I was given an ARC of A Flicker in the Dark in return for an honest review. I absolutely love a good thriller and this book is no exception. Although I had guessed the outcome about 60% into the book I still found it intriguing to continue reading in order to prove my theory. For me, the plot was engrossing and, yes, it does have a lot of twists and turns which, for me, is a must-have. Succinct language, short chapters and seriously suspicious characters add tension to an already suspenseful plot.

Are her memories of twenty years ago to be trusted? Chloe′s father is in prison for killing three teenage girls, and her testimony put him there. Because the cover of the book indicates that the killings have started again, we read the book knowing there is some doubt about that testimony.
The protagonist, Chloe, is a decidedly unreliable narrator. She was only 12 when the original crimes occurred, so her memories are mixed up with the melodrama of a life on the cusp of becoming a teenager. And the horror of what happened led her to become a psychologist, which gives her some insight to how she reacted at the time, but also access to a ready supply of mind-numbing drugs in the present.
A journalist from the New York Times, is writing a story on the twenty year anniversary, and thinks the new killings may be committed by a copycat killer, but as more evidence comes to light Chloe wonders if it is something more alarming. Was her first meeting with her fiancé as random as it appeared? What happened to the parents of the murdered girls? Perhaps her mother knows more, but she is trapped in a barely conscious state after a failed suicide attempt.
Her father has not been the only man in her life to let her down, but is that distrust causing her to see guilt where there is none?
At one point, I started trying to work out if Chloe could have been the murderer, since it′s very difficult to trust in her memories, and it almost seemed possible that she′d made up the story to cover her own actions. But then common sense prevailed and I realised it was physically impossible for Chloe to do the killings.
The most memorable scene for me was when it appears her mother is on the edge of death, and Chloe, her brother and fiancee meet up in her room, and it seems for a moment that some fragment of the truth might become apparent. The interaction between the two women, who have both had their lives destroyed by men they loved, is poignant and powerful, even though no words are exchanged.
There are so many twists and misdirections in the story that the eventual solution is not a complete surprise, since most readers would have considered that explanation as a possibility along the way. But the story is well written and tense, and makes for an involving read.

I had a copy of this book early through Netgalley.

Not for me it was too slow nothing happened until middle of book sorry I couldn’t finish it I lost all interest.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for an early copy

This started well but I got to a certain point and knew exactly what the twist would be. I enjoyed it but working it out so soon meant there was no tension there and I finished just to see if I was right. It seemed to get lost in places for me and I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I expected to.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

A Flicker in the Dark is a title that kept cropping up as one of the most hotly anticipated debut thrillers of this new year, so I was excited to be able to get my hands on a digital copy just in advance of the release date.

In this book we follow Chloe Davis, whose family name is notorious in her native Louisiana. That's because 20 years ago, her father was unmasked as the culprit of a series of murders of young girls. She was the one who ended up bringing him to justice and he went to jail for what he did.

Chloe has tried to move on and is now a practising psychologist trying to help other people come to terms with trauma, although she still understandably suffers from the after-effects of her own ordeal.

But when another teenager disappears, Chloe must face up to the fact that the horrors of two decades ago might not have been left entirely in the past.

I loved the setting of this book, with the swamps and bayous of Louisiana really coming to life in the author's vivid descriptions. The flashbacks to the 1990s also stood out for me, particularly as someone who will forever have an affinity for that decade.

I did find the book slowed down a tiny bit somewhere in the middle, although that might have been due to the breaks in reading time caused by the festive season disrupting the continuity I would otherwise have enjoyed.

However, the pace really ratcheted up at about the 60 per cent mark and didn't let up from then on - and the ending was absolutely top-notch. No spoilers here, but the explanation as to why things turned out the way they did is particularly satisfying.

I thought A Flicker in the Dark lived up to the hype you've probably been seeing in the book community and would recommend it to thriller lovers everywhere, especially those who enjoy a great setting to their stories.

I'm looking forward to seeing what this author does next!

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank You to the publishers and Net Galley for an advance copy.
Had I seen this in a bookshop I probably would not have bought it but I would have been wrong?
This is a very enjoyable thriller with many twists and turns. The story leads you in many directions before the final devastating reveal.
It is the story of Chloe the daughter of a convicted murderer and the problems she faces when copycat killings start taking place twenty years later, The story moves along at a good pace and provides many credible suspects along the way giving the reader much pause for thought.
A very good debut novel

I really enjoyed this book-the plot is an interesting one with the past Murders and the connection to the main character.

You end up suspicious of everyone and the main character isn’t particularly reliable but you feel for her.

