Whoa! This is so impressive, spine tingling and deliciously twisty and intelligent! Let’s make some noise and clap till our hands hurt: we have a brilliant author at smart psychological thriller town : welcome dear Stacy Willingham!

Ooh time goes by and if i don't write the review right away...sigh. I'm trying to be better. The best i can do right now is give a star count...

This was pretty good. Chloe did get on my nerves s bit at times and the ending was kinda predictable but the book flowed well and quickly.

Overall, I loved A Flicker in the Dark. A psychological thriller with so many great elements of suspense. I chose to do the audiobook and loved the narration as well.

It surprises me that this is a debut! Willingham is a great writer and I was suspicious of pretty much everything. The author definitely takes you in multiple directions—what is a clue and what isn’t? It felt like a more fresh spin on the unreliable narrator. which is usually so overdone, but I found it contributed to the mystery perfectly.

Can’t wait for her next book!

Thank you to @minotaurbooks and #netgalley for my advanced e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

“I have a darkness inside of me….A darkness that comes out at night.”

A fun twisty thriller played out in Chloe’s reflections/ruminations of a life defined as the daughter of a serial killer. I found the first half incredibly slow, and nearly gave up on it. It picked up as several different characters are developed as plausible killers. I figured out the killer pretty early on, but as the alternate characters became more substantial, I did start to wonder about those possibilities. Which I love! It made the book much better over time. I think if the beginning weren’t so slow I would have enjoyed it more. I could definitely see how this could make a good movie.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

I'd been seeing chatter about A Flicker in the Dark and got curious. Well curiosity didn't kill this cat, I am one satisfied feline as the story was incredible and the MC is one you'll root for and never forget.

Stacy Willingham's "A Flicker in the Dark" stars psychologist Chloe Davis. When she was 12, her father confessed to killing 6 teen girls in their town of Breaux Bridge., Louisiana.

Now new serial killings mimic the murders 20 years before, when her father confessed and was convicted. The story moves back and forth in time from Chloe's recollections of past events to the current search for the missing girls. She starts investigating herself.

Tension builds to more than one shocker in the conclusion.

Great book! My first book by Stacy Willingham, but she will definitely be on my radar going forward.

Good book, but the premise was a bit old (drugged up narrator trope). The pacing was too slow for me to be really invested in the story . Its more on the side of the psychological part of a psych thriller than the thriller aspect. It definitely picks up at the end, but I dont like having to wait until the book is 2/3 done to get excited about it

Ahhh this thriller was so good!! I’ve been having the worst luck with thrillers lately, but this one got me out of my slump. A Flicker in the Dark is a super fast paced read and perfect for fans of No Exit by Taylor Adams! It’s twisty, suspenseful, and impossible to put down. I’m giving this one 3.5 stars rounded up! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review!

I didn't end up reading this book until recently. I did purchase a copy through BOOK OF THE MONTH. I wanted to provide a review since I did read it.
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The writing was very clear. For a debut, Willington has a clear voice. However, the story left me wanting more. About 1/10 through, I thought I figured out the killer. A little before halfway, I realized who it really was. I wanted to keep reading to see how it turned out, though. At the end, there were a few good twists I didn't see coming.

On paper it looks like Dr. Chloe Davis is thriving despite the trauma of her childhood. She is engaged to be married, has a successful practice, and has put the past firmly behind her. In reality, she keeps up good appearances. When young women with a connection to her start to go missing, she fears that a copycat is on the loose. Somebody who wants to emulate her father, the serial killer. But given her track record of false accusations, Chloe is not sure that she should take her latest accusations to the police. Not without proof. So Chloe partners with a journalist to find proof that her latest supposition is the truth. And somebody is killing young girls associated with her. Will she be able to figure out who before the daughter of a friend is gone for good?


A Flicker in the Dark is a solid offering from debut author, Stacy Willingham. Chloe Davis is a hot mess and those kinds of characters always make for interesting reading. Even her relationship with her fiance was throwing red flags at me. It seemed like her relationship with her brother, Cooper, was the most stable thing in her life. But then again, in fiction, things are rarely what they seem. For a main character, Chloe did some ethically questionable things. But it made me pity her more than question her. Parts of the ending were surprising, but I had one of the "twists" figured out early on. It was the other twist that caught me by surprise. - CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS.



Bottom Line - A Flicker in the Dark is a solid choice if you are looking for a good thriller for your next read. The depths of the characters will keep you entertained even if the plot doesn't.



Details:

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham
On Facebook
Pages: 368
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: 1/11/2022
Buy it Here!
Thank you to NetGalley for the book in exchange for an honest review.

A stunner...the definition of a great suspense novel! This book has all the twists and turns one would expect, revealing just enough to keep you guessing. Just when I thought I had it figured out...I didnt. I'm sorry I put this one on the back burner for awhile because once I started I was hooked and did not want to put it down. Highly recommend this one and hope to read more from this author!

