After loving A Flicker in the Dark, I was super excited for the second novel from Willingham. This one felt much slower and took much longer for some pieces to come together. If I hadn’t been multitasking and listening to the audio, I may not have continued. However, the last 20% did make up for a lot.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc in exchange for a review!

Reading Between the Wines book review #104/135 for 2022:
Rating: 4.5 🍷 🍷 🍷 🍷 1/2
Book 🎧: All the Dangerous Things
Author: Stacy Willingham
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
RELEASES on January 10, 2023!!!

Sipping thoughts: Willingham has done it again! Around this time last year, I had just finished A Flicker in the Dark. The twist in that book was so great but I figured out a big piece of it. All the Dangerous Things kept me in the dark and I was so surprised with what actually happened to baby Mason. A missing baby is the worse but a story where you just don’t know who to believe or trust. I really enjoyed it and I hope that a new release every year is going to be the norm for Stacy Willingham.

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @MacmillanAudio for an advanced copy of @AllTheDangerousThings.

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Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this novel!

This is an enjoyable, fun, and conventional thriller. It has lots of interesting ideas, but feels a little disjointed and unorganized at times. I really enjoyed the author's prose, and look forward to reading more from them!

ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS by Stacy Willingham is a psychological thriller about a mother, Isabelle, on the edge of her breaking point, one year to the date after the disappearance of her infant son from his crib in the dead of night. Since then, she hasn't been able to sleep, and it seems like answers will never come ... until the right person offers their help, but what is their true connection to the case? And can she trust them?

This book was incredibly well-written. I read A FLICKER IN THE DARK last year and absolutely devoured it, and i'm suspicious that this will be a pattern with Willingham's books moving forward. Her main characters are flawed, determined, and totally human, and their actions are ones that you could see yourself taking if you were in their shoes - which is something I find RARE in a thriller or mystery novel these days.

I really enjoyed the way this story wrapped up. Some might see it coming, but I for sure did not!

After the success of last year's A Flicker in the Dark, Stacy Willingham is back with a new thriller - All the Dangerous Things.

"Isabelle Drake hasn't slept in a year - not since her young son was taken from her house. Everyone is telling her she needs to move on - her ex-husband, the police. But Isabelle knows he's still out there somewhere. She agrees to be interviewed by a True Crime podcaster to shake things up and hopefully find new leads. But his interest in her past makes her nervous. And long buried memories are making her question what really happened that night..."

Willingham does a wonderful job capturing the desperation from Isabelle. There are several red herrings leading you to think the story will end one way but Willingham has other plans. The twisty reveal is a "Wait - What?" moment and then the twists keep coming.

Glad to have a thriller set here in the southeast. (So many stories from the Low Country are formula romance )

Karissa Vacker gives a fabulous performance with multiple male and female characters. But it's her portrayal of Isabelle that pulls you in - the desperation - the questioning of reality. Vacker adds much to the story.

I think Willingham has gotten better with her 2nd novel and it's great to have her as a SC resident. Add this book to your list.

I flew through this mystery/thriller in a couple of days because I could not stop listening. Some of the twists were predictable, but some definitely surprised me! This was a great listen, because the narrator was excellent. The subtle shift to a higher pitch on the sections from the main character’s childhood made it easy to follow along with the timeline. Worth the listen!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

All the Dangerous Things definitely started out as a slow burn book and I almost DNF’d it. I’m so glad that I stuck with it. It turned out to be a really good thriller. I kinda guessed from the start who did it, but it didn’t steer me from enjoying this book. And I loved the narrator.

First .. the Narrator is amazing ! That’s a huge part of a book being successful to listen to in my opinion.

Now my review.. the book is wrote through Isabella’s point of view, , I thought I had the plot figured out and I absolutely love when I’m wrong. This is my second read of the amazingly talented Stacy Willingham:.

I highly recommend this book ! I can’t wait to for Stacy to write more !

This book was good overall, but it took me a while to get hooked and to be honest I wasn’t hooked until a little over 75% of the way through and while I wasn’t bored I was never fully invested until then. I feel like it’s because I didn’t like part of the direction the story was starting to go, but it did remedy that as the story progressed. I do feel like I went into this one with my hopes a little too high, but this one was very good. A solid four stars for sure and good thriller for a quick read. I finished this one in under 24 hours.

All the dangerous things

4 ⭐️
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.

Very much a entertaining book. I enjoyed it a lot and gave me the chills because my kids sleep walk 😅 so was I definitely intrigued and wanted to know how everything ended. Did I expect the ending ? Absolutely not I actually thought it was someone else great plot twist. I loved the Now and Then parts really breaks it up and gives you an inside of Isabelle’s life. Suspenseful, thrill and surprisingly relatable with the mothers feelings.
Sleep deprived mothers I can totally relate.

Highly recommend the audio because the narrator is just amazing !

I received an ARC audiobook copy and it was exceptionally narrated by Karissa Vacker. Thank you to Stacy Willingham, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to review such a great mystery psychological thriller.

Triggers : postpartum psychosis, suicide
📖: All the dangerous things
Author: Stacy Willingham
Publish date: Jan 10. 2023

Mystery/murder/kidnapping all wrapped into one book. Twists were mostly good, yet as a reader of a LOT of mystery/thriller, they were somewhat predictable. I liked the storyline and character development but I still had many questions left at the end. The last twist was unexpected, but underdeveloped. I most definitely did NOT like the ending. Many loose ends.

Thanks to Netgalley for letting me read this early. The story was quite good but there were a few parts that were a bit slow. Overall, a good book but you must pay attention and to ‘now’ and ‘then’ or you will be confused.

