✨ REVIEW ✨ Trying to wrap my head around how this is the author’s debut, because WOW this story is quite the ride! I’ve been in a thriller/mystery mood lately, and A Flicker in the Dark was right up my alley.

Dr. Chloe Davis is a psychologist trying to physically and mentally escape her past of her convicted, serial killer father where he murdered 6 young girls twenty years ago. Flip back to the present and two young girls are missing. Chloe begins to put pieces together and she doesn’t think this is a coincidence after all.

A Flicker in the Dark kept me guessing until the last few pages, as the many twists and turns are revealed. The details the author wove into the plot were pulled off seamlessly. This is a must read for any thriller/mystery fan! Thanks to Net Galley for providing me with an e-copy for review!

This story sucked me in and kept my attention the entire way through -- I devoured it in 2 days. I loved the pacing of this story, the blurred lines between the flashbacks to the past and future, and the character developments along the way. Recently, I've been avoiding thrillers because they seem so predictable and familiar but this one kept me on my toes and kept my interest.

I will definitely be recommending this to those that love thrillers/suspense. It reminded me of the Netflix series, Mindhunter.

Thank you Netgalley for a galley in exchange for an honest review. This book is out now!

A completely serviceable serial killer/psychological whodunnit, A Flicker in the Dark will be the right choice for the voracious consumer of thrillers. I'm sometimes one of them, and always a sucker for a smart lady who figures things out but just a little too slowly.

I didn't figure things out until I'd smugly told my family I knew who the killer was, and then read another chapter and realized I was completely wrong. I give it an additional star for that.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy.

There have been quite the mixed feelings about this one. Personally, I think this was an okay thriller. Some called it predictable, and I would have to agree. This book toed the line of predictability but I stuck it out in case a real surprise came through. Unfortunately, most of the plot twists didn’t smack like they were intended.

Mostly, I’m very intrigued that this has been picked up for a series with Emma Stone as the lead. Picturing her as our protagonist honestly made this book a lot better for me! I think she’s going to kill it as the quinticensial unreliable narrator.

The ending was a little less than impressive for me. In fact, it felt like a stretch. Trying just a little too hard to have that jaw drop moment but maybe falling a little flat. And honestly, the amount of clues our narrator misinterprets was super aggravating. Like stop jumping to conclusions miss! Back it up with some more investigation.

I was excited when I received a digital review copy from Netgalley for A Flicker a in the Dark as I had seen so many positive reviews. I read mysteries with an intent of not being able to figure out the who behind it. However, if there is a good story with engaging characters and I don’t mind if I can solve it before the tale ends.

Unfortunately this book and I were not a match. I couldn’t connect with the main character and found I was confused by some of her actions or lack of them. I also figured out who the murderer was and it didn’t surprise me. So A Flicker in the Dark was not a fit for me but I’m curious about what the author will do next and will certainly try them again.

A monster hiding in plain sight. This is how many serial killers are viewed. Chloe’s father is no different. He is presented as a loving father who envelops his little girl in his arms to protect her from the scary things in the darkness. As he confesses to killing six teenage girls, he becomes one of those scary things in the darkness. As the twenty year anniversary of his arrest approaches, more teenage girls go missing and are later found dead. Chloe is overwhelmed with childhood memories of her father’s crimes while trying to figure out how these copycat murders are connected to her.

This book is filled with flawed and damaged characters. They all seem to be hiding things and you wonder if anyone can be trusted. In many respects this book doesn’t present a ‘new’ serial killer story, but that doesn’t detract from needing to see how it all will end. This is a well written debut.

This debut thriller had me engrossed in the story from the first page, and although I thought I knew the murderer, the red herrings in the story line pulled me in to missing the real culprit. Chloe Davis is 12 when girls start missing from her small Louisiana town. Now, at age 32, Chloe is a psychologist starting a private practice in Baton Rouge. She’s engaged and should be happy, but she isn’t. When one of her teenaged girl patients disappears and is discovered murdered, her life becomes a nightmare again. The writing is intense, and the character are well developed. Willingham doesn’t use extra language. The tense feel is intensified in her writing.

Twenty years ago, when she was 12, Chloe’s father was arrested for killing 6 girls. Chloe is now a psychologist hoping to help her patients get through trying times. A New York Times reporter will be doing an article on Chloe and her father and wants an interview with her. After all these years, 15-year-old girls are found missing and dead. again. They can all be tied to Chloe. Lacy, the last missing girl, had been to Chloe’s office before she went missing. Now being questioned, all the events of 20 years ago come flooding back to Chloe. Chloe thinks she knows who the copy-cat killer is, but will anyone believe her before it is too late? Exciting book with characters that are not what they seem.

