Member Reviews
It's been one year since Isabelle Drake's young son was taken from his bed in the middle of the night. Since, then Isabelle's life has been one long waking nightmare, where she battles insomnia in between obsessively searching for clues to her son's abductor. When she meets a podcaster who offers her a chance to share her story on his show, she decides to take him up on the offer, but as she begins to tell him her story, she begins to question her past and those around her.
After reading Stacy Willingham's first book, A Flicker in the Dark, I jumped on the chance to read this one. And I was absolutely not disappointed! The book jumps back and forth in time between the present and a signifiant event in Isabelle's childhood, as well a brief glimpses into her adult life, but it all works together.
From the first pages, this book creates a tense atmosphere and introduces us to a main character who is obviously very troubled and possibly unreliable due to her very fragile mental state. As the book goes on, we see her go through the whole range of emotions and it's a rollercoaster that we gladly ride with her as the story unfolds and the twists just keep coming.
And as for that ending, - WOW. I can't even describe how amazing a storyteller Willingham is, able to craft a great story with multiple pieces that work together and create a picture that just comes together and blows you away. I was absolutely enthralled as I read the last chapters and watched it all unfold perfectly.
This book is a worthy successor to her previous book and I absolutely will continue to read more from Stacy Willingham. She's quickly becoming a must-read author.
I didn’t get a chance to read Willingham’s debut novel, A Flicker in the Dark, when it came out last year, so I made sure to make an effort to prioritize reading her sophomore effort so I could see what the hullabaloo was about.
You would’ve thought by this point in time in my life and with how many books I’ve read (even in just the last year alone) I’d learn not to get my hopes up. The higher the hopes the more of a risk the disappointment will hit you hard. That’s exactly how I would describe the way I feel toward All the Dangerous Things: a disappointment. A lot of reviewers seem to be loving it, but I’m just not feeling it.
This book is marketed as a thriller in every way, yet it never once succeeded in making me feel any of the components of what makes a thriller a thriller: I felt no stress, no anxiety, and no feelings of being unsettled or restless to see what happened next.
Was there suspense? Sure, but the elements of suspense like chapter cliffhangers, pacing changes, and timeline changes failed to feel like suspense because it was obvious to me from early on in the book where everything was leading. Heck, the past timeline might as well have been a road map.
A thriller is meant to have high stakes, and I apologize if anyone thinks that this book has high stakes (I’m neurodivergent and have some issues processing the emotional processes of other real life humans, plus emotional blunting from medications sometimes causes me to not realize when I might be having emotional congruent reactions to certain events), but I simply didn’t understand our protagonist’s desperation at the level I think I was meant to. I couldn’t connect with her on the level I think a neurotypical human was likely meant to. I mean, I have kids, and I still didn’t understand it.
There was just so much of this novel that felt like it was trying too hard. The past timeline felt almost like a southern gothic mystery. The present timeline felt like a pasted together pastiche of a thriller. It was predictable and it was hardly a thriller.
NetGalley and Minotaur Books provided me with access to this title. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. Thank you.
Due to the 3 star or lower rating this review will not be posted to any bookseller or social media site. This is my own personal policy as a reviewer.
File Under: Domestic Thriller/Psychological Thriller/Amateur Sleuth/Crime Thriller/Thriller
a l l t h e d a n g e r o u s t h i n g s
Are you a podcast lover? If so, what’s one you like?
—
All the Dangerous Things is the newest thriller (drops next week!) from Stacey Willingham (author of the excellent Flicker in the Dark). It follows Isabelle whose young son was kidnapped from her home. Months after the kidnapping, the case growing cold, Isabelle cannot sleep and works tirelessly to help find out what happened to him.
—
She teams up with a true crime podcaster and the case slowly but surely begins to unravel but not before the reader questions absolutely everyone.
—
Like her first book, the book is well paced and plotted. I was on the edge of my seat and didn’t see some of the twists coming (some were rather predictable though). Her writing works rather well - evocative, riveting, moody, and tense.
—
I enjoyed the implicit questions this book asks - what does the true crime obsession of our society say about us? how do we balance insidious outsider interest with the needs of victims/families to keep the case alive? is true crime ethical?
—
I am still thinking.
—
In all, a competent and well written thriller. Thank you @stmartinspress and to @netgalley for the ALC and to @netgalley for the eARC. This one is out 1/10!
