I liked Stacy Willingham's previous reads, but All the Dangerous Things I absolutely loved!

This is a thriller that people will be talking about for years to come. It has all the components of keeping the reader on the edge of their seat while building a story that will have the reader guessing about what is going to happen next.

I loved the characters, the dark, gritty story, and the writing will leave you gasping for breath with the suspense that it builds.

Stacy Willingham is a masterful new voice that I can't wait to read more from in the future.

I received this as an audio galley to listen to for free in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for giving me access.

My friends, Stacy Willingham has done it again! This is one of the best books I’ve had the privilege of reading (or in this case, listening to) this year!! Same as Willingham’s debut (A Flicker in the Dark), All the Dangerous Things is a mash up of past and present with a rollercoaster of events that you cannot predict.

We follow the POV of a mother who’s son has been kidnapped. Not only that, years ago her sister had died as well. Willingham weaves a story that makes the narrator so unreliable that we start to doubt all our thoughts about the mother and contemplate the thought that maybe she was behind it all…who knows, maybe she was…you’ll have to read it to find out 🙃

This is perfect for all my thriller lovers, especially those who loved Willingham’s debuts or Riley Sager’s Home Before Dark.

I was skeptical going into this one. I didn’t initially request it because I did not really like A Flicker In the Dark. But the synopsis had me intrigued and BOTM picked it up so I went for it. I must say I was pleasantly surprised! I really enjoyed this one. I didn’t find it too predictable. I did not guess the twists at all!

As a mother I felt many of the same things that Isabel did. While she was relatable in her feelings on motherhood, I found her very unlikable. Which is why it was a 4 instead of 5 for me. Maybe that was the point? I didn’t mind that she was unreliable. It was definitely necessary to keep the reader guessing and she was unreliable for a very understandable reason. But I just didn’t find much I liked about her as a character.

Overall, I would recommend for fans of The Push and other mother/child type thrillers.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced audio book in exchange for an honest review.

4.0 stars

Isabelle Drake's son Mason was taken out of his crib a year ago. Isabelle has barely slept in the year since he went missing. She is solely focused on finding out what happened to him. The story also goes back to Isabelle's childhood and a family tragedy.

Well done story with enjoyable narration by Karis Vacker.

A parents worst nightmare is losing a child. That's just the beginning premise in this riveting psychological mystery. Willingham takes things to another level, throwing in mental health issues, sleepwalking, a mysterious childhood and more. And as far as the sleepwalking goes, that was a pretty creepy theme in this book and I'm surprised it isn't used in more novels.

The story unfolds methodically, alternating perspectives between Isabelle's childhood and her present life, one year after her son Mason goes missing. The reader also learns more about Isabelle's more recent past, before and leading up to Mason's disappearance, through various memories and nanny cam videos. All of these threads come together to keep readers on their toes, guessing at just what the heck is going on and ultimately who is to blame for the abduction. It really was a tough book to put down and I think this will be a big hit with readers.

I listened to the audiobook and Karissa Vacker is a fabulous narrator that I've listened to numerous times before. She is easy to understand, words flowing out smoothly, and she gives each character their own personality and voice.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing the audiobook. All opinions are my own.

After reading and LOVING a flicker in the dark by Stacy Willingham I was so excited to see an email offering an early copy of this audiobook. All the Dangerous Things lived up to my expectations and more. The story of a kidnapped toddler, a mom who can no longer sleep, a hidden past of both mom and dad, and an over-curious podcaster, left me binge-listening to this book from start to finish. I generally really dislike the unreliable woman trope, but this was just enough to keep you guessing without eye-rolling. Highly recommend if you liked A Flicker in the Dark, or Night Swim. Thanks so much for the early copy, it was one of the best audios I've listened to this year!

Loved the narrator, which even sped up to 1.75x was still very enjoyable to listen to. She changed her voice nicely for characters and had just enough drama to keep it interesting without being over the top. Would gladly listen to this narrator again.

This isn’t just a well written thriller, it’s a commentary on motherhood. Being a mother is NOT easy. It involves so much sacrifice and often times a loss of identity. For some women, it is also accompanied with serious mental health battles. It’s so important to listen to and support the mother’s in our lives. If not, there can be tragic consequences.

As we follow Isabella’s story of the search for her child who was taken from his crib at 18 months old, we gain insight into the struggles she endured as a mother. She hasn’t slept in a year since his disappearance and is beginning to question everything, and everyone is beginning to look like a suspect. But the biggest question she is wrestling with is; is something wrong with her? Is there something terrible that she’s guilty of? What did she do?

This was an excellent psychological thriller.

Isabelle's young son disappeared one night while her and her husband were sleeping, and a year on, no evidence of her child or who took him, has been found..
Her husband Ben has moved on, leaving her and finding a new girlfriend. But Isabelle cannot just forget Mason, and spends all of her time trying to discover what happened to him. She attends true crime conventions and speaks to any groups that will listen - trying to keep the case alive and hoping to find someone who knows what happened. She hasn't slept properly since he disappeared - living in a sleep deprived state, suspect anyone from the neighborhood who she doesn't recognize.