Well…what a read! This book is everything you want in a psychological thriller, it is dark. it is unpredictable and it is incredibly addictive. This is an incredible debut novel and I can’t wait for more to come from this author.

This was an enjoyable read. Each time I thought I had worked out what was going on, I found out I was wrong! Some great twists and turns in this story. Great characters throughout the book, I couldn’t help but have doubts about everyone! This story had an ending I was not expecting! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book had me invested from the very beginning. The writing was mesmerising, I ended up caring so much for the characters and I really wanted to know what was happening. I have to admit, I did guess the twist at the end (which is astonishing for me, since I never pick up on these things) but I still think this book was great. I'm glad the ending turned out the way it did and honestly, the journey is all that matters to me!

I highly recommend this book!

Those who know me will know that although I love to read books of all genres, I have a soft-spot for crime and thrillers in particular. Serial killers, murder, intriguing puzzles and clever twists are all the things I really enjoy to read about. So, when I read the blurb for A Flicker in the Dark, about a woman whose father is a serial killer I thought it would be right up my street.

I’m not sure whether it was going in with high expectations that was my issue (that often leads to disappointment) but I felt very let down by A Flicker in the Dark. At 10% of the way through, I turned to my fiancé and said, ‘I think I can see exactly where this book is going, I hope I’m wrong, but I think ___ will be the red herring but it’ll actually be ____’. When I put down the book a few days later the only thing I could really say was that I was completely right. The book is incredibly predictable, there aren’t really enough characters introduced in the story to make the twist have any kind of impact. There’s only two real suspects and you are led to believe it’s one of them for half of the book so of course it won’t be them! The only twist that surprised me was who the journalist turned out to be but that was only because it was a character I thought I’d never heard of up until the reveal.

I enjoy reading about flawed main characters and think if done well it can lead to a nice uncertainty about the reliability of the narrator. With Chloe however, I just found it a bit frustrating. She makes some really silly decisions, and I spent a lot of the book silently screaming at her to understand what was going on.

Overall, A Flicker in the Dark is a great premise but is very predictable with a frustrating main character. Thank you to NetGalley & Harper Collins UK – HarperFiction for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Well written and a great plot.
I loved the premise of Chloe being a serial killer daughter and how she and her older brother survived the trauma.
The 12 year old Chloe was very convincing and the author seamlessly brought us up-to-date with the grown up, traumatised, self-medicating Chloe. A successful psychologist with demons of her own. Her inability to trust anyone, to take the blame on her shoulders and to make mistakes were all convincing. A great character. In fact all the characters were convincing. The death of so many young girls had wide reaching affects on their families, friends and neighbours.
The red herrings, twists and turns had me guessing to the end, a good reason to continue with the book. But I also thought the writing was excellent too. The plot was great, once I reached the end I could look back and see how everything fitted together, no loose ends, it all made sense, but at the time I was like, what just happened?
A great debut novel and one I would recommend.

I thought I would like this one more than I did as the spiel sounded right up my street.

A female psychologist whos father is an imprisoned serial killer. Yes please. Still traumatised from the events that happened when she was only 12 and now similar murders are happening 20 years later - Im all in!

While I enjoyed this book to an extent it had too many problems for me to really be engrossed by it.
For a starter, the story is told from the point of view of our main protagonist Chloe Davis and I found her a poorly written character. The author didnt seem to know what to do with her. Self medicating, this is used as a tool to sometimes think she is an unreliable narrator and a vehicle to push the many red herrings that felt clumsy and predictable. She also had this really annoying habit of one minute being "OMG this person is going to kill me" to being " ah everything is fine with this person, who is my next suspect?". I mean it felt really awkward reading this.
Chloe is also an extremely annoying main character and narrator. She is so inconsistent and we hear nearly every thought in her head, I found it tedious.
The book is also way too long. The first half dragged badly.

There were parts to like. Some of the writing was very good and the book became a page turner but it was in the minority. The story also, while clumsily told, was a great premise and could have been a great read.

Its the authors debut novel I believe and there seems to be plenty of promise there. I just wish this book and story had been better written and better told.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC through Netgalley.

Stacy Willingham's debut comes with recommendations from other thriller writers that I love so I was keen to read A Flicker in the Dark. 20 years ago Chloe's father was convicted of the murders of local teenage girls and Chloe, now 32 and a psychologist is living with that trauma. When a similar murder suggests a copycat killer Chloe is determined to discover the truth. This is a well written and promising debut with a well conceived and believable main character. However, the plot isn't wholly original and I did find it a little too slow paced. Overall an enjoyable read and I'll look forward to reading Willingham's second novel.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

Twenty years ago Chloe Davis' father was convicted for multiple murders.

