I read the authors last book and really enjoyed it so I was looking forward to this and I wasn’t disappointed. The main protagonist is Isabelle Drake and she is suffering; a brilliantly portrayed, flawed character who quickly got into my head. The book isn’t particularly fast paced rather it start slow and as it’s drawn out the pace ramps up and you just have to read the next page until you see ‘The End’. Told from Isabelle’s POV and two timelines, then and now.

Briefly, it is exactly one year since Isabelle’s young son Mason vanished from the family home and has not been seen since. Her husband Ben has moved out and is seeing another woman. She is left with demons in her head and unable to accept that Mason has gone for ever. Unable to sleep her only reason to be is finding Mason. She then meets a podcastor and agrees to do a show with him as a means of maintaining the publicity. However, this brings even more despair as events from her childhood come to light and she starts to believe she was responsible for Mason going missing.

As more and more secrets come to light events take a shocking turn. The book is full of flawed characters, red herrings, some gasp out loud moments and has a brilliant storyline. I was hooked from start to finish and, although I thought I had the ending sussed, I was totally wrong. Very enjoyable.

A year ago Isabelle’s life changed forever when her eighteen month old son Mason vanished from his nursery. The police have no leads, the press have moved on and her husband has moved out but Isabella can’t rest until she knows what happened to Mason. She’s doing everything she can to keep the story alive, including giving talks at CrimeCon events. This is where she meets Waylon, a true crime podcaster, who wants to help. He’s already solved one missing persons case, can he solve Masons too?

A Flicker in the Dark was good but All the Dangerous Things is better! I really enjoyed this book.. an unreliable narrator, dual timelines and lots of twists and turns kept me pretty gripped throughout and desperate to find out what happened! I did half guess the ending, well I guessed the right person was involved just not the right story haha.

My only slight negative is the pacing at the end. I wish we had more detail and more explanation rather than the 2 days later and a week later time jumps. It was such a good, slow build up throughout the book but then the conclusion felt like it was done in a matter of pages.. I would have loved more.

I think Stacy Willingham will be going on my auto-but author list now. I can’t wait to see what she writes next!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Isabelle is a mess. It's a year since her son, Mason, disappeared from his cot. She is doing everything in her power to find him and has even resorted to going to Crimecon events. On the way back from one of these she meets Waylon, a true crime blogger who got into it because of the death of his sister.
Izzy has always felt that the local police think she murdered her son and to be honest she's not sure herself.
Events in her past make her have these doubts and she knows that she won't get any answers until she tackles the past and finds out the truth there.
A twisting tale which moves between now and Izzy's past and thows in plenty of red herrings.
It took a little while to gather speed, but once it was there it had me hooked.

💭 ᴍʏ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ:
This one is really slow to start. I found the “then” storyline a bit confusing at the start and it slowed down the pace significantly. However, it is for good reason, as it nicely builts up the scene and it will be wrapped up together in the end. It creates a good character built. Again, like a Flicker in the Dark, I really loved the writing style. It’s such a quick read because of that. After about 100 pages the paced picked up the way I hoped and I was sucked into it. My mind kept going everywhere on who could have taken Mason. I really loved the ending and I definitely did not see it coming. A solid Psychological thriller!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🤓 ʀᴇᴀᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪᴋᴇ:
Unreliable narrator
Good character built
Psychological thriller
Addictive read
Multiple timelines

ꜱʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ:
𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘰, 𝘐𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘬𝘦'𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳: 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥. 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘐𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳.

𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘯𝘢𝘱 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳.

𝘐𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦'𝘴 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘐𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘫𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦-𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳; 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘐𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦'𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘰𝘶𝘴. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘯𝘪𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘔𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯’𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦... 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.

Isabelle Drake's life is shattered when her one year old son is taken from his crib while her and her husband sleep in the next room.
One year on the case goes cold but Isabelle refuses to give up looking for son.
I couldnt put this book down and raced towards the end to find out what happened. It kept me guessing back and forth until the very end when I was sure I had it figured out and boy was I wrong!! I absolutely loved it. I really felt for Isabelle and I loved the back story and how it all tied in together.
Thank you to Netgalley for the chance to read this.

Wow! @stacyvwillingham has done it again. This was a beauty. It was full of twists and turns… a lot of unexpectedness!

I buddy read this with the lovely @morbidmama_reads and I thought I’d cracked it about 10 chapters in but boy was I wrong.

I can’t imagine was Isabelle had to go through when her son, Mason, was kidnapped from his bedroom. She’s not slept since and I don’t blame her! She allows a true crime podcaster to take her under his wing but is there to him then meets the eye?

Her husband or ex husband…? Isn’t the most supportive of her and how she feels. They are struggling as a couple and end up going their own ways. I thought the ending was a little rushed... BUT, I still LOVED the book.

It’s twisted, it’s dark and it’s bloody brilliant. Thanks @instabooktours for having me on another brilliant tour!

One year ago, Drake's life changed forever: her toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep in the next room. With little evidence and few leads for the police to follow, the case quickly went cold. However, Isabelle cannot rest until Mason is returned to her - literally. Except for the occasional catnap or small blackout where she loses track of time, she hasn't slept in a year. Isabelle's entire existence now revolves around finding Mason, but she knows she can't go on like this forever.

