I appreciated this riveting, twisty, and complex thriller even if I found it quite slow at the beginning.
Once I was hooked I couldn't put it down.
Chloe is an unreliable narrator but also an interesting character, a damaged woman.
There's a lot going on and the twists surprised me.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This book is brilliant. It's dark and foreboding. Full of confusion and misdirection. I did figure out the ending fairly early on but I had absolutely zero idea how we were going to get there. There was so many twists and turns and evidence pointing in other directions that I was convinced I must have had it wrong. I can't wait to read more from the author and I'm so grateful to Harper Collins for providing me with a free copy through Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

What an unusual premise for a thriller. We know that the central character, Chloe, is the daughter of a serial killer and this is her story….but is she to be trusted. She’s now an adult and a psychologist and bit by bit the complex dynamics of her past are pulled together. Or are they? It’s impossible to be sure whose reliable in detailing past events. Chloe is damaged and those around her are an intriguing mix of characters, all involved in one way or another. It’s impossible to second guess this teaser and I loved it.

The setting is superb and there’s a real feel for the Bayou and it’s quite claustrophobic. I’ve no hesitation in recommending this as a twisty thriller with a difference.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

An arresting read with many twists and turns.
An ususual plot line with secrets galore going back years and twisted family dynamics.
An explosive ending.

Atmospheric and chilling, this psychological suspense has a great setting and a plot with plenty of twists. Chole is an unreliable narrator and a complex character whose life is defined by what happened when she was twelve.

Disturbingly dark, told from Chole's viewpoint, there is confusion and misinformation. Sensory imagery brings the characters and setting to life, coupled with the intensity and sense of menace the story builds to a resonating conclusion.

I received a copy of this book from Harper Fiction via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Chloe Davis is a psychologist with a fabulous new fiancé. She is also the daughter of an imprisoned serial killer. Approaching the 20th anniversary of the murders, local girls start disappearing again. Are the new murders linked to the old? What does it all have to do with Chloe, and who should she be watching? Gripping and terrifying..

A Flicker in the Dark is a gripping and intense read. Prepare yourself for wanting to stay up late finishing this book!

The first half of the novel really drew me in… so much so that I didn’t want to put it down. The build up of tension, the slow reveal of clues as Chloe finds out more and we learn more about her background and history, and her family…

The third quarter I have to admit I found less engaging as not a lot happens, but the plot really picks back up in the last quarter – although some parts felt a little rushed, I was left feeling like I’d been on a real adventure!

The characters are also really intriguing. Chloe is likeable but at the same time rather unreliable, as we’re never sure if what we’re hearing inside her head is the real truth. Her narration certainly made me want to read on. The people around her range from seemingly solid and dependable to sneaky and suspicious - we're never sure exactly who to trust.

There are twists that kept me guessing, and although I guessed some of the more predictable aspects of the plot it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book.

A Flicker in the Dark is compulsive reading and left me excited to explore more from this author.

Wow, another fabulous debut!

Synopsis –

Chloe Davis is trying to lead a normal life as a psychologist in Baton Rouge, slowly inching towards the happiness she craves, with her soon approaching wedding. As a 12 year old girl back in her home town, 6 teenage girls were murdered. But now, 20 years later, girls are disappearing again. Is this just a coincidence? How can she just watch and not do anything?  

Review –

The narrative in the form of Chloe’s first person works very well to create an eerie sense of unease, slowly building paranoia and fear of the “dark” in our minds that Chloe herself experiences.

The plot is built up nicely, by drawing parallels between the present disappearances of the girls and the past, when Chloe had inevitably found herself in the middle of all those serial killings.  

The author does a great job of hinting at us that Chloe might be an unreliable narrator, sowing the seeds of suspicion. But soon, things started looking south when I could guess the killer in the present. And that’s when I started losing a bit of interest.

However, talk about a coming back with a bang! The author turns things around so quickly, that you are barely able to keep up with how things are unraveling. I was surprisingly outsmarted and cleverly, the obvious had been averted from happening.

I loved how Chloe’s character is portrayed. As a psychologist herself, I could empathize as she battles to get a grasp of her current mental state, trying hard to evade her past, yet in the end having to confront her worst nightmares.

With the ending, though I did gasp in shock, unable to come to terms with it all, I wasn’t happy with the injustice of it. I did agree about the rationale provided, but still, it didn’t quite convince me. Another issue was Chloe’s random flashbacks which I thought were a bit all over the place.

