Captivating and suspenseful, this book had me from beginning to end. Beautifully narrated and masterfully written. Give this one a read!

An atmospheric psychological thriller that kept me guessing. The audio version was terrific. The narrator’s haunted voice created an ominous tone that pulled me into the story.

Chloe is a psychologist with a colourful past. Her father is in a maximum security prison for the murder of multiple teenage girls twenty years ago. She was the star witness that put him away. Today, she keeps herself together using a variety of self-prescribed tranquilizers while trying to forget her past. She is engaged to be married to Daniel, a man so sweet and caring that she has difficulty believing he’s real. Her mom is in a home with brain damage after trying to kill herself right after her father’s trial. Her big brother Cooper is the only family she has left and he has been looking after her since her mother’s attempt. Now, two teenage girls show up dead. One of them was her patient and went missing right after their appointment. Chloe is taken back twenty years realizing that it’s happening again. As she goes on a hunt to discover what’s going on, she realizes that this may be related to her father’s murders and that the people she trusts, may be hiding secrets.

The plot moved along at an even pace. Lots of descriptive writing that added to the visceral experience. The story became increasingly tense as it progressed. A mystery with many twists and turns.

Thank you to Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for an advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

Four Stars.
This was exactly what I needed to start my year off. I loved the story from beginning to end and it was such a fun yet easy read. There wasn't that many characters so it did make the ending not so surprising but again, this was a very enjoyable thriller and I plan to continue to recommend this on my YouTube channel and to the other readers in my life

A Flicker in the Dark is a keep-you-guessing-till-the-end sort of thriller, and it certainly presents many twists and turns to entertain for the length of the story. I enjoyed the audiobook narrator's work on this quite a bit. The story centers around a woman with a traumatic past who finds herself having to confront it right on the cusp of her wedding: with her father in jail for killing multiple girls years before, it appears as though a copycat killer is now on the loose and she winds up in the center of it. The author deftly navigates potentially quite heavy topics (serial killers, a parent's attempted suicide, addiction to pills) in such a way that they are compelling and readable. I tend not to gravitate towards thrillers but wanted to read this as it was getting good reviews, and although it's not to my personal taste, I think fans of thrillers will enjoy this read.

I’ll be honest, I’m weird. So when I heard that there was a book that had a woman whose father was a serial killer and suddenly the same things were happening and I immediately knew I needed to read this. And sure enough, for the most part, it was a me book. But unfortunately, it didn’t keep me this excited for too long. Up until like 23%….

Chloe is just starting to get her life back in order after her father has gone to prison for the murder of 6 girls. But suddenly, it’s 20 years later and there’s more girls going missing. Almost like her father’s back. Now the press is interested in what she has to say and everything is making her paranoid that there’s parallels there that only she sees.

Let’s start with the elephant in the room. The reason I said I stopped being excited about this at 23% in. I was able to guess who it was. Now there are some things along the way that made me second guess myself, so I’m glad I kept reading. And, there is another part of the story where I thought, ok I was wrong, good! But then I realized there was more to the story, and sure enough, I did get it right in a sense. But even though there’s 2 parts to this, it still wasn’t enough to make me decide that I still liked it. Maybe I just read too many thrillers, but me being able to find out whodunit that early on, I spent the rest of the book rolling my eyes.

But for those of you who aren’t able to guess whodunit, you will definitely enjoy this more than I did. The clues that were unearthed and the way they showed the parallels of the book were enough to keep me intersted in continuing the book. It reminded me of a show on ID or something. (And y’all know how I am about the ID Channel) Willingham has a good writing style that kept me interested, but she still needs some work to on not making things too obvious. ) I say this because a friend of mine also guessed who the culprit was too lol

The narrator was good too. There wasn’t much difference between the male and female voices (or maybe that was because I was listening to the audio from Netgalley?) but it wasn’t that bad. They also did some heavy breathing and other special effects when necessary. I also love those little tidbits in audiobooks. They make the story a little “more” if that makes sense.

Although it wasn’t completely amazing, I still plan to check out anything else she might write. This was good and I suspect her writing will get better and better! Can’t wait to see what she has coming out next!

I'm a little late with this, and everyone and their mom has already read this book, but here's my review anyway.

A Flicker in the Dark follows Chloe, the daughter of a convicted serial killer. She and her family have tried to build the best life they can while her father is behind bars. She hasn't seen or talked to him since his arrest. Chloe used her trauma to become a psychologist, and help other people face their own trauma, even if Chloe's mechanism is using prescription drugs to dull her pain and anxiety.

Chloe is an unreliable narrator, as she starts to suspect there is another serial killer, a copy-cat of her father. She starts to spiral as she suspects the people around her, including her fiance, Daniel. Investigating the case herself, she starts to incriminate herself, as the police refuse to buy her theories. Only one person, Aaron, a reporter who wants to interview her about her father, seems to believe her.