This is a twisted rollercoaster ride you won't want to get off. As the first anniversary of her son, Mason's abduction approaches, Isabelle talks at a true crime convention, trying to keep her son's story in the forefront as the police have no clues, and they're no further forward in their search for Mason. Isabelle can't sleep. She's only had catnaps all year. She doesn't know how to move forward. But this wasn't the first traumatic event in her life. What an intriguing read this book was. It's also a sad and gripping read that the emotions of being a mother brings to the forefront. The pace is perfectly set. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #HarperCollinsUK #HarperFiction and the author #StacyWillingham for my ARC of #AllTheDangerousThings in exchange for an honest review.

Isabelle Drake's infant son Mason disappeared from his bed a year ago. Since then police have run out of leads and seemingly lost interest. Isabelle partners with a true crime podcaster to try to get to the bottom of what happened to her son. Lots of psychological suspense and twists, with all the loose ends tied up neatly at the end. Published on 2 February.

I would like to thank Netgalley And HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction for an advance copy of All the Dangerous Things, a stand-alone psychological thriller set mostly in Savannah, Georgia.

Isabelle Drake hasn’t slept in the 364 days since her son, Mason, disappeared from his crib. There have been no sightings and no clues to his whereabouts in the year since and everyone wants her to move on, but she can’t. Deciding to try a new tack she teams up with podcaster, Waylon Spencer, to discuss the disappearance and that brings back suppressed memories and questions about Waylon’s motives.

I asked to read All the Dangerous Things, because I had seen some good things in the previous novel, A Flicker in the Dark, and wanted to see if the author could run with them. Unfortunately for me it’s more of the same, things to like and things to dislike.

I don’t like Isabelle Drake, who is, to use a scientific term, a fruitcake. She’s irrational and unreasonable and, yes, I understand that grief can manifest itself that way, but it’s wearing and unbelievable in fiction. Plus, her returning memories hint at dark deeds in her past. It feels fabricated.

The novel switches timeline regularly from the present to her childhood and her early relationship with her future husband, Ben. It’s not difficult to follow, but can be a little discombobulating as not all the switches are advised.

This is a novel of two halves with the first setting the scene and allowing the reader to get up close and personal with Isabelle through her first person narratives. It also hints at secrets in her past. I found it very difficult to get into the novel as I’m not a big fan of unreliable narrators and I picked it up and put it down in favour of more relatable novels several times. The second half is where things start to come together with more reveals and several twists. It makes the novel more readable, but not a massive shock as many of the twists are guessable.

All the Dangerous Things will appeal to readers who like a psychological thriller, but the series of unlikelihoods left me cold.

All The Dangerous Things
I read Stacy’s first novel A Flicker In The Dark when it came out and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was atmospheric, dark, scary and unsettling. And this, this is better. Izzy’s baby boy Mason is taken one night. Kidnapped from his cot while his parents were sleeping. Or were they? Izzy has a dark past, a history so steeped in secrecy even she doesn’t know what she is capable of. Has someone taken her son? Is he alive? Did she herself have something to do with his disappearance? A Mother so sleep deprived she can’t tell fact from fiction, she can’t trust her memory, she can’t trust herself. Worse still the detective in charge of Mason’s case, her own husband and the people she meets at true crime events all seem to doubt her too. The Deep South savanna setting of this story only adds to the eerie feeling this book gives you. A great book. 4.5 stars!

So I read A Flicker in the Dark written by the same author and after I enjoyed reading her debut book, I decided to read all Stacy Willingham's books. And the good news was, I got approved an ARC of her latest second novel, All the Dangerous Things and I am so super excited!

The story starts with Isabelle Drake, whose toddler son Mason disappeared mysteriously one night, nearly a year ago. Ever since then, Isabelle is having trouble falling asleep and is suffering from insomnia. Isabelle's main aim is to find what happened to Mason and was willing to not give up on her search. Soon, she was interviewed by a crime podcaster who seemed to be interested in doing a piece about Mason's disappearance. And as she was questioned, Isabelle's start to doubt what really happened the night Mason disappeared and wondered to whom she should trust at all..

I have to say, this book is so much better than her first book--it was mind-blowing and unputdownable and so much of twists and turns that you wouldn't expect. Not only that, as a reader, you feel Isabelle is an unreliable narrator as she too had some secrets back from her past life when her sister Margaret died. As a reader, I wanted to know what really happened to little Mason. Did Isabelle really kill her own child? Or did someone else kill her child? And the husband, Ben part was also interesting. I was nearly put on the edge of the seat as I read and simply couldn't put the book down. The ending was a dramatic one and I actually liked the ending. The writing was good and the author did a good job of drawing the reader into the story.

Overall, this is a fast-paced thriller that will keep you up all night! Worth five stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

‘All the Dangerous Things’ is a little different in that it features sleepwalking at its core.

Isabelle Drake appears to lead a normal life, but behind that facade, she lives with the guilt that she did something really bad as a child.

