I loved Stacy Willingham’s first book, A Flicker in the Dark, so I was so excited to read her new book and see what kind of ride she took me on this time!! I wasn’t disappointed!
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Any parent’s worst nightmare – your toddler disappears from his room in the middle of the night! This captivating mystery is a story about a desperate mother that will stop at nothing to find her son and bring him home.

Willingham’s writing style sucks you in from the first chapter until the last page is turned. The story is full of twists and turns and kept me guessing who kidnapped Mason the whole time.….The jaw-dropping ending blindsided me. Who doesn’t love a shocking ending?!?

I had the pleasure of reading and listening to this one. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook if you can because Karissa Vacker (@karissavacker) did an outstanding job as narrator. The pacing of the book was perfect and she kept my attention throughout. She has instantly become my favorite mystery/thriller narrator.

Don’t miss reading the author’s notes!! It really added a better understanding of the various characters in the story for me.

WOW - did I ever dislike this one; it didnt feel original or fresh, infact, it felt like A LOT of books i had read before, only not quite as good.

1) an unreliable narrator is one thing, but someone who randomly can only remember KEY things when they are important for a plot twist, is BRUTAL
2) this was a slog to read...
3) re authors note at the end - sorry but no, i dont think you can authentically write a book about the "Weight of motherhood" without experience it yourself, and unfortunately as a mother myself, i IMMEDIATELY felt like her portrayal was... odd. I actually googled whether or not she had kids 15% in because i didnt feel authentic to me.

I listened to this as an audiobook and I loved it. I found it easy to keep track of the story, the characters were amazing. They were dynamic and realistic. The twists and turns throughout the book kept me on my toes and very engaged. I did not figure out the ending of the book until there was only about 15% left... which made me want to continue listening and not give up. A very well done thriller!

Thank you netgalley for my advanced copy!

This author is now an auto buy for me and the twist at the end I did not see that coming . So far her books have been family centered thrillers but they are page turners and I can wait for the next one

I'm speechless! This book kept me spinning the entire time. There are so many different things playing out that it's hard to know exactly how this story will end - - and that's just the way I like it. Stacy Willingham...I now see exactly what all the hype is about and you are truly living up to it. I can't wait to go back and read your first novel!

All the Dangerous Things introduces us to Isabelle Drake. She's living a mother's nightmare - - her toddler disappeared out of his crib a year ago while she and her husband slept. There have been no leads or serious clues as to what happened or who might have been to blame. She's struggling on a daily basis because she literally cannot sleep other than a random micro nap here and there. She's hyper focused on finding out what happened to Mason and can't rest until it happens.

There are things in Isabelle's own past that make her feel guilty and leave her questioning her own potential guilt. Of course, mothers always blame themselves. But is Isabelle's guilt different? Or just an extension of that? The loss of Mason has led to the crumbling of her marriage. Isabelle's husband, Ben, moved out six month's after Mason's disappearance. She truly has no support and is trying to find her way through this difficult time entirely on her own.

Seeing few options left to her, she agrees to meet with Waylon, a true crime podcaster, in the hope that it will spur fresh attention for Mason's case and potentially help surface new leads. But it's hard for her to fully trust him. She's always fearful that people are looking at her and finding doubt or suspicion.

This book weaves a crafty tale by blending the past with the present. We get snippets from Isabelle's childhood, the early days of her and Ben's relationship/marriage, the days after Mason is born and then the current time after Mason's disappearance. Everything ties together to structure this story and make it everything it is - - which is one heck of a twisty ride. Willingham really mapped this story out well and the execution is superb. Again, I"m a fan and cannot wait to read more by this talented author.

In addition to reading this little gem, I also listened to the audiobook and it was absolutely wonderful. If you're an audiobook fan, it is top notch. I hated it when I needed to turn it off. It was one of those situations where you become very mesmerized by the narrator's rendition and are completely drawn into the story. It's quite entertaining. I highly recommend the audio. 5 HUGE STARS!

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC and ALC. I voluntarily chose to both read and listen to these early copies and this review contains my own opinions and thoughts.

TW: suicide, child abduction, child harm, depression

After reading A Flicker in the Dark I knew I had to pick up All the Dangerous Things. A Flicker in the Dark was good but this was absolutely riveting. I couldn't put it down once I got started. Look ! I value my sleep so very few books keep me up past my bedtime and this one managed to do so.