This is a really twisty and interesting mystery. I really enjoyed the audiobook and the narration was fantastic. This is a solid 4-4.5 star read/listen.

Thank you netgalley and Macmillan audio for giving me an advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The audio of this book was fantastic. The narrator's voice was pleasant to listen to and she did an excellent job in adding life to the various characters. I read the physical copy of this book and was so excited to listen to the audio version. It did not disappoint.

Thank y0u NetGalley and Macmillion Audio for a copy of A Flicker in the Dark in exchange for an honest review.

Chloe Davis' childhood and life since then has been rough, her father was convicted of murdering one of her friends and five other girls. Her mother attempted suicide but ended up immobile and nonverbal which left Chloe and her big brother Cooper to fend for themselves. Chloe has created a good life for herself becoming a therapist and is engaged to a wonderful man who understands her family tragedy. As much as she has moved forward she is still wracked with guilt over what her father did that she has been heavily self-medicating with prescription drugs. When two new girls she's acquainted with vanish and are murdered Chloe is horrified that they are tied to her past but who in her life could be copying her fathers horrific ways.

I enjoyed this dark thriller and thought the premise of a woman who survived a horrible childhood to be thrust back into the same circumstances was very clever. Chloe is not the most sympathetic character as her drug fueled hysteria leads to bad decisions but she does a good job of moving the story along. I am not sure how she was so tied to the other victims because she spent most of the book feeling guilty for bringing these people to their killer and a few ties were thin at best. Overall I think the story was well written, the pacing is good and it leaves you jumping to conclusions as to who the murderer is just like Chloe does. I would like to read more works from Stacy Willingham.

I had an audio version read by Karissa Vacker who does an excellent job. I have listened to her other work and she is always a strong narrator and will look for more of her stories.

Love me a good serial killer book!

What does that say about me? I don't want to think about it.

This one was slow to start off. I almost made it a DNF actually-but I stuck through it because I kept seeing RAVE reviews for it. I actually marked the page where I started loving it-it was 104.

Just to warn you, Chloe, the MC is a 'drug addict'. I mean she doesn't come straight out and say it exactly, but the book practically starts out with her getting more medicine. So get ready for a somewhat unreliable narrator-I know some of y'all love that.

But growing up with all that she did, you really can't blame her.

The twist I saw coming from a mile away, but there were many moments where I second guessed myself.

I SPED through this one (after I got through the slow bits). So if you're looking for a psychological thriller that will keep you on your toes look no further!

I was lucky enough to be able to listen to the Arc Audiobook for this and I really enjoyed it. There was a fun mystery and a good amount of intrigue. I really enjoy horror, mystery, and thriller books but I feel like I am still relatively new to the genres so keep that in mind with my review. There were several potential suspects which I enjoyed, and some fun but slightly annoying misdirection. I was mostly satisfied with the ending although I feel like not everything fully made sense but it wasn't bad enough to take me out of the moment while reading. Regardless I was very happy when I finished it and overall really enjoyed the book.

✍️ One Sentence Synopsis: Your father is a convicted serial killer and now it appears his killings have started again, except… he’s still in prison.

💭 Overall Thoughts:

This is an engaging thriller with a few unexpected plot twists. It starts a little slow but once it builds you won’t want to put it down. I thought I had predicted the ending, but I had it wrong— and yet it still made sense. To me, that’s evidence of a good thriller.

One thing you have to be okay with is an unreliable narrator/main character. It’s hard to decide throughout the process whether you should believe her inklings or if she’s creating delusions. She’s been severely traumatized and this portrayal is accurate to that point (and I loved that) but I can see how it might frustrate some readers.

I listened on audio and the narration was awesome, especially as the story began to build. It definitely added to the experience for me.

Highlights:
🔀 Plot twists
🧠Psychological
🧐Makes you think
📖 Page turner

⚠️ Content Warnings: prescription drug abuse, mental health, serial killer/psychopath , strained family dynamics, mentions of suicide

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillian Audio and Minotaur books for allowing me to listen with request for review.

Sometimes, the past just doesn't stay buried. As a young girl, Chloe watched her dad being put behind bars for killing multiple teenage girls. Now almost 20 years later, it is happening again. There is a copycat killer on the loose, targeting young girls close to Chloe. Is someone copying her father, or is the truth far more worse?

I listened to the audio version of this book and liked it. As much as you want to empathise with Chloe, she is not reliable. Even though she is a psychologist, she has not been able to face her personal demons. You don't know whether you can trust her, and that makes it an interesting read/listen.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc of the audiobook.

This was such a great debut novel!

I was able to get an advanced audiobook from @macmillan.audio and it was so good. Not only was the narration done so well, but the story itself was so compelling.

