to the prior case? I don’t want to say more and accidently give anything away so you’ll have to read it to find out what happens.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy to read and provide an honest review.

I definitely read ALL the serial killer books back in the day, and though I've grown more squeamish in my old(er) age I just had to give this one a try - and I'm glad I did!

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham uses a classic serial killer premise … the copycat. If a known serial killer is locked up, and then crimes with his signature start happening again … what’s going on? Either a) the wrong person is in prison or b) you have a copycat on your hands. Hmmmmm.

When Chloe Davis was a tween, her father was arrested for the murder of six young women in their small Louisiana community. Now in her thirties, living in Baton Rouge and planning a wedding, Chloe is horrified when similar murders start happening again.

I liked A Flicker in the Dark and thought it had a lot going for it. An interesting main character, an evocative setting, and a plot with a fair number of twists and turns. I did guess a major part of the ending (and you might too if you are a regular reader of serial killer or thriller fiction) but that happens sometimes. To me, the clue was HUGE but I have missed huge clues myself.

Definitely grab this one if you love a book with a good cat and mouse plot!