We meet Isabelle a year after her son Mason was taken from his bed in the middle of the night, and despite the efforts of the local police department together with a well meaning public, no clues have led to them discovering what happened to her little boy.

Isabelle has barely slept in the last year, meaning extreme sleep deprivation makes it hard for her to function, to trust her own thoughts - did she do something wrong on that dreadful night that Mason went missing, she knows that the detective investigating the case looks on her as a suspect. As if she doesn’t have enough to worry about, her husband Ben has ended their marriage - it’s difficult to maintain a relationship when you’re both grieving and are unable to communicate, but whilst Isabelle is unable to move forward in her life, Ben appears to want to do exactly that.

Isabelle has been giving speeches to packed audiences, pleading with attendees to come forward with any information, no matter how small. From the list of people attending her speeches she tortures herself going through them, seeing if any of them are known criminals, desperately trying to find a link.

Eventually she agrees to be interviewed by true crime podcaster Waylon, and they’re soon working as a team. Much is to be discovered, not just about herself, but others too, and a it’s gripping read just wanting to know where it will all end. Recommended!

Ms Willingham has officially made it onto the list of authors whose books I always look forward to! I really enjoyed "flicker in the dark" and this one builds on that debut promise.
A mix of believably flawed female protagonists, heat and swamp that felt like characters themselves at times and a satisfying number of twists made this a great page turner.
On a more serious note, I felt the issues around mental health were respectfully dealt with rather than being used as an easy motive for a person, particularly a mother's, actions.
Thank you to netgalley and Harper Collins for an advance copy of this book.

All The Dangerous Things managed to convey the emotions of losing a child, and also the truth of motherhood…postnatal depression; the difficulties facing a mother, and the need to find something for yourself.

The story took me by surprise, I didn’t know who was responsible for the missing toddler until the end and I couldn’t put the book down.

A psychological thriller set in Savannah, USA with a mother, Isabelle, looking for her one year old son, Mason, who disappeared a year ago.

Plenty of motherhood, sleep problems and dysfunctional families issues which seem to take up the first half of the book. Thank goodness the second half was better than the first with .Izzy teaming up with a podcaster to see if the mystery could be solved. No more spoilers from me.

Dual time lines (again!), and I was impressed with Ms Willingham's clever descriptions of people/characteristics!

Thanks to Net Galley and Harper Collins for the chance to read and review..

All the Dangerous Things is a well-written, engrossing novel about the complexities of love, motherhood, mental health and the associated emotions which lead to the life choices that are made. The characters are flawed and interesting. The plot is full of suspense, with twists that are impossible to see coming. Highly recommended. Thanks to Stacy Willingham, HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for the ARC.

A few twists and turns that kept me intrigued but for me they came far too late in the book to really deliver. The first 2/3rds of the book are very slow paced and the ending just seemed a little rushed personally. I do like this authors writing style but for me it was another 3/5 book.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This absolute masterpiece of a psychological thriller begins at a slow pace and gradually builds to a crescendo of twists, lies and deception. The toddler son of Isabelle and Ben has been missing for a year. Disappearing in the middle of the night from their home, the police find no clues and as time goes on reduce their search. Isabelle, meanwhile has become understandably obsessed with finding her son by any means possible. Her marriage has broken down as Ben feels it’s time to move on with their lives. Against her better judgment she enlists the help of a man she randomly meets on a flight back from a talk she has given in another city. As the story develops and ghosts from her past affect her judgment she feels impossibly exhausted and unable to think rationally. Without giving away any spoilers this is a brilliantly written story that covers many aspects of mental illness and how circumstances can lead the most normal of people to do uncharacteristic things. Well worth a read from the talented Stacy Willingham and I look forward to reading more from her. Her first novel A Flicker In The Dark was a stunning debut and this is an excellent follow up.

A dark, disturbing, twisty thriller that had me holding my breath until the very last page!

I’ve said it before but anything incoming children makes me emotional, the first chapter had me so uncomfortable that I was hooked almost instantly.

The book flits between past and present where Isabelle needs to understand what happened in the past to be able to focus on finding Mason.

The way Stacy explains ‘mum guilt’ is spot on and how we are expected to fit into the mum role perfectly. I didn’t know who to trust reading this as Isabelle is quite an unreliable narrator but it all becomes clear towards the end.

If you loved ‘A Flicker In the Dark’ then you’ll love this! I want to reread it with fresh eyes so I 100% recommend this!!

Thank you to Stacy Willingham, Harper Collins and Netgalley for letting me read this copy for a review! 🥰

A clever, dark, and compelling psychological thriller, I had high expectations going into All The Dangerous Things and they most definitely lived up!

Grabbing your attention from the very start with a striking and slightly sinister opening, I was absolutely engrossed throughout, desperate to know what happened to Mason and who was being his disappearance.

There are a lot of twists and turns to the plot, and while I've seen all of these concepts/tropes used individually before, I love how Willingham weaved them together to create a layered plot. The themes of motherhood and mental health, especially, are explored brilliantly, and Willingham's Author's Notes adds even more to the story.

I loved A Flicker In The Dark but I loved this even more. Stacy Willingham is definitely an author that needs to be on your shelf