—
What a solid thriller! Isabelle Drake's toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night a year ago. With little evidence and few leads, the case quickly goes cold. Isabelle's entire existence now revolves around finding him, but at what cost.
What happens to Isabelle is every parents worst nightmare. Her desperation and refusal to give up makes her very relatable but also very complex, flawed, and a messy character.
This is the definition of a slow burn book with unreliable characters. I enjoyed the various twists and turns and how you can never quite place your bets on who to believe. My only complaint was that the middle seemed to slow down a little too much for me but definitely picked up towards the end. And the ending - I may be the only one but the ending definitely caught me by surprise!
This book is getting a lot of love and for good reason! Check it out when it publishes on January 10th!
I highly recommend the audiobook as Karissa Vacker narrates!
Stacy Willingham is officially an auto read author for me!
After obsessing over A Flicker In The Dark, I could not wait to get my hands on this one…and it did not disappoint! I didn’t want to put this one down, and when I had to, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
This story is filled with twists & turns- and they don’t all come at once which I love- you get so much in this one.
The story is absolutely compelling. It involves some heavy topics but it is just so well written and gripping from the start. I felt like everything I was reading played such an important part in this story and there was no fluff thrown in or any dragging storylines. There were so many different layers, all of them equally fascinating.
I had a ton different theories, and I was close to guessing some of the twists but let me tell you when I found out the truth my jaw dropped. I loved that this story could have gone sooo many different ways, thanks in part to some very unreliable characters.
Ok so the characters…I loved Isabelle, the MC. I could feel her devastation and desperation over everything that had happened in her life. She took matters into her own hands and was so determined to find the truth and you could tell she’d stop at nothing.
The book flips between past and present and the transitions were timed so perfectly and the whole book flowed so well.
I loved the snippets of Isabelle’s past and how closely it related to her current life.
I also thought the authors note at the end was such a great way to really end this book. It gave a glimpse into why Willingham wrote Isabelle the way she did…and it was fantastic.
This is one you need to read asap!
This book was SO fantastic and I will spend the rest of the year highly recommending this one to any and all lovers of dark, twisty thrillers. I have absolutely loved both of Willingham’s books and I am desperate for more.
This was a quick and engaging read! I am so interested in seeing Stacy Willingham grow as an author. I personally loved A Flicker in the Dark a little better than All The Dangerous Things, but it kept your attention, filled with twists and turns, and a wonderful writing style.
Isabelle Drake hasn’t slept in a year. The last time she slept was the night her son, Mason, was taken from his room, never to be seen again. Although the case has gone cold, Isabelle is still fighting to find her child. She agrees to work with a true crime podcaster, Waylon, but it seems he’s interested in her story for another reason. That couple with her insomnia is digging up memories from Isabelle’s past that she might prefer to keep buried.
Stacy Willingham’s sophomore novel was a page-turner filled with intrigue and suspense. I literally thought everyone was a suspect at one time or another. Told in dual timelines, present day and 1999 when Isabelle is a child, this book had me invested from the prologue right through the end.
Although the past timeline was easier to predict, I did not see the ending of the present timeline coming at all. Well done to Willingham for keeping me guessing the entire time.
Thank you St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for advanced copies in exchange for my honest review.
This one was very confusing to rate.
The ending was so good and I didn't see it coming but the first half just felt like it lacked something. The whole time I was waiting for something to happen to make me, as the reader, start theorizing things and wonder if the child is alive or if there was a character that I should be keeping an eye on. I never really felt that or formed a theory until about 60% into the book and that's where the story really picked up.
I debated between a 3 or a 4 star but because the book took 60% for me to start liking it, I'm going to settle on a 3 star. I think its worth picking up but I liked her debut better.
Thank you so much to Netgalley and Minotar Books for the advance copy and ALC.
All the Dangerous Things tells the story of a woman who's infant son was taken from his bedroom in the middle of the night. One year later, and the mc still has no idea what happened to her son. When the book begins, she is speaking at a conference about her experience with the kidnapping of her child and how the case remains unsolved. On the flight back home, she is seated next to a man who runs a podcast, who seems to take an interest in her. At first, she is reluctant to accept this man's offer to tell her story on his podcast, but soon realizes that this gives her the chance to reach more people that might know something about what happened,
This thriller connects all parts of this mystery in a way that I didn't see coming. I was pleasantly surprised by this one, being that I did not particularly enjoy the first book I read by this author. I am rating this one 4 stars, and looking forward to read more by this author.