All the Dangerous things is a psychological thriller about mental health and motherhood. Isabelle's son Mason was taken from his crib a year ago. The police have run out of leads and the case is going cold. In an effort to keep the case alive, Isabelle agrees to be interviewed by a true crime podcaster who had previously helped a a cold case get solved. But Isabelle is hiding secrets and the podcaster is a little too interested in her past. When Isabelle was younger something tragic happened at her childhood home. Something that was covered up and Isabelle is no sure if she can trust herself or her memories.

Stacy Willingham expertly crafted this novel. Once I finished I could see all of the nuggets she laid out for us. No clue is wasted. Her writing is very descriptive akin to Tana French or Gillian Flynn. If that's not your style you might find All the Dangerous Things to be a bit wordy. I revelled in it. The characters she writes in this book are flawed, complex and real - specially the woman which I appreciate.

Stacy also hits on some very important topics in this novel: the expectations of motherhood and the silent suffering that can accompany it, the ways in which woman are ignored and discredited for grieving in their own way, and woman's internalized guilt from societal pressures.

I will be purchasing a copy of this book for myself and I can't wait to continue to read Stacy Willingham's books. She is a new favorite author.


Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillian audio for an ARC.

Being a mom is one of the most speculated-upon topics in our society. Just about every single person has opinion on what makes a good or bad mom. Add in the aspect of child-related crime under that mother’s belt and the speculation becomes out-of-hand.

All the Dangerous Things took this aspect to a new level by giving us the first-person, almost-unreliable narrator novel about an insomniac mom, Isabelle Drake, as she attempts to find her missing 18-month-old son, Mason. In her desperate attempt to find her missing son, Isabelle uncovers the truth about her dark past and disturbing present. Willingham portrays the criticism and stress mothers of missing children experience in our society in a way that is frustrating but unfortunately accurate.

While I think Willingham did a great job of portraying this aspect, I found the story to be slow-paced and missing a wow factor. Like her previous book, Willingham does a great job of writing in a way that paints a picture of both the setting and the emotions of characters. I enjoyed having an unreliable narrator who the audience might see as a suspect in the crime but I never truly believed that Isabelle was the culprit. This book seemed to follow the same format and set-up of the first book. It reminded me of how Marvel movies have a formula they use in all their stories that makes the films all feel the same. I still enjoy them but I can usually guess how the story will go. I felt the same for this book. Again, this book felt like it dragged on and I couldn’t get into it until the last act honestly. I didn’t see that plot twist coming but I also have no foresight. I’ve suspected who the culprit was since day 1 but the twists not involving the culprit surprised me. The book was pretty dull until about 75% in when the shit hit the fan.

I don’t like to compare novels by the same author but I’m going to anyway. I enjoyed A Flicker in the Dark much more than this novel. I think that story was more interesting and dramatic as opposed to this one. There was never really a point in this book where I thought “Wow, that’s crazy!” It took me so long to read this book and, while I liked how it ended, I felt that this story lacked the it factor to make it stand out in my opinion. Still, I look forward to what Willingham will come out with in the future.

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my complimentary advanced read copy.

I would give this a 4.5 star rating. What a great audio book! I really enjoyed the narrator as the story went on. It was entertaining, fast paced, easy to follow, and I would highly recommend this!

Thank you to author Stacy Willingham, publisher MacMillan Audio, and NetGalley for an advance listening copy of All the Dangerous Things.

I found the book to be a bit of a slow burn. I generally felt very bad for Isabelle losing her child and wanting answers so that she could grieve properly. Once the story got going there were a number of twists, which I did enjoy. The book does discuss health issues related to mental illness, which gave my sympathy for certain characters. It also creates a “grey” area, when a character does something wrong, it may be forgivable in the eyes of the reader.

There were a couple of things that I felt were unrealistic. First was the police in both the “then” and the “now”. I felt that the decisions that both police squads made would not have actually happened. The other thing that I felt was unrealistic was Isabelle not sleeping for a year.

I did enjoy the ending, and how the epilogue wrapped up the story, so I didn’t have any lingering questions. Overall I did enjoy the book.

All the dangerous things by Stacy Willingham was a GREAT book!