She has lived her life in the shadow of these crimes and when a similar murder occurs it looks like a copycat killer is on the prowl.

Set in the surroundings of the Louisiana swamps it is very atmospheric, the humid heat, the sweat, the alligators and the fireflies are vividly captured.

The first half is largely setting the scene, we get to know the characters and the environment well, it's fair to say it takes a while to get moving.

The plot and the pace really kicks in in the second half, there are some excellent original twists and the depth of character is maintained very well. The tension keeps building and it ends strongly.

Very good overall, a very impressive debut, and if it had started a little faster it could easily have been a solid five stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK

After a relatively happy childhood Chloe's life is shattered after her father's arrest and conviction as a serial killer of a number of young girls whose bodies were never found. 20 years later Chloe is a successful psychologist running her own practise in Baton Rouge . but needs the help of prescription drugs that she gets by prescribing for her patients and collects them herself at different pharmacies .
She is engaged to Daniel and about to be married when the murders restart on the 20th Anniversary of the original killings , with one of the victims Chloe's patient who disappeared after leaving her office , the girls body is later found nearby throwing suspicion on Chloe . Chloe begins to suspect Daniel , who Cooper , Chloe's brother seems keen to warn her off. . Many twists along the way but all is not what it seems.

4 stars for a psychological mystery/thriller. Chloe Davis is a psychologist in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
She is wracked with guilt because of the fact that her father is a serial killer. She found the evidence that led to his conviction. She self medicates with illegally prescribed prescription pills. But then the murders of young teenage girls start again. She suspects several people when she finds evidence linking them to the current crimes. Because of the false clues, I was not sure of the actual killer until near the end. She does solve the mystery.
Two quotes:
Chloe's description of Home: "A home isn't just a house, a collection of bricks and boards held together by concrete and nails. It's more emotional than that. A home is safety, security."
Louisiana bayou: "Once we pass the clearing, I can't help but gasp at the beauty of this place. The bayou is wide and lazy, peppered with cypress trees emerging from the murky water, their knees breaking the surface like fingers reaching for something to grab. There are curtains of Spanish moss cascading the sunlight into millions of twinkling pinpricks, a chorus of frogs croaking in unison, with their wet, guttural sounds."
Thanks to HarperCollinsUK for sending me this eARC through NetGalley

This was a superb psychological thriller noir that had me on the edge of the seat right from the very first page. Daughter of a serial killer of young girls, Chloe Davis has rebuilt her life and is now a successful medical psychologist, engaged to be married to the charming Daniel. But just weeks before her wedding, teenage girls start to disappear again, in a series of abductions eerily reminiscent of her father's crimes. But he is locked up in prison. Who is the copycat? Why is he involving Chloe in his monstrous acts? And can she convince the authorities of what she suspects before he kills again?
This story is so well written. Chloe is wholly convincing as the survivor of childhood trauma, and her relationship with her parents, brother and teenage friend - the first of her father's victims - is sensitively portrayed in a narrative that takes us back to a past as vivid as the present, heightening the tension, danger and fear that Chloe feels both as a young girl and an adult woman.
Themes of survivor guilt, trust and reconciliation all underpin the story, adding extra layers of depth to a plot that is truly engrossing as Chloe gradually loses her grip on everything she once held true in life. Unable to trust anyone around her, and fearing that she is to blame for her father's crimes and the current killing spree, she still finds the determination to atone for her perceived failings, even if no-one around will believe or help her.
A well-crafted and beautifully paced story that will have you second-guessing your own ideas with the turn of each page. I loved it.

It’s hard to believe this is a debut novel. A Flicker in the Dark is a well written, addictive and twist-filled story. The characters are well written, developed and relatable. This author is definitely going places and I will most definitely read more as she brings them out. The ending was a little predictable and normally this would turn me off a book, but in this case I found it enjoyable to see play out and have my guess confirmed. I devoured the whole book in less than 24 hours, I couldn’t put it down. I’d highly recommend this gripping and suspenseful novel. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for an early copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Didn’t realize I’ve already read and rated this book, so here’s my rating!

Wow, what a mind blowing read! Definitely on the deliciously dark, disturbing, and even a bit demented side! Very well written, with excellent character development, which makes the book even more engrossing! One that will definitely shock you, not just in the thriller way, but the places the author actually went! A must read for my fellow thrill chasers! Highly, highly recommend!