Solid thriller set in Louisiana. I'm going to be the annoying reviewer here who says "I figured out the twist so early," but thankfully, Willingham had several twists up her sleeve so I was still satisfied by the reveal(s)! I also lent this book to two friends who said it was a page-turner.

"When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, her own father had confessed to the crimes and was put away for life, leaving Chloe and the rest of her family to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath.

Now twenty years later, Chloe is a psychologist in Baton Rouge and getting ready for her wedding. While she finally has a fragile grasp on the happiness she’s worked so hard to achieve, she sometimes feels as out of control of her own life as the troubled teens who are her patients. So when a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another, that terrifying summer comes crashing back. Is she paranoid, seeing parallels from her past that aren't actually there, or for the second time in her life, is Chloe about to unmask a killer?

From debut author Stacy Willingham comes a masterfully done, lyrical thriller, certain to be the launch of an amazing career. A Flicker in the Dark is eerily compelling to the very last page."

I can't be the only one who likes thrillers of past crimes having eerie similarities to present crimes, amiright?

To be completely honest, this wasn't my favorite thriller, but I think I'm in a bit of a thriller rut. In general, fans of the genre will find a lot to love here, and an ending I truly didn't see coming.

A Flicker in the Dark is a story that burns slowly with many twists and turns as Chloe Davis tries to move on from the past. Her father was convicted of being a serial killer twenty years ago. As the anniversary approaches two 15-year-old girls have disappeared within a few days of each other. The most recent, is one of Chloe's patients. Chloe starts to spiral as it brings up reminders of her father's crimes.

As Chloe tries to deal with the past as she remembers it, she is terrified that she is becoming a person of interest due to her father. Drinking and self-medicating are causing Chloe fear for her safety, but she tries to question what is happening around her. Cooper her brother, and Daniel her fiancé, are both acting strangely while saying they are trying to protect her. Yet Chloe feels anything but safe.

I liked this story with all the twists and turns it lays out before the reader. It's interesting what we remember as children in the past is not always accurate or even the whole truth. This is a pager turning story that keeps building until the very end.

I don’t read many thrillers/mysteries but I’m glad I read this one. It was fun and fast-paced and had me turning pages quickly while drinking coffee and enjoying a snowy morning. A fun escape. There were “problems”’with some of the characters and plot directions but I still found it fun and thrilling even and definitely worth the read. Heartfelt thanks to Minotaur Books for the advanced copy. I’m grateful.

This is the best book that I have read in months! I listened to the audio version and not only did I love the narrator (I’ve listened to her before and actively searched for books that she narrates, which is how I originally heard of this one) but I couldn’t not get enough of the writing, storyline, characters…everything!! This was the perfect book for me and I cannot believe that this is the author’s debut novel, I’ll be impatiently waiting for her to write another!!

3.5 stars rounded up

This book was slow-paced for the first 3/4 of the book, which can be tricky for a mystery/thriller, but I didn't want to DNF or put it down. The pace worked with the story. Even though I did guess this one early on, there are a few wrenches thrown at the reader over the course of 30ish pages, where there was a lot of: "oh?" '"oh!" "ohhhhh". I did enjoy reading this one despite it being predictable.

Thank you Minotaur and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Chloe grew up in the shadow of her father's notoriety as a serial killer, caught and imprisoned when she was 12. 20 years later she is poised to marry and has created a somewhat normal life as a psychotherapist. When girls around her start disappearing and later turning up dead, she enters a game of cat and mouse with a killer who clearly knows her too well.

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Hello Folks...I just wrote a review for this work and it has been placed on my website....again, still in the works. Thank you for taking a look.