Isabelle is faced with events in her life that no mother should have to experience. Her son was taken from his bedroom in the middle of the night with no evidence or leads from the PD. Although Isabelle struggles to maintain a regular sleep schedule, and sleep walking that often leads to her not knowing how and where she is when she wakes, manages to keep up her appearances and speaks at true-crime panels. Isabelle seeks the truth and investigates her child’s disappearance and uncovers unsettling secrets.

I absolutely loved the twists and turns throughout the book, I didn’t want to put it down.

All The Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham is a fantastic, gritty atmospheric mystery about a woman whose toddler son has been kidnapped one year prior. In flashbacks, we learn she suffered some sort of trauma as a child. The stories are slowly teased out as the mysteries in each timeline become clearer.

I was drawn in immediately and sucked into Isabelle’s life and past. Isabelle has become an insomniac since her son went missing. She is constantly looking at many angles of his disappearance since the police case has run cold. She connects with the community of True Crime enthusiasts by speaking at conferences and with a podcaster to gain more attention.

The writing is lyrical and eerie, really adding to the plot. I loved the narration by Karissa Vacker. Her voice perfectly embodied how I pictured Isabelle and really helped enhanced the story. I highly recommend this book if you’re looking for an atmospheric mystery!

Thank you St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this ebook / audiobook. All thoughts are my own.

After her whirlwind debut novel, I was excited to see what she had in store for us next. I was blown away by this book in so many ways as it capitalized on some of my deepest fears.
When your child gets taken from their crib in the middle of the night and there is no suspects or leads that is sheer terror. Especially when as a mom you have had prior episodes of insomnia and sleepwalking that you begin to wonder if you could have possibly been the one to put your child in harms way.
I loved having an unreliable narrator and any book that questions mental health is a winner for me.

Featuring ~ single 1st person POV, dual timeline ~ now & then, missing child, infidelity

Baby, Mason, was taken from his crib while Isabelle and Ben slept down the hall.
I was pretty pleased with most of the realisticness of it all ~ I probably wouldn't ever be able to sleep again either and I wouldn't rest until I knew what happened, however I wouldn't speak at the true crime conferences because I hate public speaking.
I gotta say that I am getting pretty tired of husband's that are like Ben.

We have the 'then' timeline of Isabelle's childhood that revealed a few surprises that kept the story moving at a nice pace. I was also surprised about how Mason's disappearance played out, so jackpot with that. Overall, a pretty great psychological thriller.

Narrated by Karissa Vacker for 9 hours and 55 minutes, easy to follow at 2-2.5x. She did a lovely job. When she was in the 'then' she made her voice sound more childlike and I appreciated that.

With this book I did a mix of listening to the audiobook and reading it on kindle. I loved the narrator but once the story got going (a bit further into the book than I would prefer) I wasn’t patient enough to have it all read to me. The writing was good and the twists were nice. That being said the first half of the book was pretty slow moving. I read this author’s previous work and really enjoyed it and I peeked at some reviews which both gave me hope that the book would pick up and the second half picked up quite a bit. Isabelle hasn’t had any meaningful sleep in the year that her son Mason has been missing. She can’t let the case go and goes to true crime conventions to tell her story and make sure the focus isn’t gone because the police have no leads or clues that they are working on. On the way back from her latest convention she meetings Waylon who is a podcaster and eventually she decides to try something different and tell her story to him. Intermixed with this storyline is a past storyline with Isabelle and her sister Margaret. Past and present converge as Isabelle struggles to locate and understand the clues she knows must lead her to her son.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4915108644

Thank you to the author, Stacy Willingham, publisher MacMillan Audio, and NetGalley as always, for an advance listening copy of ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS.

Isabelle hasn't slept in a year, but for fits and starts, snatches of unconsciousness. She hasn't had any real rest since the night her son vanished from tge safety of his bedroom, his own crib, while she and her husband sleep in the next bedroom. She can't rest until she solves the mystery of his disappearance, because only she isn't convinced that she is to blame. And to make matters worse, it all seems to mirror a trauma buried deep in her memories of her childhood sleep disorder.

ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS is a bit of a slow burn, and it took a bit for me to immerse into the story. But once I connected, I couldn't stop turning the pages! The mystery twists and turns. Willingham handles the mental illness trope with delicacy and respect, which I deeply appreciate. I also think the alternating timelines, which is an overused form, is a great choice for this book.

