A Flicker in the Dark

I’m conflicted because I was genuinely hooked by this book and enjoyed Willingham’s writing style, but also found the plot pretty predictable and the ending lack luster. Nonetheless a fun, twisty psycho thriller

It starts pretty well, but I found the ending a little bit obvious, I was expecting a really good plot twist.

Overall, it was a fun and light reading, with a great hook.

Found the first 2/3 of the book fairly dull and the protagonist was not super exciting to follow. I was expecting a lot more thrill or twist and found neither. Pretty mediocre.

The ending really saved this one in my opinion. It started out good, was shaky in the middle but the ending had a crazy twist in it

Decent story with an unreliable narrator. She is so consumed with her “father’s” crimes that she never looks deeper to really figure out what happened. I knew who was responsible pretty early on!!

This was such an amazing book. The pacing of the book was great, and the plot twists were insane

i guess the killer in the first chapter, so that was kinda disappointing.

eh..

This was a great book. I never saw the end coming. My only problem was I wonder how much research the writer did about Louisiana. For the crawfish boil, we don’t use ole bay! We use zatarain’s or la fish fry products. Also. We don’t have counties, we have parishes. The only state with them. I’m very proud of my state like most people. Just research!

Maybe it's my distrust of men but I didn't trust a single male character this whole time

10/10. Did not expect the plot twist AT ALLLLLL

“There are so many subtle ways we women subconsciously protect ourselves throughout the day; protect ourselves from shadows, from unseen predators. From cautionary tales and urban legends. so subtle, in fact, that we hardly even realize we’re doing them.” This book sorta remind me of The Notebook? Gone Girl? Or any kind of romance story with tragic plot that makes this book so unique. As this story came from thriller, I expected lot of detective cases but turn out it’s whole grudges and how we protect our loved ones that keep in the memorials for a long time looks like.  A Flicker In The Dark, like its name, it’s how we see the little spark among the endless hallway. How the deep love that comes as seeing our beloved every day makes us happy, can turn into whole evil nightmare. I wasn’t really into the character and make me want to re-read this someday if I have time. If you are looking for the detail cases of murder, you probably would never find it in here. But if you love something like psychological thriller (Haunting of Hill House) it probably will your highest forté!

The premise of this book was so strong and it was certainly a page turner. The Louisiana setting constantly gave me chills and was the perfect backdrop for this thriller.

Knocking off a star because the handful of strange/unanswered plot points and the main character, Chloe. I have a few unanswered questions after finishing the book, about Chloe’s past, her brother, her profession. Somethings aren’t adding up. Chloe could have been stronger. She was complex, but jumping to conclusions became repetitive and her drug use made her unreliable in a way I didn’t enjoy.

All of that being said I was in a reading slump and wa sable to become addicted to reading again just in time to make my reading goal!

Such a good book wow!!!!!!

The narrator of A Flicker in the Dark is Chloe Davis, who was twelve when her father confessed to murdering six teenage girls in their hometown. Since then Chloe has gone to college, become a child-psychiatrist, and now, at 32, is on the cusp of marrying a dashing man. But the ground is still a little shaky. When a serial killer emerges with an eerily familiar pattern, Chloe wonders if she's really escaped her past. I have loved all the books that I’ve read exploring protagonists who have had family members revealed to be serial killers, and I love the exploration of characters that have to live in the aftermath of their family’s sins. The concept of a character living in the shadow of their family member’s atrocities makes for compelling storytelling opportunities. Sadly, the first few chapters had amateur writing and this book felt like a debut novel in a bad way. This book had a decent premise, but had a basic execution. Chloe’s characterization fits what someone like her would be like in real life, but her brashness and how the author chose to write her character annoyed me. I’m a fan of unlikable characters, but Chloe’s character isn’t written to be unlikable, I just didn’t like her. I don’t have to like protagonists in order to enjoy the character or story, but I found her character and her narrative voice to be grating. She never felt like a child-psychologist, she felt like a soccer mom’s idea of a thriller protagonist. The reveals towards the end were interesting on paper, but they weren’t as shocking as what I was expecting. Despite not connecting with the story or the protagonist the way that I wanted, I liked the reveals. I liked the explanation and the identity of the killer. I correctly guessed who the killer would be, but the way that it was revealed and written was satisfying for me and the fact that I guessed it from the start didn’t take away from my satisfaction with the ending. I was satisfied by the ending, I just wish I was gripped by everything that came before it. I would still recommend this book for fans of thrillers, with the caveat that it’s a basic execution of a brilliant premise.

the writing style was simple enough to keep me engaged & completely pulled into the story the plot twist definitely got me fooled, like i was acting so smug thinking i solved everything then boom there's nothing crazy about this book, i don't have any strong feelings about it but it was a nice & quick read the locked door is basically an aliexpress version of this book lmao

Great book, the twist was interesting but I wish the ends were tied up a bit better.

Good, easy read, and interesting characters, but not for me. It dragged on. There was too much back and forth on who did it, everyone’s obsessed with murdering, and I knew how it ended from the beginning. I did enjoy the symbolism and some of the experiences our protagonist Chloe went through. Other than that, I’m glad I’m done reading it and I, sadly, think it’s a bit overhyped. 6/10, would recommend if you want to get it off your tbr, like I did.

The twist was amazing!!!

Easily one of my favorite books 🩷📖

Gripping! Everyone has a secret, and it kept me interested as the plot unfolds and you find out what everyone is hiding.

⭐️2-2.5 A painfully average book. The first half of the book lacked suspense; it was slow, and there was no mystery at all. The book gradually started to pick up once the girls started disappearing, but by that point a significant fifty percent of the book had been read. So the pacing wasn't the smoothest in this book. However, as terrible as the pacing of the book or the lack of suspense and tension were, Chloe was even less enjoyable. I couldn't stand reading from her perspective. Through the entire book, I found her annoying and exasperating, which made reading this book quite painful. Throughout the novel, we spend a great deal (too much, in my opinion) inside Chloe's head, watching her attempt to play detective (she's not very good at it), panic, consume a great deal of alcohol, and a substantial amount of prescription drugs, become paranoid, and make herself a suspect in Detective Thomas' eyes every time they interact. In truth, having the book narrated by her ruined my reading experience, which is a huge shame, since initially, I was quite intrigued by the fact that it was being narrated by the daughter of a convicted killer. While I didn't find the twists and turns particularly surprising, I thought they were fine. It was obvious to me who was the presumed copycat the whole time. The mystery isn't particularly great, but the idea/premise of the book isn't bad, but the execution just felt a tad flat and dull. As a whole, the book is exceedingly average, especially when compared to the thriller mysteries I've read so far this year.