Another great book by Willingham ! I think I may have liked her debut slightly more, but this was an amazing follow up for her.
I was very intrigued going into this, reading about a mother who had her child taken right from her home. Im not a parent but I cannot even begin to imagine what that would feel like. We have an unreliable narrator (our MC, Isabelle) which keeps you guessing the entire time. This is multi-timeline, with Flashbacks to Isabelle's childhood, learning about how she's slept walked since she was young, and a horrible accident that happened, where she believes she was to blame. Remembering this childhood accident makes her second guess herself in her adulthood, especially when her son goes missing.
This book threw me for a but of a loop. To be honest, I started off very intrigued and then got a bit bored in the middle. I thought this was going to be super predictable with the way things eere unfolding. But the end got me with a twist I didn't see coming and made me bump up my rating.
Overall, not one of my favorite thrillers, but still a great read!
All the Dangerous Things
Stacy Willingham
4.5 ⭐️
The author of A Flicker in the Dark who blew me away with her debut has gone and done it again, but even better! My first thriller of the year did NOT disappoint.
Blurb: One year ago, Isabelle Drake's life changed forever: her toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep in the next room. With little evidence and few leads for the police to chase, the case quickly went cold. However, Isabelle cannot rest until Mason is returned to her—literally. Except for the occasional catnap or small blackout where she loses track of time, she hasn’t slept in a year.
In hopes of jarring loose a new witness or buried clue, she agrees to be interviewed by a true-crime podcaster—but his interest in Isabelle's past makes her nervous. His incessant questioning paired with her severe insomnia has brought up uncomfortable memories from her own childhood, making Isabelle start to doubt her recollection of the night of Mason’s disappearance, as well as second-guess who she can trust... including herself!
The addicting story gripped me right away and was so well written, it had me guessing to the very end. Willingham does such a fantastic job developing her characters and with an added unreliable narrator, you suspect everyone. I am not one to forecast while reading, so I absolutely did not see that ending coming, and I loved everything about it. I can’t wait to read more from her.
What I loved;
💙Twisty Thriller
💙Dual Timelines
💙Domestic Suspense
💙True Crime Podcast
All the Dangerous Things pubs 1/10/2023 and it definitely needs be added to your TBR!
Thank you Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the gifted ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Isabelle hasn’t slept since the night her son was taken besides some cat naps here and there. She’s exhausted and you can feel that when reading. I loved the flashbacks to her childhood because it added even more to this mystery. Are they connected or not?
The pacing was good, I was intrigued the whole time! So many good twists I didn’t see coming. And the ending? Solid. Satisfying. Well done.
After reading this book and also the authors debut novel (which I really liked) — A Flicker in the Dark — she’s definitely an author for me!
Thank you Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own!
This one was amazing! I loved how I was on the edge of my seat the entire time. It was truly a good story and a can’t wait to read more by the author.
One year ago, Isabelle Drake’s son was abducted from his crib in the middle of the night, and the case has yet to be solved. Ever since, Isabelle has not truly slept, and is in a constant state of sleep deprivation as she tries to solve her son’s case. When she is approached by a true-crime podcaster to share her story, she hopes the opportunity will draw more attention to the case. However, she soon begins to wonder if the podcaster has an ulterior motive, and how much she can trust her own memories with the extreme insomnia dominating her brain.
This dual timeline novel focuses on present day as well as events from Isabelle’s past, providing background on her life on her problems with sleep. Isabelle’s incessant insomnia aides in her role as an unreliable narrator, quintessential to a suspense novel. As a new mom, I understand sleep deprivation all too well, and I think the author did an excellent job depicting Isabelle as a struggling, albeit normal, mother. I appreciate the time and research the author put in to accurately represent Isabelle’s role as a mother in a world where the weight of motherhood bears down on women (be sure to read the author’s note after finishing the book).
FAVORITE QUOTE: “Sometimes, the mind is just stronger than our attempts to override it.” {pg. 26}
Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for providing me with an e-ARC!
Stacey Willingham shows that a mother will stop at nothing to find her son, whether he is dead or alive
On year ago, the unthinkable happens, Isabelle's toddler son, Mason, is taken from his crib at night and has not been seen since. The only evidence is an open window and Mason's dragon found a short distance away. With little evidence and no leads, Isabelle fears that her son's case will be lost in the shuffle of time. She decides to take her story to true crime conferences around the country in order to keep the case in the spotlight. Ever since Mason has disappeared Isabelle has not been able to sleep and it has been affecting her entire life but entire existence is about finding Mason. In the hopes of stirring new information, she agrees to be interviewed by a true crime podcaster, who has has success in the past with finding someone who was missing, but Isabelle is not sure she can trust him as some things are not adding up. Will Isabelle be able to find Mason, or is Mason not the only one who is in trouble of disappearing.
