DNF. It wasn’t bad, but I just couldn’t get into it or bring myself to care. In the end I just ran out of steam

This book is surprisingly good! To be honest I had expected this book to be an OK read since it was the author’s debut novel. But boy, was I wrong! The writing and storytelling is amazing, the twists and plots are thrilling and full of suspense, and the ending is great. The book is an absolute page-turner and really hard to put down once you start reading, I’m really glad I got a chance to read it. Highly recommended.
Thank you HarperCollins UK for an advanced copy of this ebook and giving me a chance to review this book!

The synopsis for this novel will no doubt have been written by others many times so I won't be doing that, additionally I won't be a plot spoiler. So what can I say about it? I worked out who the murderer was very early on in the novel. How come? Well, the core of the story has been written by others many times before. Frankly, the only way any of these 'cores' can differ is by the skilful application of decorative red herrings. I think Stacy Willingham did a reasonable job on those but not enough to fool disciples of the thriller readership. I am afraid I will be giving it only three stars as the novel wasn't wholly original, however for those readers new to thrillers I think they would score it more highly.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for this Advanced Review Copy.

"I thought I knew what monsters were." ... from this opening line, we meet the main character, Chloe, as a frightened child, who could never have imagined that the real evil lived right at home with her. By the end of the introduction, her father has been arrested for the murder of six local girls, and Chloe and her brother's lives turned upside down.

The narrative then jumps almost twenty years and shows us Chloe and her brother in their thirties. As we approach the 20th anniversary of the awful events from their childhood, the killings seem to have begun again.

Here are some lines that stood out for me ...

"I remember the feeling of uneven ground twisting my skinny ankles as I walked faster and faster down the gravel roadway that led to my house..."

And ...

"There are so many subtle ways we women subconsciously protect ourselves throughout the day..." ... (The list that follows is spot on and quite alarming when you look at things in this way. So many things we are taught as we grow up that at some point we stop actually noticing.)

And ...

"It was an evil that had settled over the sky the way an impending storm can make your bones throb."

Not long after these early notations, I got so engrossed in reading that I forgot completely to stop and make highlights. I read this book in one sitting and stayed up into the early hours to do so. It was that good. Although I guessed the identity of the actual modern-day killer by the 60% point, this did not spoil the fun, and I enjoyed seeing poor old Chloe scrambling to work it out. As you might imagine, A Flicker in the Dark gets a resounding 5 stars from me.

***

NOTE ON RATINGS: I consider a 3-star rating a positive review. Picky about which books I give 5 stars to, I reserve this highest rating for the stories I find stunning and which moved me.

5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — Highly Recommended.
4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — Go read this book.
3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — An okay read. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it.
2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —Lacking in some areas: writing, characterisation, and/or problematic plot lines.
1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —Lots of issues with this book.

3.5*

This book does have a very filmic quality to it so I can absolutely see why it has been optioned for the screen.

As a novel, I enjoyed the premise and the pace, even if I did strongly suspect one of the major plot reveals early on. I did feel that the book was overwritten in parts. Two examples:

"A house. A shell of a thing ready to have lift blown into it like a saggy balloon. It was a house prepared to become a home, all eager and excited like a kid on the first day of school."

"...the superficial equivalent of slathering makeup over a marbling bruise or fastening a rosary on top of a scarred wrist."

Just one metaphor or simile would do in either case and gave the impression the author hadn't been able to land on one particular descriptive idea.

The book was also underwritten in other facets: I wanted more of the Louisiana atmosphere - the muggy heat and much more character development.

Overall, I think this will be a popular read. It's a solid debut and it's a quick and easy thriller.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the Publishers and the author for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For a debut novel this was an excellent start. Whilst I didn’t particularly take to the main character Chloe, there was enough story to intrigue me and make me want to read to the end - always a good sign. At times the pace was a bit slow, some of the plotting was a bit obvious, and Chloe inserted herself into an investigation that wasn’t really plausible but ultimately the end was worth the wait. I can imagine this as a really good film.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I really enjoyed this book - it had me gripped and intrigued from the start. Unable to put it down, I am very much looking forward to read more by this new author to me.

Dr Chloe Davis is a psychologist who has plenty of demons from her past to battle with. She has not seen her father since he was imprisoned for the kidnap and murder of six teenagers twenty years ago. When two teenagers go missing near her home, she knows there is a connection with the past.
I struggled with A Flicker In The Dark. There is plenty of atmospheric writing here, but the plot is badly planned and full of holes. It feels almost like ‘Oh I know, let’s do this now, or maybe this could happen’. Dr Davis is a mess of a character and many of the events are unlikely and random. I can’t imagine being summoned to your ‘locked in’ mother’s bedside because she has refused food for a week, then scattering scrabble tiles in front of her hoping words can be spelt out in clues, and not mentioning the poor woman again before the book ends. If this rattled me so much, I guess it indicates where this read took me.

An excellent debut novel. The characters are well defined and the plotis devious. This could have been so similar to many other standard stories but the elegant way of introducing twists made it totally different. I think that it will make a great creepy film as it is much easier to show the characters and situations without all the documentation.
Great start for Stacy and I will look forward to more from her.

Accomplished, polished and tense. Kept me guessing until the end, not for want of suspects but because the characters were so cleverly written that every one of them seemed a Possible. Ideal if you want a fast-paced thriller with rounded characterisations.