She agrees to be interviewed by Waylon, a true crime podcaster, and begrudgingly starts working with him. She suspects he believes she was involved in her son's disappearance, as most people believe.

Told from Isabelle's point of view, we alternate between the current timeline, and when she was a child, when something terrible happened to her sister. Not knowing the details, Isabelle suspects that she was involved in her sister's death as she has suffered as a sleepwalker all of her life. Did she do something to her sister? Did she do something to Mason while sleepwalking?

This book gripped me from the beginning, and I found it truly scary at times as Isabelle realizes just what is possible when someone sleepwalks. I did not expect the big twist in the story.

The narrator, Karissa Walker, did an excellent job with this book. The voices of the main characters were distinct, and she captured the spirit and ambiance of the plot.

Isabelle’s life changed one year ago when her toddler son was kidnapped from his nursery. Since then, she’s barely slept, has been speaking at true crime conferences, and has separated from her husband. The police have no leads, so Isabelle has been investigating from her home, spending almost every hour of her day dedicated to finding her son. After a conference, she’s approached by a podcaster who wants to tell her story in hopes of finding new clues. Reluctantly agreeing, his questions begin to make her question what actually happened that night and cause her to start second guessing who can be trusted.

This was a well written work of suspense. The author created an immersive story and setting by including fantastic descriptions of things, especially Isabelle’s emotions. Though there were some instances where the author used several similes in a row as well as many adjectives in a row rather unnecessarily. I honestly found the twists to be quite surprising – every time I was convinced I knew what had happened I was proven wrong. There were a few plot holes that weren’t major but did detract a bit from my enjoyment of the work.

The work did start off relatively slow, taking awhile for the plot to really take off. However, the author incorporated meaningful details and tidbits relating to Isabelle’s past and present, which created an excellent atmosphere and added tension to the buildup of the plot. I enjoyed the creation of Isabelle as an unreliable narrator, and the way her childhood was incorporated into that.

Overall, I enjoyed this suspenseful mystery and definitely recommend it to those who don’t mind a slower plot. My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this work, which will be published in January 2023. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I chose this book because I loved a previous book by this author and was bit disappointed. A woman, who suffers from sleepwalking, worries that she may have caused harm to people in her life. When her infant son goes missing, the mystery behind his disappearance haunts her. The way the characters build and you learn of their connections keeps you glued to the story. Probably one of my favorite thrillers of the year. I listened to the audiobook for this review but also purchased the physical book because I loved it so much. A completely different concept than I have read before and riveting to me as a parent of a former sleepwalker. Truly a captivating story and I highly recommend this one.

I loved a Flicker in the Dark, so it's no surprise to me that I loved this one too. Isabelle is obsessed with finding out what happened to her son Mason after he was taken from his crib while she was sleeping. Her marriage is already over. The police are tired of dealing with her. So she turns to a true crime podcaster in the hopes of finally getting answers. This book features two timelines, the first with the investigation into Mason's kidnapping, and also an earlier setting in Isabelle's childhood when she was involved in another earlier mystery.

I normally don't like domestic thrillers so I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It managed to avoid most of the common tropes that these books use. I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook.

Thank you netgalley and Macmillan audio for giving me an advanced review copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Isabelle’s son was kidnapped a year ago and is still fighting to find answers as to who and why her son went missing. Wow! This was a great thriller! It is a slow burn but that ending..CHEFS KISS! Highly suggest reading with the audiobook it was so good. The narrator does a great job intensifying the feeling of suspense. Well done.

Thank you to NetGalley for the allowing me to review the audiobook for All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham narrated by Karissa Vacker.

I LOVE AN UNRELIABLE NARRATOR! You guys. This book was incredible. I actually loved it all. Isabelle Drake is doing everything she can to try to find her child who was taken from her one year ago. The story leads you down so many roads to who could have done it and the end result actually shocked me to my core.

Using her inability to sleep and having there be blackout moments just made her reliability so much more doubted in my mind. It made the plot flow along so nicely and kept me intrigued throughout the whole book. This was such a tense “who-dunit” that I couldn’t help but sit on the edge of my seat (or bed) as I was reading through this book.

I will be recommending this book until people read it because I actually loved it and it takes a LOT for me to give a thriller book five stars (primarily because I’m so picky and hate when I figure out who did the thing before the book actually confirms it for me). But seriously, if you’re looking for a new thriller book to read in 2023, you will definitely want to read this one!

⚠️TW: murder, death, child death, alcoholism, car accident, child abuse, animal death, suicide

Kept me guessing until the very end. Some great twists you don’t see coming. Even when you think you know who did it, you’re only half right. As someone who can almost always guess the end game, this was a great read that kept me intrigued.

