Stacy Willingham

A New York Times Bestseller “A smart, edge-of-your-seat story with plot twists you’ll never see coming. Stacy Willingham’s debut will keep you turning pages long past your bedtime.” —Karin Slaughter When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, her own father had confessed to the crimes and was put away for life, leaving Chloe and the rest of her family to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath. Now twenty years later, Chloe is a psychologist in Baton Rouge and getting ready for her wedding. While she finally has a fragile grasp on the happiness she’s worked so hard to achieve, she sometimes feels as out of control of her own life as the troubled teens who are her patients. So when a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another, that terrifying summer comes crashing back. Is she paranoid, seeing parallels from her past that aren't actually there, or for the second time in her life, is Chloe about to unmask a killer? From debut author Stacy Willingham comes a masterfully done, lyrical thriller, certain to be the launch of an amazing career. A Flicker in the Dark is eerily compelling to the very last page.

A Novel

A Flicker in the Dark

When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, Chloe’s father had been arrested as a serial killer and promptly put in prison. Chloe and the rest of her family were left to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath.

Now 20 years later, Chloe is a psychologist in private practice in Baton Rouge and getting ready for her wedding. She finally has a fragile grasp on the happiness she’s worked so hard to get. Sometimes, though, she feels as out of control of her own life as the troubled teens who are her patients. And then a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another, and that terrifying summer comes crashing back. Is she paranoid, and seeing parallels that aren't really there, or for the second time in her life, is she about to unmask a killer?

In a debut novel that has already been optioned for a limited series by actress Emma Stone and sold to a dozen countries around the world, Stacy Willingham has created an unforgettable character in a spellbinding thriller that will appeal equally to fans of Gillian Flynn and Karin Slaughter.

Anahi Romero

Even in the daytime, I felt the evil lurking just behind every corner. The anticipation that it would be -that It would be me

At twelve years old, GIRL GOES MISSING doesn't have the same sinister implications as it does when you're older. Your mind doesn't automatically flicker to all those horrible places: kidnap-

Luna 🌙

Courtney Passio

maya

Cortni Bell

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!

brie

obviously if you go into this expecting realism in every sense you’ll be disappointed. there were quite a few parts where you had no choice but to suspend your disbelief. the fmc made some stupid decisions but in the end she did redeem herself by acting smart to get evidence. i really liked the ending twist and it felt satisfying since i was able to guess correctly.

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

Megan Christensen

Jonathan Garcia

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

This book starts with an unnecessarily triggering description of a mentally unwell teenage girl. I was able to mentally push past that just to get 80% of the way through the book where the main character does something I CAN’T stand in books and find incredibly unethical. So I know for those reasons I can't rate it higher than a 3...it's getting a two because quite frankly there were just too many oh my God I can't trust these people in her life and like i get it, but also like couldn't she have at least ONE person in her life who could be trustworthy? Oh she did...but yeah they weren't actually so this poor girl (woman) left the book with literally no ONE. Had that plot twist 80% of the way through NOT happened and she at least got a HEA I THINK I could have gotten up to a 3.5 4 star. <spoiler> I just can't with people who use their horrific experiences as a reason to cheat on an otherwise loyal partner. </spoiler>

Katie B.

“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!

Kristen G

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!

Kenzi Linton

Geoffrey Froggatt

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 first third of the novel was quite intriguing and then as the second third began, once the girls started going missing again, I was losing interest and concentration. Becuase there were seemingly a lot of characters being introduced or mentioned, and I quite literally didn't care for them. 

Like it came to a point where I was asking myself every time "Wait who's this again?” Haha. Around chapter 35, I could accurately predict who was the real bad guy and who wasn't. Especially the ending of who the copycat killer was. It was all thanks to the strange behavior happening between Chloe and the other characters. Also, sis needs help. Like professionally. 

Atli 💗🧚🏽‍♀️

The first third of the novel was quite intriguing and then as the second third began, once the girls started going missing again, I was losing interest and concentration. Becuase there were seemingly a lot of characters being introduced or mentioned, and I quite literally didn't care for them. 

Like it came to a point where I was asking myself every time "Wait who's this again?” Haha. Around chapter 35, I could accurately predict who was the real bad guy and who wasn't. Especially the ending of who the copycat killer was. It was all thanks to the strange behavior happening between Chloe and the other characters. Also, sis needs help. Like professionally. 

jess larry

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. 

Tate

Mae Erceg

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.

Jodie Reads

A page turner till the very end. Did not expect Daniel to actually be a good guy. Aaron being a enemy and manipulative bastard caught me completely off guard. AND COOPER BEING THE KILLER ALL ALONG 😱😱🫣🫣😶‍🌫️😶‍🌫️

Susan

Katelin Hippe

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

Michelle Hruby

Charlsy Sekyere

⭐️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.

Drink a shot everytime you spot someone arm(s) snaking around or chewing the inside of their gum in this book.

This book reads like a TV series. I can even imagine some of the dialogue playing out like a scene on the screen, with dramatic music and cuts and reveal (boom! 😳 oMG no way). In that sense the book flows rather fast, with things and events start to unreveal like onion skin, faster and faster toward the end of the book. Contradicting to the above point though, is the fact that readers spend a lot of time inside the lead character head. Sometimes it's the flashback, sometimes it's her feeling. That works really well for setting up the scene though, you feeling what she feels. But maybe that's why the plot feel rather weak the more you think about it. It's made for twist and turn and misleading the reader's prediction. But when you really think about it some details just can't really be explain soundly. Perhaps placed there for the sake of diverting your predictions, but feel so odd and jarring when taken as a whole.

In the end the book is entertaining, with a plot that not too predictable ( heck if you're like me and only thinking in the shoes of the character then you're in the blind) and lots of emotion to be felt (poor Chloe)

Thomas Duy

Drink a shot everytime you spot someone arm(s) snaking around or chewing the inside of their gum in this book.

This book reads like a TV series. I can even imagine some of the dialogue playing out like a scene on the screen, with dramatic music and cuts and reveal (boom! 😳 oMG no way). In that sense the book flows rather fast, with things and events start to unreveal like onion skin, faster and faster toward the end of the book. Contradicting to the above point though, is the fact that readers spend a lot of time inside the lead character head. Sometimes it's the flashback, sometimes it's her feeling. That works really well for setting up the scene though, you feeling what she feels. But maybe that's why the plot feel rather weak the more you think about it. It's made for twist and turn and misleading the reader's prediction. But when you really think about it some details just can't really be explain soundly. Perhaps placed there for the sake of diverting your predictions, but feel so odd and jarring when taken as a whole.

In the end the book is entertaining, with a plot that not too predictable ( heck if you're like me and only thinking in the shoes of the character then you're in the blind) and lots of emotion to be felt (poor Chloe)

Quydasha Allen 

I felt like we where being told everything not shown I still don’t understand what happens with the past murders and the killers motive I feel like the plot wasn’t fully developed or thought out the only good part was the copycat killer twist. The main character fell very flat for me she felt shallow and just really selfish as if she only thought about her self and how things affected her

I actually couldn’t finish this. The main character just annoyed the heck out of me and the writing style was just hard work. Had to stop with this one.

Aims

Vilandra

I was really invested in this book until the last 75 pages. A weird romance thing, and the realization that what I had guessed at the very beginning ended up actually being true, plus the fact that it was a bit all over the place, lessened my enjoyment. I feel like it ended in a good place, but it could have been cleaned up a bit.

Great thriller. Lots of twists and turns. However, a little slow at times and it took me longer than usual to get through 

A Flicker in the Dark A Novel

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