I wish I could say that I loved this book, but it just didn't do enough for me. There wasn't anything that was particularly surprising here. Would probably be better suited for someone that reads different genres and switches it up more often than I do. Unfortunately, I found the plot a little too predictable.

When I saw the buzz on social media surrounding "A Flicker in the Dark" I thought there was no way the book would be able to live up to the hype. I was happy to eat my words when this book surpassed the very high expectations I held for it to become one of the best psychological thrillers I have read in years.

Chloe Davis' childhood ended the day her father was arrested for murdering six teenage girls in her small Louisiana town. She has spent the past twenty years trying to build a safe, insulated life away from the notoriety of being Dick Davis' daughter. When the twentieth anniversary of her father's arrest finds her engaged to be married and running her own psychologist's practice, she would have said she had succeeded. Then the first girl disappears. One missing girl is a tragedy, but when the second is taken, Chloe thinks it's a pattern that seems all too familiar. While those around her think she's becoming increasingly paranoid, Chloe can't help but look for evidence that these murders are related to the ones her father committed twenty years ago. When the police seem to think she's losing her grip on reality, she finds herself once more on the hunt for a killer.

Stacy Willingham has an incredible ability to rachet up the tension, to deliver a gutwrenching twist at just the moment you think you've figured out the plot, I was *sure* I knew exactly what was coming after reading the first quarter of the book, but nothing could have prepared me for the ending Willingham had in store. "A Flicker in the Dark" will become required reading for the thriller genre, recommended again and again at libraries, book clubs, and between friends for years to come. I genuinely could not believe this was a debut effort and feel certain that before long we will be enshrining Stacy Willingham in the pantheon of modern mystery heavyweights with names like Lisa Jewell, Riley Sager, and Simone St. James.

3.5 stars. This book kept my interest and I flew through it quickly. I liked the sense that as you were reading, none of the characters seemed all that reliable and you never fully trusted any of them. What I didn't like was the frustratingly dumb, naive actions of the main character. So frustrating that she kept putting herself in situations and then acting stupidly. I also had a fairly good idea of the answers to the mystery. But that didn't take away from the enjoyment of the book. There were some nice twists to keep you guessing.

As the child of a serial killer, Chloe has had to deal with her own demons, since she was the one who handed over the evidence that helped convict her beloved father. Now, twenty years later she is a successful psychologist and planning her wedding to a wonderful man. But when girls begin to disappear and are later found murdered, Chloe can’t help but think there are too many similarities to her father’s crimes.

A Flicker in the Dark is an impressive debut novel by Stacy Willingham. The writing is taut, the premise compelling, the characters well-drawn, and the plot is outstanding. And, even though I had some of it figured out, the twists were still vivid and well-done. It is one of those books that is almost impossible to put down until the last page is turned. A Flicker in the Dark is definitely a 4.5 stars book for me.

Well done, Ms Willingham! I am looking forward to your next novel. Please don’t take too long!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

RATING: 3.5 STARS
2022; Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Press/Macmillan Audio

The review blurb on the cover of this book is from Karin Slaughter so you KNOW I am going to add this to my TBR without even reading the synopsis. While the ending was a bit too easy to figure out, the characters and story kept me glued. This is the debut novel by Stacy Willingham, and I can see the potential of each book growing. Anytime an author can make me invested in unlikable or and/or annoying characters, that is a win. This is a great novel to throw in your bag to head down to the beach, or the deck (in my case). I am downing for the next Willingham book. Thanks to Slaughter for leading me to a great read.

***I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook and eBook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

This was a gripping psychological debut thriller! When Chloe was 12 years old, her father was convicted of killing 6 teenage girls. The story is told from present day where Chloe is a psychologist with the 20-year anniversary of the murders coming up. Girls start to disappear and die with a similar modus operandi. Who is the culprit, a copycat killer? (Her father is still in prison).

I kept thinking I knew who it was, and then she would throw in another twist. The suspense kept building. She had me on the edge of my seat until the very end. I look forward to her next book.

I also listened to an audio version through my Library and the narrator #KarissaVacker was awesome!

Thank you to #NetGalley and #St.Martin'sPress #Minotaur Books for a digital ARC for my honest review.

Stacey Willingham's A Flicker in the Dark kept me on the edge of my seat until the very last page. Chloe Davis, who's father is convicted of killing multiple teenage girls when she was 12, is just enough of an unreliable narrator that the audience is not quite sure how much of what she is saying is really true, and what is a drug induced dream.

Willingham writes with such conviction, that I personally did not see the ending coming at all. A Flicker in the Dark is fabulous, mind-bending thriller that will get into anyone's head.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my copy of this novel.