So, I devoured this in two sittings! I was so smug and thought I had everything figured out, pretty early on, but I thought I'll keep going just to see if anything interesting happens. Boy was I wrong! I had absolutely no idea what was going on. The author completely mastered the art of misdirection and kept the plot moving, and me reading, with great writing and characters that were so very, very real. This is easily the best thriller I have read in several years and I can't wait to see what else the author has to give us.

In this absolutely riveting story you’re never quite sure of anyone’s motives and where the story will lead. This book is full of twists that made my heart pound and question myself. I was unable to stop reading throughout the day because I had to know the ending and I absolutely loved it. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery/thriller.

This is a debut novel by Stacy Willingham. I will definitely be picking up anything she puts out in the future.

I want to thank NetGalley, Stacy Willingham and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for the e-ARC of this book.
Opinions expressed in this review are honest, my own and left voluntarily.

A book will always catch my attention when the synopsis mentions a serial killer and this one did not disappoint. Although I would’ve liked to see the mystery unravel a bit more slowly and span more of the story, I still enjoyed the suspense element of this story. I also would’ve liked to see the main character in a bit more danger for more of a thrill and because I’m evil like that.
All in all, this was a great book with good twists that truly surprised me. I totally thought I’d figure it out but I was happy to be proven wrong.
This one is definitely worth a read!

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!

I have to admit: sometimes reading about the family’s traumatic life after a serial killer father is convicted is a great plot idea to work on!

The character driven/ psychological thriller story of this book picked my interest and hooked me up from the beginning.

I liked the emotionally sensitive but also resilient, survivor and sometimes a little unreliable heroine; doctor Chloe Davis: she is a psychologist who also suffers from mental disorders and her fight helps her to become better at her job and change the lives of her patients. She’s dealing with her inner demons since she’s twelve the day her childhood is over because of her father’s conviction from kidnapping and killing six young teenagers in her hometown Louisiana.

You can imagine how her life entirely turned upside down!! As she feels too much, her brother who is 3 years older than her chose to feel nothing, turning into a stone hearted man keeping everything to himself, doing everything to protect her sister and their mother is already a lost case, committing suicide after her husband’s verdict, living in oblivion.

Now Chloe Davis grabs her second chance: working with teenagers as a psychologist and she’s doing far better job than her colleagues because she knows how to be troubled kid. She also found her loved one, is about to tie the knot with Daniel even though her brother Cooper has still suspicious about Daniel’s motives. Does he really know the real Chloe and does he know how she still struggles with her past?

But there are enough predicaments she has to face from her past prevent her move on to her life! A reporter from NY Times demands to interview her about her father’s crimes he committed 20 years ago and the murders of young teenagers strike back: interestingly the killer has exactly same methods of her father!
Is there a copy cat killer imitating her father’s method or was his father convicted to lifetime prison sentence for the crime he didn’t convict!

The culprit was a little foreseeable but most of the twists and big revelations were well constructed. There are some untied loose ends but overall it was gripping, well written, heart throbbing, engaging story makes you sit on the edge, giving you creeps, keeping your attention intact!

I’m looking forward to read her next works of the author. So far I really enjoyed her writing style!

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/ Minotaur Books for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

A Flicker in the Dark was a fast paced, twisty, thriller. The main character , Chloe, was relatable as in she has her own demons and faults but was just trying to live a good life.

Basically her father was a serial killer who was caught when Chloe was 12 and now in present day, girls are coming up missing and dead in a very similar pattern to her Dad, but Dad's in prison for life, so who is doing this now? Chloe's bound and determined to figure it out.

I can honestly say I did not see the end coming. I read this book in a few hours, I would definitely recommend to anyone who likes thrillers/mysteries.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a great twisty psychological thriller. Lots of leads to keep you guessing the twist. Read in a fast morning, completely engaged the entire time. Can't wait for more from this author!

This did not feel like the novel of a debut author, but instead a seasoned pro. I thought I saw obvious twists coming way ahead of time and was happy to realize I was wrong about many of them. I'm looking forward to more novels by this author!

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

I loved this one. Very fast paced, had me turning pages as I tore through it – I had to see how it would end. The characters were well rounded and the narrative felt believable. Gave me chills.

This is a pretty darn good outing for a debut novel. I actually give it 3.5 stars but rounded up because it’s her first story.

For fans of Silent Patient, Girl On A Train and others of that ilk, this is the story of Chloe who is trying her best to lead a normal life following a childhood in which her father became a notorious serial killer.

Unfortunately, whatever “normal” is, it sure is hard to do it when you’re guardian turns out to have very dark, homicidal tendencies.

All hell breaks loose in Chloe’s brain when similarly styled killings start happening again, twenty years after her father was put in prison for six consecutive life sentences.