A smart and tense plot. I enjoy plots where we're taken back to the past to see the ramifications in the present and this book does that well.
I guessed the killer fairly early but it didn't detract from enjoying the novel.

Disappointing. i had high hopes of this book but it fell very flat. Formulaic with very stereotypical characters. Yawn- Dr who is self medicating with benzodiazepines and alcohol. Don't we all? But then she isn't professional about anything else so... Easy to guess the plot. Will probably work better as a film given the padding will be removed.

It is really hard to believe that this is a debut thriller it’s an amazing read and goodness knows what Stacy Willingham has got up her sleeve in the future because this is going to be a hard one to follow!
The plot is complex I did have my suspicions but it was so cleverly written I kept changing my mind and so I just went with the flow and loved it. I particularly liked the style of writing letting little snippets of information out and twisting your mind to throw you tight off the scent it was clever , very clever!
The characters were good and written in way that I never really trusted any of them and suspected everyone and for me that was made the book stand out and I was hooked throughout.
So a fabulous read and can’t wait for the next, many thanks to the author Stacy Willingham it was a brilliant read.
My thanks also to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK, Harper Fiction for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

What a rollercoaster of a read! A real psychological thriller. History beginning to repeat itself with young girls being taken. Who will be next on the killer’s list and how are these deaths linked to those of 20 years ago? Maybe they aren’t? Maybe it’s just a nightmare coincidence for the killer’s daughter, now an adult with awful memories being stirred up. The story is so well constructed and at times, really quite scary. Lots of what seemed like red herrings trying to throw the reader off the scent. I got it right though - will you? Treat yourself and read this chilling thriller. It would make an excellent movie.

A gripping and intense psychological thriller.

Chloe, a psychologist, is still trying to come to terms with her childhood, as her father's 20th anniversary of Imprisonment for the serial killing of six girls approaches.

Her marriage to her fiancé, Daniel, is approaching, when another girl goes missing. As her fear mounts, she decides to try to find the copycat.

Intense and disturbing, this book is recommended for mystery readers everywhere.

I was gripped from the first page to the last, I just couldn’t stop reading! A chilling, cleverly woven story which had me guessing till the end and I am still thinking about it . Amazing, definitely my book of the year.

Chloe Davis has worked hard to try and get away from her father’s crimes. But, then another girl goes missing and it’s just like when she was 12 all over again.

Family secrets, a potentially unreliable narrator, and a real sense of threat and suspense, makes this a gripping and enthralling read. Chloe is a great central character. The daughter of a serial killer, now a psychologist working with private clients, she’s trying to move on with her life. But, when your trust has been betrayed by a parent, how can you ever truly trust again.

I really enjoyed this book. Strong characters, a good blend of clues and red herrings which kept me guessing. A great read for fans of psychological thrillers.

I was hearing about this book everywhere and I am thankful to harper Collins UK for my early ARC to read. I have to say, the hype is real people - this book is amazing! I started and finished it in a day, I just had to know what was going to happen next. I challenge any crime and thriller reader to try to stop reading this in one go!

This book had everything I love in a good crime thriller. A serial killer, and unreliable narrator and multiple timelines. Our main character, Chloe Davis is a psychologist hiding a very dark secret from her patients and most of the world. She drinks too much, takes too many un-prescribed pills for anxiety and struggles to get close to anyone. She has finally found a man she loves and wants to open up to. But 20 years ago, her father was convicted of killing 6 teenagers in her home town. As the anniversary looms, a call comes through from a reporter wanting to talk to her about her dad. And then the girls start to turn up dead again...in a very similar fashion as her fathers crimes.

You can't tell me that doesn't sound good! A Flicker in the Dark is going to be a big hit in 2022 so don't miss out. Full of twists and turns to make you second guess yourself, it is amazing. All the stars.

Thanks to Harper Collins UK and Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. Out February 3rd.

I am struggling to write a banded review. I finished the book to fulfill my obligations to Netgalley but had I bought it, I would have given up at 30%.

This author has something of that I have no doubt. The book gives a reasonable facsimile of PTSD unlike many other. The dependence on drugs and or alcohol to cope with those big feelings that become unmanageable is very accurate - particularly if the trauma were experienced at an age of significant physical and social change. All of this is true and the author portrays it very well indeed. …. But

………. I read for enjoyment and the book was not enjoyable. Having recognised the accuracy, I became bored with the powerlessness followed by irrational, dangerous actions. These did not fit together. So in that respect, it wasn't congruent with the graphic detail of someone falling apart.

Finally, in terms of overall comment, it was too long and only a very few characters were sufficiently developed for me to care about them. Sorry, not one I would buy, gift or recommend.

An easy thriller to follow but oh boy are there some twists and turns, just when you think you have it worked it out there's a further cannon ball all across your bows. I enjoyed the mixed up therapist helping other young adults come to terms with trauma but clearly Chloe Davis is rather mixed up and very paranoid herself avoiding dark scary places living of miss appropriated Benzodiazepines on the back of her fiancé and patients prescribing meds for herself. A deep dive into personal family relations and the twisted mind of a killer and how families make choices with the best of intentions that back fire. A good first novel. Thank you NetGalley and the publishers Harper Collins for the free eBook to honestly review.