Best, DOUG MACLEOD

The cover of the book is what really grabbed my attention, I then read the premise and was really interested to read this one. I'm glad I did! When Chloe was younger, 6 young girls went missing in her small town and her father was found guilty of murder, now considered a serial killer. Her father went to prison and her family was left to grabble with the aftermath. 20 years later, Chloe is a psychologist trying to use her past experience to help others. But when local girls start going missing it brings back all the memories of the summer when her father was arrested. the book goes back and forth between her past and the present as she begins to question her sanity and trying to understand if she is imaging this because no one trusts her judgement. She starts to see similarities between these and those that happened 20 years ago. A good twist at the end (as I expected) but a book that I couldn't put down. I will recommend this to those who want a good dark psychological thriller

The idea of this book was so amazing. A serial killer dad and a copycat killer 20 years later? So intriguing but sadly it just never got amazing. It was just always mediocre and I saw the ending from a mile away. I just wanted more from this book sadly.

This book was entertaining for what it was but is ultimately average as thrillers go. I found Chloe a bit hard to like and relate to from the get-go, which also brought the rating down for me. I tend to not like books where I feel an abundance of secondhand embarrassment for the main character, so there were times when this one made me cringe a bit. I also found the pacing slow in places.

If you're a regular to the horror genre, you'll find A Flicker in the Dark fairly average and forgettable. Our main character is a drug addict: seen it. Her life partner is sketchy: been there before. She's got a complicated past that ties her to the crime: nothing new here.

There's nothing really wrong with this book, aside from one (in my opinion) under-developed character. If you're a big fan of Tana French but have only have 1-2 days of free time, A Flicker in the Dark may scratch a bit of that itch, but it won't take you as long to read as a French novel might. I'd also recommend it to people who want a decent, inoffensive thriller starter pack. This book manages to fit neatly in the thriller genre without resorting to graphic sexual content or hardcore gore, and that can be difficult to find these days.

This is Stacy Willingham's debut, so I'm looking forward to finding out how her writing evolves over time.

This thriller (but is it?) has the internet buzzing, but I must respectfully disagree.

Twenty years ago, Chloe's father was convicted as a serial killer of missing teenage girls in rural Louisiana. Now Chloe is a trauma psychologist who's about to get married to a normal guy when girls begin to go missing again. When Chloe gets wrapped up in the disappearances, she must find the killer and reconcile her past.

SPOILERS AHEAD
Here are just some of the things I found totally unbelievable in this book:
-She's a trauma psychologist who's afraid of her own shadow?
-Her fiance likes to surprise her with parties and dates in remote places- but knows she's jumpy?
-She doesn't already have a security system?
-The cops make her view the dead body of a patient she's only met once? View the actual dead body?!?
-She finds a piece of evidence at a crime scene and doesn't think the police know who she is or her backstory or her profession and she thinks they won't find her?
-She mistrusts all the males she encounters but the one who's the worst?
-She gets her mute mother to communicate after 20 years but never tried to do that before?

Overall, I knew who the bad guy was from the beginning of the book because it is just not that original. I was frustrated with the character's stupidity and actions that were totally different than what their character would do. If you've read any mysteries at all, I think you'll feel the same way.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review and having me begin the year with an unpopular opinion.

“A Flicker In the Dark” by Stacy Willingham is a debut novel out January 11, 2022.
Sophie Conrad is planning her wedding to a man that she has not known for long but she is sure will make her happy despite the misgivings from her brother. The two siblings have been closer than most after their father was arrested for the murder mystery of several young girls when the siblings were young teens. Sophie was the one who led the police to her father after discovering jewelry belonging to one of the murdered girls hidden in their home. With the twentieth anniversary of the murders approaching, young girls are once again being snatched and murdered. Sophie is sure that the killer is a copycat of her father as each of the victims has a connection to her. The police are skeptical of her claims believing that she is unable to trust others and previous false accusations further damage her credibility. As the victims add up, Sophie continues to self medicate and is unsure if her paranoia is real or imagined. Is history repeating itself or is there a copycat killer out there and is Sophie going to be the next victim?
This was an amazing debut, it started off a little slow but builds suspense and keeps you turning pages. I loved the red herrings and unreliable narrator that had me guessing whodunit and then changing my mind a couple of pages later only to be proven wrong in the end. I can’t wait to read Stacy Willinghams’ next book and am thrilled that this has been optioned by Emma Stone. I’m not a big tv/movie watcher but I will make an exception for this one.
Thanks to #netgalley and # Minotaur books for the advanced e-copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

• I was immediately drawn into the story by Wlillingham’s writing and story telling. The main character is a psychologist and that is something I like —characters working in the mental health field. I like to read about them both as a mental health consumer and as a former counselor.