I love when I call an ending and I'm wrong, but the ending is completely plausible. That's what happened with this book, and I loved the end.

The narrator, Karissa Vacker, is one of my favorites. I love how she voices deeper registers; these speakers sound natural. She can switch from a high octave to a low octave seamlessly. Additionally, she's quite good at assigning the different speakers different speech mannerisms, so the audience can more easily distinguish the speaker. She brings so much to this audiobook!

Rating: 🏰🏰🏰🏰🏰 / 5 lonely mansions
Recommend? Yes, absolutely!
Finished: January 4 2023
Read this book if you like:
🔪 Mystery thrillers
🕵‍♀️ True crime podcasts
👤 Mental health rep
👥️ Unreliable narrator trope
👶 Missing child trope

There were times during the book that I was irritated by a sense of repetitiveness. It took quite a long time for the story to become interesting. Once it finally got going, though, I didn't want to stop reading. There are several plausible (as fictional mysteries go) candidates for the abductor, and that's not the only mystery: there are some mistaken identities at play, too. That is to say, ultimately, the book is satisfyingly twisty.

The author uses descriptive language. Narrator Karissa Vacker does a good job with both female and male voices.

4.35⭐

Thank you, NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Minotaur Books, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review. Publication is expected January 10.

This was a spectacular follow up to A Flicker in the Dark, which I thoroughly enjoyed last year. The story alternates between past and present, had great pacing and multi-faceted, complex characters. It is a phenomenal exploration of motherhood, mental health, grief and trauma and how they influence our decisions. While I don't always enjoy the unreliable narrator trope, this one felt refreshing and reminded me in some parts of Stay Awake (which was also a favorite last year). I figured out one of the many twists early on but all the twists were well-written and surprising and overall I appreciated how the story unfolded and that the ending was not rushed. I also enjoyed the influence of one very infamous true crime case (I won't say which one to avoid spoilers but the author discusses it in the author's note at the end). Highly recommend this one! 4.5/5⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copies!

OMG this book. I was confused for a bit with this book but then I caught up. Stacy Willingham is one of the best thriller/suspense writers that I have read. This is an author that if she wrote the phone book, I'd read it. Other people may be smarter than me but I didn't guess the ending til closer to the ending. I liked how it kept me guess and th9inking of what happened. The ending was so great, I would have tried to do the same but I woulda probably failed. I can't wait til the next Stacy Willingham book.

Thanks, NetGalley,

I enjoyed the book. I am a big fan of an unreliable narrator but Isabelle was so unreliable I'm still not sure what exactly happened for part of it. I also very much disliked her husband. He was a creep from the beginning and it only got worse as we got further into the novel. I don't have children but I could feel her desperation in the narrator's voice and how distraught she was over the disappearance. What she didn't seem to miss was her husband even after she found out he had already found someone new. I loved the ending but at the same time, I was a bit surprised by it which is the best type of ending.

The only disappointment I had with the book may have been reading too far into it, but it is impossible to go any entire year without sleep. those points where she would blackout was her body's attempt to sleep. I think that was my fascination with the story to begin with because sleep deprivation becomes a serious issue not only for the body but for the mind. I also find it hard to believe no matter how strained her relationship was with her parents surely her psychologist would have gotten her help, even if she was lying to him and telling him she had been sleeping. You would have known just from looking at her. My complaint has nothing to do with the author or the plot I just needed more of an explanation for the lack of information about sleep deprivation and what it could do to you than make an excellent part of the plot.

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.

“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.”

I requested this book, having seen it splashed all over IG, but without reading The Blurb.

I have a hard time with books/movies/whatever where kids are hurt or sick or in danger, so right off the bat, I’ve set this book up for failure. I’m primed to hate every second, simultaneously not wanting to finish and wanting to get it over with as soon as humanly possible.

That’s on me.

Other than it’s ENTIRE PREMISE this book was decent.

I liked the dual timelines.
I liked the misdirection.
I liked the sense of place.

My one complaint (and I can’t believe I’m even saying this) was the overabundance of description.

Every bit of narrative required a simile. Or metaphor. Or both. Sometimes several in the same sentence.

Shades of Anne Rice and her flower obsession.

Considering Rice’s popularity and prolificity, maybe this is a compliment?

Anyhow, this is my first book by this author, and I will likely pick up another.

6.5/10

Thanks, as always, to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this twisty ARC.