This one is hard for me to review / rate. The writing was excellent, the characters were well-developed, the plot progressed in an understandable and sensible fashion. But I just found myself feeling more and more uncomfortable with the direction the story seemed to be taking while reading this. Maybe that's the point, though? It definitely touches on some important issues that are often not discussed (postpartum depression / psychosis). It didn't end up where I thought it was going, and I actually found myself (surprisingly) a bit disappointed in the actual outcome - like maybe a different outcome could have made a stronger point / forced readers to think even more about some hard realities. But ultimately, I enjoyed the book and Willingham's writing style. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 because of the quality of the writing and the fact that I didn't want to put this down once I started - it definitely hooked me! I actually alternated between reading the e-copy and listening to the audiobook and the transition was seamless - this is always a huge plus for me because I do this a lot and I like to be able to go back and forth. How I recognize a good narrator is if I hear that voice in my head when I'm reading the e-book - and that was the case here. It was the right voice for the story / characters.

I received advanced copy of All the dangerous things, from Macmillan Audio. It had me guessing from the very beginning. Isabelle tries to recall all events that the day her son Mason was taken from her home while she was sleeping. A year later, she barely sleeps and feels alone and that there are so many pieces taken from her that she cannot put together. What happened?
I could not imagine the feeling, being a mother myself and not having any answers to the most horrific day that happened, with no answers....
There are many twists and turns and a shocking revelation that I did NOT see coming!
Highly recommend.....
.... note: be in the right mind set to start this story....TRIGGERS= 'suicide, murder, child abduction, post partum Psychosis and compromised mental health '

4.5 STARS

This was a solid thriller. I really enjoyed A Flicker in the Dark, and this follow up did not disappoint. This book starts off with a bang by opening it up to Isabella, a mom who had her son abducted who is now doing True Crime keynote presentations in order to try to keep her son’s case open after almost a year of it going cold.

By doing these presentations she hopes the abductor may be lurking in the crowd, and that she’ll be able to find her son herself. She tries to be her own investigator, but by doing so she starts unraveling secrets from her past she never expected to find. She also hasn’t gotten a full nights rest since her son’s abduction, so between sleep deprivation and not knowing who to trust in her life she gets to the point that she isn’t even sure she can trust herself.

After that strong start there is also flashbacks to her childhood with her little sister Margaret and her parents. At times these flashbacks felt mundane, but of course as any thriller reader would know, you have to give the flashbacks and story time to align and be patient for it all to come together. You’ll eventually have that “wow!” moment if you put the time in. I had that “wow” moment multiple times during this book, and with all of the directions my mind was going in I did predict how this ended. What a great twist!

At times this story was overly verbose and I lost some interest, but that wasn’t enough for me to DNF. To DNF a story due to writing is not my style. Every author writes differently, and I love the ingenuity of a good thriller writer. Stacy Willingham is an excellent thriller writer and I’ll be looking forward to her next book.

Read this if you:
- Enjoyed Insomnia by Sarah Pinborough and/or Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier (it’s like those two books made a baby and this was the outcome)
- Enjoy unreliable narrators/shady characters
- Watch or listen to True Crime/cold cases
- If you can relate to the struggles of motherhood

I would also like to add that Stacy’s author’s note was a good edition. She acknowledged that she isn’t a mother herself and that she was nervous about writing something like this, and also addresses the struggles women go through that we are always expected to become mothers ourselves from the moment a baby doll gets placed in our hands. That we are damned if we do want kids, and damned if we don’t want kids. It’s tough being a woman and the pressure we feel in both situations. I appreciated th thoughtfulness of the authors note.

Thank you so much NetGalley, St. Martins Press - Minotaur, and Stacy Willingham for this ARC. This book publishes on 1/10/23!

Lastly, thank you to MacMillan audio for this ALC. The narration was wonderfully done. Excellent pace, performance, and Karissa Vacker knocked it out of the park, just like she did with A Flicker in the Dark. She’s an incredible narrator!

4.5 stars

Stacey Willingham has done it again. She had me CONVINCED I knew what was happening. Fully convinced I figured it out and would be bored by the ending. Nope. Wrong again. She is so good at memory confused character you’ll be questioning your own memory. 100% will recommend to any thriller/true crime fan

Loved this audio book! Excellent narration that made you feel you were in the story. Isabelle Drakes son is missing, taken from his bed in the dark of night. With no leads and the passing of an entire year, Isabelle is desperate for help and is getting no where with law enforcement. When Isabelle starts doing public appearances in hopes of finding clues to where he may be she meets a podcaster who offers to help with the search. Even though the podcaster has his own reasons for taking on the case, he is legitimately trying to help. As she spends time with the podcaster and goes through all the details of her sons case she confronts her troubled past and the search for her son takes a direction she never expected. Fast paced, heart wrenching book that was one of the best I have listened to this year.

Thank you Minotaur Books for sending an audiobook of All the Dangerous Things.

I read All the Dangerous Things soon after finished Stacy Willingham's debut, A Flicker in the Dark. I was ready to be taken on another rollercoaster. Unfortunately, I found the main character to be a bit unlikable which made it difficult to root for her or genuinely connect to her. Despite this, I was fully engaged while trying to put the puzzle pieces of the mystery together. Ultimately, my own imagination was more satisfying than the ending of the story. Looking forward to Stacy's next story because I absolutely loved A Flicker in the Dark.