This is a good read but I am not going to lie, it is slow...I was honestly questioning if I should con6tinue on reading it at the 50% as nothing had happened. Once you hit around the 75% mark things start to happen but it was quite a drag to hey there. So does the last 25 % make up for the previous 75% being slow. Yes and No. I mean the twists were well done but I was able to figure out one of the twists and most of the other. But I struggled reading this book as at times as there appeared to be nothing happening other than Isabelle questioning herself and you can only do that so much. Isabelle is really more concerned about the past and what happened to her sister, and there is no additional investigation really done with regards to what happened to Mason, is just sort of comes together in that last 25%.
I like the format that Willingham has done in both their books, with 2 mysteries occurring but at different time periods but yet they are related in some way. I also appreciate that this book's plot is completely different from Willingham's debut novel, though I will say the formula is similar.
I appreciate that it talks about how difficult motherhood can be and how people put on it’s perfect face to try to cover it up and still feel ashamed when they talk about how difficult it can be. This really plays well into the plot of the book as Isabelle becomes a unreliable narrator with her lack of sleep and not knowing if she has done things while sleep walking or when her insomnia gets really bad we are reminded more than once that this can cause hallucinations. You cannot help but feel sorry for Isabelle, throughout the story, everything that she has gone through, the lack of support she receives and just her never-ending relentlessness to find her son.
I do like Willingham's writing style/format and that both of her books have been creative, I just wish this one was more fast paced instead of just all coming together in the end. I will read the another book by Willingham to see what she can come up with next
Enjoy!!!!
All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham is a highly recommended psychological thriller
Isabelle Drake's 18 -month-old son, Mason, was abducted from his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband, Ben, were asleep. It has now been a whole year and the case is going cold and Ben and Isabelle are estranged. With the exception of catnaps or small blackouts, it has also been a sleepless year for Isabelle.
Her entire life and focus is on uncovering a clue to her son's case and finding Mason. She has even told her story at true-crime conventions, hoping for a lead. When Waylon Spencer offers to feature her story on his true-crime podcast, she isn't initially interested, but then she changes her mind, hoping his listeners might have information about Mason.
The narrative is told through Isabelle's point-of-view in two timelines, 1999 when she was a child, and the present day. The atmosphere is somber and bleak in both timelines. She is a flawed, unreliable narrator due to her lack of sleep. The pace is very slow in the first third of the novel, which focuses on establishing Isabelle's extreme lack of sleep, her desperate attempts to find leads on Mason disappearance, and begin the story of her childhood.
Admittedly, I set the novel aside twice at the beginning due to the slow pace, the repetitive focus on Isabelle's sleep deprivation, and the overly verbose descriptions. Once some kind of action picks up as she begins to talk to Waylon and more of her childhood is revealed, the novel becomes much more intriguing and the tension begins to rise.
Clearly, there are more mysteries to solve than just Mason's abduction. The narrative introduces a couple surprising twists, one of which certainly requires suspension of disbelief. (The police investigation would have uncovered clues to this.) You might think you have it all figured out, but the twists will surprise you.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Minotaur Books via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Google Books, Edelweiss, and Amazon.
All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham
I loved it. Get this book and read it. It’s a mystery that’s twisty, scary, and emotional. I loved the author’s first book, and she didn’t disappoint with the second. Read it.
DNF @ 58%
I enjoyed Flicker in the Dark and thin Willingham does a great job writing these atmospheric thrillers. Unfortunately, for this one, I am over halfway into this book and just don't feel invested in the story or characters whatsoever. When I am looking for a thriller I want one that I have to rip out of my hands to go to bed and *need* to find answers. Could potentially be the subject matter or that nothing has really happened at all yet to engage the reader. Such a bummer but I'll still check out Willingham's next book.
I really enjoyed this. The never knowing if the narrator is being reliable or unreliable was perfectly done. There were times I was highly suspicious and times I could relate and feel sorry for Isabelle. It is a slow burn that is very atmospheric and then it becomes a fast past read with several twists and turns. Definitely will be recommending it.