What a solid debut for Stacy Willingham! If you enjoy twisty thrillers and an unreliable narrator - check out this read!

Thank you St. Martin's Press / Minotaur Books & NetGally for my early copy!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur, and Stacy Willingham for the e-arc of A Flicker in the Dark in exchange for an honest review.

When Chloe Davis was twelve, six girls went missing from her small hometown in Louisiana. By the end of the summer, her father confessed to the murders and was sentenced to life in prison. Chloe and the rest of her family struggle to move on and come to terms with their new reality.

Twenty years later, Chloe has a tentative grasp on normal. She is a psychologist and engaged to be married. But the young girls around her begin to go missing again, Chloe begins to think there might be a connection between the events of her past and what is happening now.

The timeline for this book is a little strange and took some getting used to. Characters will be having a conversation, but the chapter will end. Instead of continuing the previous conversation, we start the next chapter a few days later with Chloe doing something else or talking to someone else, but thinking back on the conversation we left at the end of the last chapter. It was a little hard to follow at times, but became easier the further in we got.

It felt like not a lot happened in the first half of the book, but it definitely picks up in the latter half. We spent a lot of time in our main character’s head, rehashing the same issues, but through this we get a lot of insight into Chloe’s character and her motivations.

Despite the few issues with pacing, if you are looking for a thriller with a lot of twists and turns, this book is it. It is full of red herrings and false leads and has the ability to keep you guessing until the end.

This novel is getting stellar reviews and even though I didn’t love it, I can see why.

I loved disliking Chloe’s character - she was totally flawed, addicted, naive, and gullible - but it made for a great read. I couldn’t tell if I could trust her at all or if she was a completely unreliable narrator. Her logic in accusing everyone around her of abducting and murdering young girls made sense but was frustrating because you could feel her put up the blinders as soon as she had a suspect in mind.

As far as the suspects, while I guessed pieces of the ending pretty early on, it was fun watching the story unfold. Chloe developed really sound arguments for everyone she suspected and it was hard not to fall for the red herrings (or were they red herrings?). It’s always fun to second guess your theories even if you’re not totally duped!

This really was a well done debut and I’m excited to see what this author releases in the future.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for a copy of this novel.

What a wonderful, captivating debut novel by Stacy Willingham. I will enjoy reading more by this new author.

psychological twists and turns that kept on coming and characters that made me wonder who to was telling the truth and who was not. Plus it showed how far a father would go to proctored his family .

3.5 stars rounded down. Williamson gives us an eerie thriller for her debut novel. It is a solid story with psychological twists and turns. Definitely worth the read!

I didn't love this book; it was disjointed and not nearly as twisty as I prefer. I also didn't get a real sense of the protagonist.

Chloe’s father feels like safety to her as a child. Chloe’s father is a serial killer. As the 20th anniversary of his murders approach, new girls go missing.
Is it a copycat? Are they targeting Chloe? Is she imagining things?
This is a fresh look at the serial killer trope, coming from the perspective of the (innocent) family of the killer.
The book is well-written and I think newer thriller readers might love it. But I figured out the twists as soon as the characters were introduced..and so I spent a particularly tense scene just annoyed that we were wasting time with the wrong direction.

A Flicker in the Dark is one of those mysteries that had me guessing, incorrectly, the whole novel.

Chloe Davis is a psychologist, someone who wants to help others deal with their demons. However, she is still dealing with her own demons from her past. When she was young, Chloe's father was sentenced to life in prison for pleading guilty to kidnapping and murdering 6 girls. Twenty years later, as Chloe has her life together, she begins to relive her nightmarish past as more girls begin to go missing. As her demons come to the surface, she must both deal with her own pain that has resurfaced and her fear of what comes next.

If you like a twisty plot that has you totally taken by surprise, this is for you. Lots of twists, but good twists! Such a great thriller! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

What did I just read??? Wow it's all I can say. A damaged main character with heart, passion and grit. I went out and bought a copy just so I could read it again and again

I loved this book. It's beautifully written and the plot kept me completely hooked. I couldn't stop reading, but at the same time, I didn't want it to end. What an achievement!

What a great debut thriller! I was very impressed with this one! I'm really good at predicting endings but this one kept me guessing!