Everybody is suspect and everything isn’t necessarily as it seems.

A good read!

#netgalley #flickerinthedark

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham is an unputdownable thriller with a twist you'll never see coming! The story revolves around Chloe Davis, a psychologist whose father is a convicted serial killer. When she was 12, she found pieces of jewelry in his closet that were linked to 6 missing girls whose bodies were never found. Now a grown-up, she works as a psychologist and is about to get married to the love of her life. Unfortunately, a copycat serial killer is afoot, murdering girls and taking pieces of their jewelry just like her father did 20 years ago. Who is the copycat serial killer? Will Chloe be able to find him before another girl goes missing?

Here is a chilling excerpt from the Prologue, which is from Chloe's perspective:

"I thought I knew what monsters were.
As a little girl, I used to think of them as mysterious shadows lurking behind my hanging clothes, under my bed, in the woods. They were a presence I could physically feel behind me, moving in closer as I walked home from school in the glare of the setting sun. I didn’t know how to describe the feeling, but I just knew they were there, somehow. My body could sense them, sense danger, the way your skin seems to prickle just before a hand is placed on an unsuspecting shoulder, the moment you realize that unshakable feeling you had was a set of eyes burrowing into the back of your skull, lurking behind the branches of an overgrown shrub.
But then you turn around, and the eyes are gone."

Overall, A Flicker in the Dark is an exciting, gripping thriller that you should not read in the dark. I made that mistake and was jumping at shadows the whole time. I love thrillers where the heroines are not afraid to do their own investigating, Nancy Drew-style. Chloe was a great protagonist. Her father's crimes really affected her, and when girls start going missing, she sees the links between her father and the new copycat serial killer. I liked that she wasn't afraid to stand up for herself and try to solve the crime herself. Although the first half is good, the second half is when the action starts to pick up! Once I started the second half, I could not put it down. I had to keep reading to find out who the serial killer was. The twist was excellently done, and I truly did not see it coming. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of thrillers in general, you won't want to miss this book when it comes out in January!

I wish to extend my sincere thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this beautifully written, suspenseful psychological thriller. This is a well-paced, gripping debut, written with assurance that will keep the reader riveted and puzzled. There are lovely descriptive passages of Louisana where the story is set. The characters are flawed but developed in depth.

Chloe Davis is the protagonist and narrator in the present time and contains her memories of a troubled and disturbing past. Now a successful psychologist, she is unstable and haunted. Her early years were in a small town with her parents and older brother in what she thought was an ordinary, normal home. Imagine how shattering it was when she was 12 years old; her father was arrested and charged with the serial killing of 6 teenaged girls in that small community. One of the victims Chole considered her best friend. Her father has been in prison for the last 20 years and will remain there for life. Chloe has mixed feelings towards this shocking event. She despises her father for his unforgivable crimes but carries guilt for finding evidence and turning it over to the police, which resulted in her father being convicted. The victim's bodies were not recovered. She cannot help clinging to the memory of how loving and protective she acted towards her before his imprisonment. She has never contacted or visited him since his arrest.

In her practice as a psychologist, she writes false prescriptions for mind-altering pills that she takes mixed with alcohol. She should be in a good place now but is frequently overcome with anxiety. She will soon be married to a kind, understanding, and loving man who is patient with her moods. She is neglecting plans for the upcoming wedding. Her protective older brother distrusts her fiance. It was easy to sympathize with Chloe and understand her instability, but I found her character and behaviour annoying.

In the present, two teenaged girls have vanished. One was her patient and last seen leaving her office.
Is it a copycat killer replicating her father's crimes? Is someone targeting her for her past? Chloe has some clues and thinks she knows who is taking and probably killing young girls. When she presents her theories to the police, her ideas are ignored with the warning not to interfere with their investigations.

In the meantime, Chloe has been contacted by a journalist doing a background story on the serial killings 20 years in the past. She refuses to be interviewed by him, but with the new murders, they join forces in an attempt to learn what is happening now in the present. Chloe finds herself becoming attracted to him as someone who understands what she has been going through. While interviewing relatives of the new victims, they come across information so mind-blowing and shocking that it raises Chloe's emotional state to a higher level of fear and dread. Now one of her friend's daughters has gone missing, and Chloe feels she must act to expose this new serial killer.

There are so many twists and surprises in this compelling story that when the reader thinks they have figured out where it is going, there is still more to reveal. There were a couple of loose ends that I wish would have been resolved. I highly recommend this to fans of psychological thrillers with many twists, turns, and unforeseen revelations. I think the author has a bright future and would read more of her books.

Thank you Netgalley for providing this book for an honest review. This was a good book. I am all about figuring out the mystery. Of course, I thought I had it figured out and then the author took me in a different direction. I enjoyed the story and all the twists and turns. I would definitely recommend reading this thriller and I can't wait to see other books by this author.