Overall, this was an engrossing read that kept me on the edge. I enjoyed and flew through this one in just a couple of days. Definitely recommend this to thrillers fans – you won’t be disappointed!

Thanks NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for this ARC!

This very much felt like a book of two halves with all the action in the second half. There were lots of dead end storylines which whilst I understand why authors use them I prefer if they have some continuation and these didn’t.
Not a bad debut but needs some careful editing and attention to the details which in this book was very sloppy.

A flicker in the dark is the debut novel by Stacy Willingham, what a way to enter!!

A flicker in the dark is a psychological thriller centred around Chloe. She's engaged to be married, has a thriebing psychology practice and wants forever little sounds perfect right? Wrong her father is a serial killer and killed 5 teens before he was caught and imprisoned. She has spent her life removing the stain her dad has left with the family, so imagine her complete shock when a teen goes missing near the 20th anniversary of her father first kill

I absolutely loved this book there were so many suspects that I honestly suspected everyone ! Chloe is a hot mess a pill popping therapist who probably needs her own therapist and shouldn't be treating people. She suspects after the first girl is murdered that it's link to her fathers crime and with a second missing girl who she was the last to see she starts to think this is personal.

The character herself was written really well. I found her to be likeable and full of depth. Her fathers actions scarred her and this is illustrated throughout the book with multi time lines. You could definately tell the differences between young Chloe and current Chloe. She is full of guilt and this is all brought back up when the new murders begin.

I found it really interesting the relationships between Chloe and thr other characters, she only seems to know people on a surface level even that with her brother and finance. I wasn't actually keen on any of the male characters for different reasons but they were all very well written. Chloes relationship with her mum is a heart retching one I found myself tearing up at one point. Honestly the elemener of relationships was very well written.

The prose is well written with fantastic descriptions, one of the best scenes I can still picture it now. The author shows a great deal of talent when it comes to making the reader feel like part of the experience and throughout I felt like I was there. The way it's written we are almost suppose to trust no one and I was convicted it was everyone and no one. Honestly amazing!!!

Would I recommend this book? Yes yes yes!! It's a 5 star book and I was surprised to hear it was the authors debut book if this is her first book sign me up for all the rest! Honestly i can't recommend this book more!! 5****

Thank you to netgalley, the publishers and Sarah Willingham for the ARC of A flicker in the dark.

I enjoyed this suspenseful story. This is a story that is full of mystery, action and twists and turns like no other. It is a well written story about Chloe. Her and her family faced a murder twenty years ago. Today, it seems to be happening again. As a teenage female comes up missing, will Chloe umask another killer? What will happen as the past comes to the present? I enjoyed what Chloe brought to the story and I felt for her. She went through so much in the past and is now about to face it all again. She is a strong character that kept the story engaging and entertaining to read. I enjoyed being pulled into the story and the growth of all the characters throughout the story. This is a great story that was hard to put down and I highly recommend picking it up.

Chloe's life is turned upside down when her father is imprisoned for killing six young girls, including her friend Lena. At just 12 years old she has to face a situation which affects her life from that point on. Now grown up, young girls are being murdered again in copycat killings, and Chloe is driven to find out who the killer is.
Chloe is a well-written character. Her life was damaged when her father was arrested and her life choices since then are chaotic and tinged with paranoia.
I've only given 3 stars as I worked out the ending and twist quite early in the book. Having said that, if you don't work it out, you'll love this book and give it 5 stars!

A Flicker In The Dark has all the ingredients of a thrilling crime fiction but unfortunately, it wasn't the right fit for me. It employs the usual trope of an unreliable narrator with a substance addiction who engages in questionable behaviour (despite being a psychologist - a favorite occupation for protagonists in thrillers, because apparently it's fine to have your psychologist regularly going off the deep end?). Chloe's relationship seems too good to be true right off the bat, so of course it is not as it seems. And that's how the book goes, where everything is telegraphed ahead of time. I didn't feel any suspense at the storyline. The twist is predictable. There's a lack of attention to detail (like what kind of motel leaves a chocolate on the bed? why do the police share everything about the case?) that took me out of the story. Hopefully I'll have better luck with the author's next book,

Wow 🤩 what a great read !! It switches from the past and the present , past murders and present murders which had you guessing right up to the very end of the book . Beautifully written , will definitely read more by this author

