A Flicker in the Dark

This is a well written, on the edge of your seat, first book by this author. It's also a psychological thriller about Chloe, the daughter of a convicted serial killer. The story revolves around a new premise...AFTER the killer is caught. The main character, Chloe Davis, is a psychologist in a new town where she is trying to lead a normal life after her troubled past. When she was twelve, Chloe played a key role in getting her father convicted for the murder of six teenage girls, including her friend. Two decades later, the pattern of murders begins to repeat itself around her. Filled with anxiety, shame and paranoia, Chloe tries to investigate the murders on her own in order to put a stop to them. In the meantime, she attempts to figure show more out who could actually be killing the girls since it couldn't be her father...he's still behind bars. Be warned...this book is addicting. What really surprised me is how incredibly emotional this book was. A serial killers’ "blood lust" makes no sense in most cases, but it makes perfect sense in this story. The bittersweet finale is the preverbal icing on the cake, making the characters even more realistic. show less

Psychologist Chloe Davis, the central character in Stacy Willingham's thriller, "A Flicker in the Dark," has a great deal of emotional baggage stemming from a series of traumatic events that have haunted her since she was twelve. Her father has been locked up in a state penitentiary for twenty years, and she has not communicated with him since he was arrested for abducting and murdering adolescent girls. However, she stays in touch with her older brother, Cooper, and the siblings take turns visiting their disabled mother, Mona. Considering all that Chloe has endured, it is remarkable that she earned a PhD, has a private practice, and owns her own home. Furthermore, she is engaged to an attractive pharmaceutical rep, Daniel Briggs, with show more whom she feels comfortable enough to reveal her family's sordid history.

The plot involves a copycat who is snatching and killing youngsters in the same manner that Chloe's father allegedly did two decades earlier. Since Chloe has little use for the police, she decides to launch her own investigation into the recent crimes. She lacks the experience and judgment to separate fact from fiction, but she stumbles along anyway, endangering herself in the process.

"A Flicker in the Dark" has its share of strengths, especially for a debut effort. Its aura of ever-increasing menace elicits feelings of dread; Willingham's evocative descriptive writing gives us chills; and there are enough red herrings to keep us from figuring out the solution prematurely. Although the concluding chapters require a huge suspension of disbelief, the author holds our attention to such an extent that it is difficult to put the book down until we turn the final page. To her credit, Willingham avoids wrapping everything up too neatly, thereby adding a bit of realism to this intense, bleak, and compelling work of fiction. show less

“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

A debut novel that has a blurb from Karin Slaughter? (And many others!) A Flicker in the Dark was a must read for me.

Chloe was twelve when her father confessed to the killing of six teenage girls in their small Louisiana town. Twenty years later, Chloe has tried to escape the past and the stigma, moving away and becoming a psychologist. When one of her teenage patients goes missing, it brings it all back. The similarities between this case and her father's crimes are eerily similar....

Willingham's lead character is wonderfully unreliable - a favorite device of show more mine. I love trying to see between the lines, interpret Chloe's memories, deciding what might be true and what may not. Alcohol and drugs magnify that unreliability. There's some gaslighting as well - again, another device I truly enjoy.

Willingham also gives us a myriad of suspects for the whodunit. The reader is kept guessing all the way to the final reveal with suspect behaviour, hidden agendas, ulterior motives and more. Willingham delightfully manipulates the reader and their perceptions with a final reveal that I only sussed out in the final pages.

The premise of a serial killer father isn't new, but Willingham has put her own stamp on this idea. The writing grabbed me and it was hard to put the book down. I look forward to Willingham's next book!

HBO Max and Emma Stone are working together to develop an adaptation of Stacy Willingham's upcoming novel A Flicker in the Dark. Pretty impressive for a first novel! show less

So, I devoured this in two sittings! I was so smug and thought I had everything figured out, pretty early on, but I thought I'll keep going just to see if anything interesting happens. Boy was I wrong! I had absolutely no idea what was going on. The author completely mastered the art of misdirection and kept the plot moving, and me reading, with great writing and characters that were so very, very real. This is easily the best thriller I have read in several years and I can't wait to see what else the author has to give us. Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy to read and a provide my honest opinion.

Okay so I think maybe crime thrillers just aren’t really my thing. Giving this 4 stars because I thought the writing was good and the twists were interesting, and within the genre this seems like a solid book. However, I feel like no matter whether I’m surprised or not by the ending, I seem to always feel kinda meh by the end of the book. The first half to two-thirds pull me in and are exciting, but the wrap-ups and reveals just don’t really do it for me. I just don’t feel like I can connect to the characters and care about what will happen to them in the same way I can in other genres. I know the mystery is going to get solved, so my stake in the story is limited. A fun read, but I’m not sure I will be continuing to use my show more limited reading time on crime thrillers! show less

What an excellent debut, Stacy! When girls start going missing in Baton Rouge, Chloe notices some similarities to a spate of abductions that terrorised her childhood town over a decade ago. However, it can't be the same killer because that man is her father and he is currently in prison. Some good red herrings in here and nice wee twists. I liked how Chloe was fragile and on edge as this created tension and made some of her actions questionable. The result was a growing sense of unease for readers and a degree of uncertainty about which characters were trustworthy. A great murder mystery and I look forward to reading this author's next novel.

I was so excited to read this book when I first heard about it since I’m from a small town near Baton Rouge and I love a book about a serial killer.
All in all, the overall writing was good and I did enjoy the story. I did find it missing a little pizazz though. For others, the atmospheric development that took place in the story is something I can see that many people will gravitate to and love. However for me, the correct and real atmosphere in south Louisiana is much more rich and and could’ve been given a much better realistic creepy feeling.
I did figure out the twist early, but it did keep me doubting myself.
I do recommend you read this book and please note that my review is from my own personal bias based on the locality. show more 3.5 ⭐️

The narrator did do a terrific job! show less