I loved this book/audiobook!!! It was so good!!! I loved everything about it!! It had me hooked from the very first page. Stacy Wellingham hit it with this book. It was my very first read from her and I will definitely read more from her

Available January 10th, 2023

Oh my WOW! Add to your 2023 TBR this one is fantastic.

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.

Izzy hasn’t slept in a year since the night her son was kidnapped from his own bed. The police have no leads - who took Mason?! After meeting on an airplane, Izzy teams up with podcaster Waylon to try to find a lead. Is she finding clues or is her sleep deprived brain making her see things?

I loved the flashbacks to her childhood. Izzy has a past full of secrets and guilt that makes her question her present self. Her traumatic past, failed marriage, lack of sleep makes for a perfect unreliable narrator that kept me on the edge!

Every time I thought I had this one figured out, Willingham would throw in another twist or surprise. Suspenseful and head spinning! I had an ebook and audio so I never had to put it down. Recommend to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers!

Thank you Netgalley & Macmillan Audio for providing me with early audio of All The Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham!

This story follows Isabelle Drake who lost her son Mason a year ago in the middle of the night. The case was never solved, and Isabelle has not slept since. She starts going to true crime events to tell her story as a way of taking the matter into her own hands since she feels like the police haven’t done much. She runs into a podcaster who is interested in telling her story. She and her husband are split and she has events in her past that she doesn’t fully understand. The POV goes back and forth from NOW to THEN as everything unravels.

Audio Narration: The audio was narrated by Karissa Vacker. Karissa does a fantastic job emotionally telling this story. Stacy Willingham's beautiful descriptive details are told so well with Karissa's narration.

What I liked: I absolutely love Stacy Willingham’s writing. I had also read her previous book, “A Flicker In The Dark”. I feel like this book was even better with the way she beautifully describes every bit of detail along the way. One example was how she talked about her eyes being so dry and how she could feel the veins on them from the lack of sleep. Also, I appreciated the description at the beginning of the book regarding victims of crime and these true crime fanatics sensationalizing traumatic events of victims. I thought I had it figured out 1/4 of the way through the story and was about to feel a little disappointed, but that wasn’t the case at all! This book was even better than Stacy’s first one with more twists. It was such a good story.

What I disliked: I really cannot think of anything I really disliked regarding the story as a whole. I would say that I think Isabelle’s character was pretty shitty for having an affair with Ben when his wife died, but the way the story has Wayland call her out on it was great.

Overall: I give this book a solid 4 stars. Possibly even 4.5 if I could give an extra half star. And the audio narrator was perfect for this story, adding emotion along the way. Dare I say, this may have been a scenario where the audio made the story even better!

Another page turning thriller by Stacy Willingham! Isabelle Drake's toddler, Mason, goes missing from home one night. One year later she is still trying to keep his case alive and in people's memories so she can try to find him. She finally takes a new approach by allowing herself to be interviewed for a true crime podcast. This book is a great example of "nothing is as it seems." I don't necessarily want to call it an unreliable narrator per se, but the book unfolds many secrets and misinterpretations of the past.

At first I was concerned because I didn't want to read just another missing child book. I feel like that storyline has been played out a lot. However, I feel like Willingham really took this story in a new direction. Weaving in Isabelle's past and sleep/medical issues, this novel really had a lot of good depth and layers. It definitely kept me guessing until the end!

I love the audio narrator for this book, Karissa Vacker. Also the same narrator from Willingham's Flicker in the Dark, Vacker has a smooth, relatable tone to her voice that does a great job of adding tension to the story.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for granting me a free audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

Another 5 star from me for Stacy Willingham! This audiobook was gripping. I loved the characters, the drama, and everything in between!

Isabelle Drake woke up one morning to find her baby Mason gone from his crib and room. After fruitless searches by police and neighbors and a seeming dead end, her husband wants Isabelle to accept Mason's disappearance and move on with life. But she persists in trying to find him.

I found the themes of sleep walking and memory loss intriguing, as well as Isabelle's searching into her past for answers that elude her. Her childhood and her younger sister Margaret tie this plot together in the dual timeline in the telling of the story.

The book kept me curious to the finish although I had some idea of what the ending might reveal.
An enjoyable and suspenseful psychological thriller.

I loved this twisty-turny thriller. It left me guessing until the very end. A greatly developed main character of Isabella is seeking out the answers to the disappearance of her son Mason. I loved the many layers of mystery and the answers fell into place slowly towards the end. A great story and one I'll be recommending to several friends who love a good mystery.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio for the advanced copy of the book.

All The Dangerous Things deserves the full monty! I finished a different book this evening and thought I’d start this one as I’m doing a buddy listen of the advance audio from NetGalley with a friend and she was almost finished. Well, I couldn’t go to sleep before finding out what happened to the baby and I stayed up listening until I was done at 2:30am!
The story starts a year after Isabelle’s son was taken from his room one night. He’s still missing, her husband has left her, the police have no leads, and she’s doing the lecture circuit trying to keep their case in the public eye. She hasn’t been able to sleep since her son was taken and it brings up her childhood memories of amnesiac sleepwalking. Was she somehow involved with the disappearance of her son? Was it someone else in the neighborhood? Was it a stranger? Is he alive or dead? What happened to this baby?! Now you understand why I couldn’t go to bed until I found out!
I’m usually grumpy when we’ve got an unreliable female narrator with some kind of mental illness or substance abuse problem but the background of her sleep disturbance issues made things more plausible. I enjoyed all the many different layers of everything that happened in the distant and recent past. The plot twists and final reveal were handled so well!!
And extra kudos go to Karissa Vacker for her sublime narration, especially how she modulated her voice in the different timelines. She captured all of Isabelle’s uncertainty and fears so well!
Thumbs up all around for this one! 👍