Since I started writing reviews myself, I make it a habit not to read any reviews of a book that I haven’t read yet. I choose a book based on other things, as there are of course the blurb, but sometimes just the cover or the title.
With A Flicker in the Dark it was the fact that this is a debut, and I’m always keen on discovering new authors. I’m not over the moon about it, but it’s clear that Stacy Willingham is a very skillful writer, and I would love to read more of her. The story is not very original though; we have our mid-thirties female professional with a big secret in her past, we have a couple of suspicious males, and we have some red herrings.
Although I tried to understand Chloe better, I kept wondering why she is still stumbling through life, questioning her own mental health (and right she is) but not really, really trying to believe that there are people that care for her. But how can she, with all the drinking and pill-popping that she does? At one moment in the story, she has a meaningful contact with someone she hasn’t spoken to in many years, and what does she do? The moment someone other enters the room, she flees. She doesn’t explain what happened to that other person and she certainly doesn’t ask this person to leave because what she’s experiencing at that time is very important to her. She does this all the time; it’s as if she’s not capable to finish anything she starts. The fact that she is very reluctant to do anything about organizing her upcoming wedding says it all.
So, we have Chloe, her fiancé Daniel, her brother Coop, some other family members and of course the police, who don’t (want to) understand Chloe’s ramblings – although she’s right about her suspicions at least part of the time.
It all makes for a book I read with pleasure, but I hope that Stacy Willingham will come up with an equally skillful written book with a more original story.

Thanks to Netgalley and Minotaur Books for this review copy.

This is Stacy Willingham's debut novel! I didn't realise this until I'd finished reading it, and to say I was surprised is an understatement. It feels like she's been writing for years! Full of plot twists and turns, I guarantee it'll leave you reeling and wanting more with each turn of the page.

Chloe is the protagonist in A Flicker in the Dark and has been trying to hide from her past, and her serial killer father for the last twenty years but some things just never go away... Flitting back and forth between the present, and Chloe's memories of the past, we begin to understand why she seems as troubled as she is.

It now seems that the murders are beginning again, with a similar modus operandi and Chloe feels that somehow she is a link to the killings, setting out to try and find out what is going on. Stacy Willingham's novel certainly keeps you on your toes and I really didn't see the ending coming, not in the way that it did.

Although I've read a few thrillers, it hasn't been my go-to genre but judging by the last couple I've read, I need to read more. A Flicker in the Dark kept me entertained as nothing has done for a while. If you've never read a psychological thriller before, start off with this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham.

This was a very dark story with lots of false leads which kept you on your toes looking for the truth. Some good characterisations and a plot that stretched ones imagination to its limits. The conclusion was excellent..

A flicker in the dark by Stacy Willingham.
Chloe Davis’ father is a serial killer.
He was convicted and jailed when she was twelve but the bodies of the girls were never found, seemingly lost in the surrounding Louisiana swamps. The case became notorious and Chloe’s family was destroyed. His crimes stalk her like a shadow. Now Chloe has rebuilt her life. She’s a respected psychologist in Baton Rouge and has a loving fiancé.
But she just can’t shake a tick-tick-tick of paranoia that, at any moment, it might all come crashing down.
A good read with good characters. I liked the story. 4*.

Oh wow, I don't even know where to start! Firstly for a debut novel, hats off to Stacy, this was amazing. You've outdone yourself because this is one fantastic novel, you need to be so proud.

This book gripped me, I could not put it down. Chloe was such a strong-willed character, she has managed to move on from something so traumatising, having her father convicted of murdering 6 teenage girls... she is one strong woman. She has such a wonderful job and when something happens, she can't help but think if it is linked to her father.

The journey we are taken on is just mind blowing. From one page to the next I felt like I couldn't read fast enough to get through the book but at the same time, I was enjoying it so much I didn't want it to end. It was so detailed, giving the reader a vivid video in their heads of what is going on - something that is hard to do, well for me as a reader, it doesn't happen often!

Well done Stacy and massive thanks for allowing me an ARC of your book! Netgalley, thank you as always.

Chloe has an more than unusual past, when she was twelve her father was captured for killing six girls in there small community town.
Now aged thirty two and having her own private psychologist practice she believes that er fathers past is behind her.
She is engaged to the wonderful Daniel but not everyone likes him including her brother Cooper.
The only way Chloe seems to cope is with drugs and alcohol and in time it makes her paranoid especially when a copy cat killer starts to take on from were her father left of.
Who can be trusted?
Full of plot twists and red herrings along the way.