I found myself constantly second-guessing who the killer could be. There was so much going against so many characters that as soon as I thought I knew, something else would pop up, and I would suspect someone else. I mean hell, in my eyes, they were all guilty 🤣 So many twists along the way, and I loved it.

In all honesty, you would never guess that this was a debut! The writing and plotting was so well done.

I don't know that I really clung to any of the characters, they were all at minimum morally grey. I wouldn't want any of them in my personal life, but they were well written, and I found myself needing to know more about each of them and any role they played.

I really enjoyed Stacy Willingham's A Flicker in the Dark.
It grabbed my attention from the beginning, and held it throughout, and while I felt like I had things figured out halfway through, I was still surprised by the twists at the end.
So if a mystery involving childhood trauma and copycat murders are your thing, give it a go.

A debut psychological thriller involving a serial killer returning to the scene of the crime? Sign me up!

First off, I enjoyed Karissa Vacker narrating this audiobook. The story is told in alternating chapters between the present day and flashbacks. And its a suspenseful listen.

Brief synopsis: At 12 years of age, Chloe's father was arrested for a string of murders, pled guilty and was sent to prison. Now, 20 years later, Chloe is a psychologist and attempting to move forward in her life. As she prepares for her wedding, a string of copycat murders sends her in a downward spiral.

Chloe is consistently unreliable throughout the book as she cannot distinguish what's real from what isn't. She's paranoid and convinced that these new victims are someone specifically toying with her. And thus, she begins her amateur investigation to find who's copying her imprisoned father's crimes. And we the readers need to unravel and discover, is it the pills and alcohol coloring her judgement or is something more sinister going on?

The entire story is told from Chloe's point of view, moving from the present to the past and showing glimpses of her happy family, until suddenly, it wasn't. There was more than one red herring, and even though my first guess about the killer's identity was correct, I can't take credit since I managed to doubt myself more than once. All of the characters were well developed and the plot moved relentlessly along. It is odd because I really didn't like or trust any of them, even Chloe, but I was still furiously listening to see how this would end.

If you enjoy psychological jigsaw puzzles, this one is defnintely for you.

Thank you to the Stacy Willingham and McMillan Audio for this ARC. I truly enjoyed this twisty and impressive debut book.

A very good read! I did pick up on the ending earlier on, but the author did a great job of muddying the waters and throwing readers a bunch of clues to pick up on, both correct and incorrect. I really enjoyed the journey and was definitely engrossed the whole time. It was a bit of a slower read, although slower may not be the right word. It's not a fast-paced thriller but more deliberate, letting the story slowly unravel.

3.5 While this book explored some interesting themes I found the book a bit predictable but it was still a good read. This story follows Chloe as a young teenager her father was arrested as a serial killer when 6 young girls go missing. Chloe is the one to find the evidence that puts her father away. With the 20th anniversary approaching more young girls start to go missing bringing up the question of it a copy cat is involved. This story follows Chloe as she try to solve this mystery of why these girls are going missing and who’s responsible.
I listened to this book as an audio book and really enjoyed the narrator she kept me entertained and was easy to follow. The story itself was good it was entertaining and explored some interesting themes but I figured out the ending pretty early on. I prefer my thrillers to be a little more twisty and unpredictable which this was lacking a little. The writing was really good and kept me engaged and would look forward to picking up more books from this author. I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for a chance to read this story.

This was a fun ride. The protagonist establishes herself as slightly unreliable with some of her choices almost immediately. Some don't care for that trope, but I rather enjoy trying to determine what to believe. There are twists and turns and it did keep me guessing throughout. There were a few unanswered questions I was left with, but nothing that would make me dislike the overall story. This was a solid story, with flawed characters, but you can see why they made the choices they made. I will definitely check out more from this author.

This book was a wild ride. At times I felt like I had everything figured out and then something would happen to change my mind. This happened a couple times until the final twist happened and then I couldn't believe I didn't figure that out. At times I hated how the main character went about things, however that is great writing to me to have such strong feelings about the lead character.

Chloe thinks she has her life on track. She is a psychologist with a wonderful fiancé. But, when her past comes back to haunt her, she knows she has to find the real killer or she may lose everything.

Chloe is a character which stole my heart. She has a terrible past she is running from. Her father is in prison for killing 6 young girls. She struggles with this fact every day. It never really leaves her. So, you can just imagine how she handles it when the new disappearances start happening 20 years later.

Well! This is one book I will not soon forget. I could not listen to it fast enough to suit me. This story is non stop. It twists around and then twists back. I thought I had it figured out, but I changed my mind, then I changed it back. I love a thriller which keeps you guessing!

The narrator, Karissa Vacker, nailed all the drama and all the intrigue. I will be on the look out for more from her. She excelled!

Need a good thriller with a surprise, twisted ending…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.