A FLICKER IN THE DARK by Stacy Willingham

 

“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.

MY THOUGHTS

This is another of those absolute true thrillers. It will have you guessing all the way through. The only reason I took away one star is that I figured out who did it. I figured out two things. One I can't tell because that would be wrong. Just wrong.

This book starts out strong. It grips you in a way that you can't look away from. Like one of those train wrecks or bad car wrecks that make people stop and look even though they know it's going to be bad. This book will grab ahold of you and take you on a ride that you can't get away from until that very last word.

There is a family who seem so normal. A loving family. A dad, mom, and two children. But there are secrets in this family. Deadly secrets. Someone in this family is not normal. Not caring. Has no feelings. Possibly. Or could it have been someone else? That is another possibility. 

One summer six young teen girls go missing. Never to be heard from again. What could have happened? Was it the work of a serial killer? Was it someone Chloe knows? Was it a friend or a family member? When her father is arrested for this heinous crime her life will never be the same. No one in this family will ever be the same. Their lives are shredded. 

Twenty years after her father is incarcerated for the murders of six teenage girls Chloe is working as a psychologist. She's trying to make a life even though she is constantly on edge about things that happened when she was just a kid. She's engaged to be married and dealing with all of that. She's trying to be a good sister, daughter, fiancé. But when two girls go missing and are later found dead she starts living a nightmare that she thought was in her past. She has so many trust issues and starts suspecting that maybe the killer is closer than she thought. But is he? Or is it a he? Is it someone she knows? Or a total stranger? 

This is a terrific book. Well written. Great descriptions. Makes you feel like you are there. In Chloe's office. Behind it in the alley. In the woods where she grew up. In her home. You feel the fear that this book takes you through. The sadness that is. The loneliness. You feel it all. Stacy Willingham did a fantastic job for her debut novel. The only thing that made it lose a star as I said is that I figured out who did what and why early on. But that did not in any way take away from the story. I was not positive about my thoughts until I was. I did wish things would have ended a tad different for Chloe. She deserves to find that happiness and togetherness. She deserves a family.

Thank you #NetGalley, #StacyWillingham, #StMartinsPressMinotaur for this ARC. This is my own true feelings about this book.

4/5 stars and a high recommendation. Read it. Enjoy. Be warned though. It's edge of your seat in many places.