• I thought the pace in this book was excellent and I did not find myself skimming through the pages trying to hurry the book along.

• The character development was excellent. Already well-formed characters were given even more dimension as the story progressed.

• The twists! There were small twists, big twists, and medium-sized twists and I enjoyed them all. Some I didn’t see coming and I loved that.

• I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the reading process. I wish we could’ve had more of the ending, but that being said, I did appreciate how the book ended.

• I recommend A Flicker in the Dark to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers, lots of twists, and books with serial killers in them.

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham is a debut thriller about Chloe Davis, a psychologist who twenty years prior witnessed her dad being arrested and charged for the killing of six teenage girls. She is happy and making wedding preparations when teenage girls start going missing again. She has a connection to the girls that go missing and feels like it's her responsibility to find these girls. But, as she investigates, she starts to discover just how closely related these current cases are to the missing girls from twenty years ago. This book was well-written and kept me guessing. I would definitely recommend it to readers that enjoy thrillers. Thanks to NetGalley for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

I knew I had to read this when I found out it was based in Baton Rouge (my hometown!) – like I actually ran to NetGalley and was approved for an eARC. Then it just so happened to be a BOTM pick that I obviously snagged!

At 12-years-old, Chloe Davis’s father was arrested for the murder of 6 teenage girls. 20 years later, Chloe has finally moved on, is a psychologist in Baton Rouge, and is gearing up to wed her fiancé. Then two teenage girls go missing and the killings are reminiscent of her father’s 20 years ago… is this a copy-cat killer or is something more sinister happening?

I actually really enjoyed this. It had everything I love in a thriller – there was a serial killer story line, an unreliable narrator, and so many twists and turns that will leave you dizzY!

What stops me from giving this book 5 stars are two things:
1. I keep finding myself reading books where the main character is a psychologist, yet they make the most unhinged decisions. Don’t get me wrong – psychologists are people too and are allowed to make mistakes. Yet, with that profession, I expect more out of their moral compass (i.e. not popping pills you filled in your fiancé’s name that he has no idea about) and it bothers me to no end.
2. The pacing was a bit uneven – sometimes it felt like everything was happening all at once and I wanted to turn page after page, and others, we were getting so much of the main characters internal thoughts/feelings I was thinking “can we move on already?!”

Despite my qualms mentioned above, I think this is a solid thriller that was made all the more fun being based in my hometown!

Thank you to NetGalley & Minotaur Books for the eARC!

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! It kept me on my toes the entire time. I was hooked from the very first page. Although I figured out one of the twists before it was revealed, the final twist shocked me. This is a high-quality thriller that I'm sure the bookstagram community will love. The story was fast-paced and well-written, especially for a debut. Some of the phrasing was awkward like saying that it smelled like a hard boiled egg burp outside (yikes), but other than that, there wasn't anything to complain about. I really enjoyed it!

"A Flicker in the Dark" kept me reading to the end, but with a sporadic sense of deja vu. Had I read this book before? Some details were strangely familiar, but the main plot -- a therapist pursued by demons from her past -- was twisty enough to feel fresh. Protagonist Chloe is such a mess and makes so many bad decisions that it's hard to root for her, although we still do. But Willingham misses a bet in failing to take full advantage of her Louisiana setting. Minus the occasional Spanish moss, this story could take place anywhere.