Chloe Davis is a psychologist trying to escape her past in a small Louisiana town, now living in Baton Rouge. A past in which her father was convicted of murdering six teenage girls in 1998. But on the 20th anniversary of his crimes, a reporter has tracked her down, and two missing girls, including one of her patients, threaten to bring her past back into the limelight. Is there a copycat at work or someone closer to Chloe and the original killings?
The overall writing in this book felt better than a debut novelist. It's a pretty solid page turner of a thriller full of suspicions, red herrings and plot twists. There were a few amateurish instances in the book and I did guess the major twist very early on, but I did enjoy the book and would say it should appeal to fans of contemporary mystery/thrillers.

Chloe Davis has tried to move away from her past. She was just twelve when her father was arrested for killing six girls. Twenty years have passed and she is finally in a solid relationship, about to be married, and her career in psychology, helping children is thriving. At first glance, you could consider her a success story, overcoming a lot.
Until a reporter contacts her, wanting an interview about her father's crime. Then local girls start vanishing and it seems a copycat is reenacting the horror that ended her childhood. Soon, we see how tenuous Chloe's grip on reality is, and I went back and forth between believing she was seriously disturbed, or targeted in a very cruel way.
The entire story is told from her point of view, moving from the present to the past and showing glimpses of her happy family, until suddenly, it wasn't. There was more than one red herring, and even though my first guess about the killer's identity was correct, I can't take credit since I managed to doubt myself more than once. All of the characters were well developed and the plot moved relentlessly along. It is odd because I really didn't like or trust any of them, even Chloe, but I was still furiously flipping pages to see how this would end.
I think A Flicker in the Dark is going to be talked about as an unputdownable debut. All the major plot points were wrapped up, but I would have liked an epilogue that showed what happened to one particular character. Maybe there will be another book? I wouldn't mind that at all.4.5 stars.

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?

Fantastic thriller from this new, up-and-coming author! Great plot - devoured it in one night!

Review of Uncorrected Digital Galley

Doctor Chloe Davis has a thriving practice in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. An adolescent psychologist, she’s tried to leave the terror of her childhood behind her, but it continually intrudes on her thoughts. Nevertheless, she’s in a relatively good place, engaged to Daniel Griggs and managing to keep the demons at bay.

Some twenty years ago, Chloe’s father, Richard, convicted for the murders of six teenage Breaux Bridge girls, went to prison. Chloe has not seen him since his arrest; she sees her mother, Mona, occasionally, but Mona’s suicide attempt shortly after her husband’s conviction left her in a minimally conscious state.

Now, as the anniversary of the killings approaches, girls begin disappearing once again and there may be a new serial killer copycatting Richard Davis. Aside from her brother, Cooper, and Daniel, Chloe finds it difficult to trust anyone. She has a few theories, but no proof.

And then she makes a disturbing discovery.

Told from Chloe’s viewpoint, the present-day narrative occasionally slips into the past to provide the necessary backstory for the telling of this clever, twisted tale. The inventive plot leaves readers guessing as it twists and turns, bringing unexpected surprises and changing everything readers think they know.

Strong, nuanced characters populate the intriguing story; they’re not necessarily likable, but they are believable and there is credibility in the lack of control that Chloe often feels. Plot twists and spellbinding revelations keep the pages turning as this unputdownable book races toward a denouement that readers simply won’t see coming. Don’t miss this one.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books and NetGalley
#AFlickerInTheDark #NetGalley

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books for allowing me to read an ARC of this book. I really don't think the description of the book does just it justice, because it was so much more than I was expecting! Chloe was not a sympathetic character, even knowing what she had gone through the drinking and drugs made her unlikable and unreliable. I did find it felt realistic (but annoying!) that she thought she "knew it all" because she was a psychologist. All of that aside though, this was a dynamite book! To be honest, I had a feeling about part of the ending pretty early on, but then changed my mind. I changed my mind about what the truth was often while reading this book because it seemed like little clues kept being dropped. and I kept falling for them. The writing really drew me in. Even though I didn't love any of the characters, I really got invested in what was going to happen to them. The story was intriguing and as I said before, kept me guessing until the end. I am looking forward to more book by this author!

Good book! What an interesting story! This book had suspense, intrigue, action, lots of crazy characters! It was definitely a different storyline! It did take a while to get to where it was going but the book was still really good! It had a ton of twists and turns! And a great who done it!! Kept me guessing right till the end! I definitely recommend reading this thriller! Its well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

What a great thriller. I went into it not knowing, just looking for a new author. I was not disappointed. Each time I thought maybe I knew what was going on, I quickly found out I didn’t. I wish I had found out more what happened between Daniel and Chloe at the end, it maybe in another book!