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.
When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, Chloe’s father had been arrested as a serial killer and promptly put in prison. Chloe and the rest of her family were left to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath.
Now 20 years later, Chloe is a psychologist in private practice in Baton Rouge and getting ready for her wedding. She finally has a fragile grasp on the happiness she’s worked so hard to get. Sometimes, though, she feels as out of control of her own life as the troubled teens who are her patients. And then a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another, and that terrifying summer comes crashing back. Is she paranoid, and seeing parallels that aren’t really there, or for the second time in her life, is she about to unmask a killer?
In a debut novel that has already been optioned for a limited series by actress Emma Stone and sold to a dozen countries around the world, Stacy Willingham has created an unforgettable character in a spellbinding thriller that will appeal equally to fans of Gillian Flynn and Karin Slaughter.
My Rating:
Favorite Quotes:
By the end of the summer, six girls had disappeared. One day they were there, and the next—gone. Vanished without a trace… Their goneness was impossible to ignore; it was an evil that had settled over the sky the way an impending storm can make your bones throb.
She was quiet, reserved, pale and rail thin, with hair the color of a fiery sunset, something of a walking matchstick.
His voice was deep, stern but somehow sweet at the same time, probably from the unmistakable Southern drawl that made every word sound thick and slow like dripping molasses.
A steady sheet of rain erupts outside and the house is filled with the sound of millions of fingers tapping on the roof, eager to get in.
My Review:
This was an intense and brilliantly nuanced tale with an exceptionally evocative style and held a well-crafted and distinctive aura of tautness from the first word to the last period. I fell right into the character’s troubled gray matter and itched, sweat, and hyperventilated right along with her. My cuticles are a ragged mess!
The writing style was lyrical, emotive, and vividly detailed to taunt the senses. The storylines were fiendishly paced and kept me on edge and guessing. The little pea in my brain was shuddering. I was wrecked, then hopeful, then wrecked yet again while spinning and discarding numerous theories only to come back around to them again while working my way through this intricate web.
Everything about this book was extraordinary and I was flabbergasted to note it was the author’s debut. Stacy Willingham’s word voodoo is strong! She is a phenom, definitely one to watch, and is now residing at the top of my favorites list.
Stacy Willingham’s first novel, A Flicker in the Dark, is scheduled to be published in January 2022 by Minotaur Books and HarperCollins UK.
Prior to writing fiction full time, Stacy worked as a copywriter and brand strategist for various marketing agencies. She earned her BA in Magazine Journalism from the University of Georgia and MFA in Writing from the Savannah College of Art & Design.
She currently lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with her husband, Britt, and her Labradoodle, Mako.
Another awesome sounding thriller for my TBR list. Great review. Will be checking out A Flicker in the Dark.
I love intense tales that keep me in the loop. This seems to be just the one I need. Great review!
This sounds awesome, I love a good thriller and you always find the great books. Great review
This sounds like my kind of read. Glad you really enjoyed it. I shall check it out.
A tale that messed your cuticles!! I want to check this out… (and a strange coincidence today – we have A Wish in the Dark at Finitha’s blog — that was one of my favorite reads in the recent past)