How many serial killers can cross one person’s path? Well in this case, several……….some expected and some not.
   Chloe, as a child, was traumatized by a series of events that have continued to haunt her in spite of her exterior appearance as a well adjusted psychologist with a steady stream of patients.  Her “calm” exterior is only a result of her writing prescriptions for meds in her finance's name and taking them on a regular basis. She is a fragile soul in spite of outward appearances. After all, it was evidence that Chloe discovered in her home when she was 12 that resulted in her dad going to jail for multiple killings of young girls 20 years ago. Now there is a rash of disappearances of young girls and the circumstances are far too coincidental with what happened in the past.
   This psychological thriller has Chloe questioning everything: her fiancé who she loves but really knows so little about, her brother who is so overprotective in too many ways, a reporter who arrives on the scene and is too interested in her past, the police who don’t take her seriously.  Who should she trust?
   As the listener, I was certain I knew who the killer was and wanted to shake Chloe into awareness……….well I was the one who needed shaking. What a nail biting, unraveling story.
   I listened to this book as I walked and it resulted in extra miles on my fitbit!  It was totally enjoyable and it is worth your time

Chloe Davis is a psychologist with a troubled past. When she was 12, her dad was arrested for killing young girls. Chloe and her brother tried hard to distance themselves from their past while keeping their strong sibling bond. Now that Chloe is on the verge of getting married, the murders have started once again and mirror the ones from her past. It also hits very close to home as she is familiar with the victims.
🌟💫
It's a psychological thriller with a few twists and "wait, what!!" moments. All the male characters were a little sketchy to me and Chloe's instincts to trust flip-flopped all over the damn place making me even warier. Chloe was also an unreliable narrator due to her own mental health troubles and addiction. Yeah.
I would've loved to have multiple POVs but was very much satisfied with how Chloe's recounting of events was able to provide a complete picture. I did feel as though the book relied heavily on the overall mentality of the characters than any real action which would've driven the thriller portion of this through the roof for me. A solid book for sure and one I did enjoy reading. I'll be looking for more from this author for sure.

A well paced mystery that throws red herrings at you throughout, I genuinely enjoyed this read. Even tho I was able to guess the twist within the first 25% of the book, it didn’t stop me from devouring it to figure out the how’s and why’s. I listened to the audio book and finished in only 2 sittings. The narrator does an excellent job switching up each character.

Wow! This book was amazing! First of all, the narrator was fabulous! She really brought life to the story, and I loved the way she portrayed each character. This book kept me guessing from page 1. I never, even for a second, lost interest. It was fast paced and I didn’t want to put it down. The ending was mind blowing! I highly recommend this book!

💫 Synopsis:
When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, her own father had confessed to the crimes. 

Now twenty years later, Chloe is a psychologist in Baton Rouge and trying to create a life for herself. But when a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another, the crimes of her father come to the forefront once again as she tries to unmask the culprit. 


Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
“A Flicker in the Dark” is a mystery-thriller written by Stacy Willingham. There are tons of serial killer books out there but this is the first I’ve read that was from the viewpoint of the child of a killer.

The pacing of the book is slow in the beginning and Chloe’s narrative can be considered exhausting. Right away the reader learns just how flawed and unreliable she is as a narrator. Things pick up in the second half of the book as multiple possible suspects are explored. This was the best part of the book!

This was a great debut novel with thorough writing and lots of twists and turns. Stacey Willingham is definitely an author to follow!

I would like to thank @netgalley for providing a copy of this audiobook for an honest review.

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?"

3 1/2 stars

It kept my attention with multiple suspects and what felt like an unreliable narrator

Both Stacy Willingham and the audiobook narration by Karissa Vacker have done brilliant work!👏
I just couldn't stop listening to this. It's so engaging and makes the reader suspect multiple characters. I love the plot, twists and writing. It was very engaging. Cant believe it's a debut novel. I highly recommend you should.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

“𝘏𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘊𝘩𝘭𝘰𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘮.”

When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing. Within months her father was arrested for the crimes and convicted. Now, twenty years later, she is a psychologist in Louisiana and preparing for her wedding. But then a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another. Is she being paranoid because of her past, or is she, for the second time, about to unmask a serial killer?

Thank you to the author for getting me out of my reading slump. I try so hard to branch out in regard to genres, but thrillers do it for me. They just do. They hold my interest and keep me flipping those pages like they’re on fire. 🔥 This one was just 🤯!

I am so impressed that this was a debut! The twists damn near gave me whiplash and, just when I was like ohhh I know what’s happening here, I was again dumbfounded. Everything came together so perfectly at the end, which I always appreciate. I hate an open ended ending, I want to KNOW. 😣

I enjoyed the audio and finished this book in record time. The narrator was great, really adding to the suspense of the story with her narration. You could feel the fear and the tension building up in Chloe.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for an honest review (even if I went ahead and bought the print copy as well).

A FLICKER IN THE DARK is the debut novel by Stacy Willingham and she has written a great book!!

Chloe Davis is 32 years old and practicing as a psychologist in Baton Rogue. She focuses on teenagers. 20 years before, 6 girls are missing and presumed dead. Her father is arrested and confessed to the murders. Chloe has been trying to leave the past behind but she struggles!!

Chloe is engaged to be married and then the disappearance and deaths of 2 teenage girls change everything for her. She is scared but not sure who to be scared of….her fiancé, her brother, an ex boyfriend, herself and others!!

I enjoyed this book!! It was a little slow at times but the last third of the book packs a punch!! Highly recommend!!

I received a free audio version.

This book was awesome!
If you read enough thrillers, you will probably figure out many of the pieces in this puzzle.
Though I don't think even the author knew how this was gonna end till it popped out of her head.
There is much misdirection here to put you off the scent, but I felt like there was too much misdirection? I don't know how else to describe it without giving spoilers.
All in all a fantastic debut! I look forward to seeing what else she puts out in the world.
I was switching between ebook and audio and I would highly recommend both.
Much love to St. Martin's Press & Macmillan Audio for my DRCs.

Excellent debut thriller novel. It's dark and twisty and kept me entertained. Using an unreliable main character with a drug/alcohol problem I feel has been overused, but it didn't bother me with this story.

Fans of darker mysteries/thrillers will enjoy this one.

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham was an excellent debut, congratulations! This will be a recommended read by many people this year, I can tell. It's a thriller with an unreliable narrator, timeline changes, multiple suspects, and a few twists I didn't anticipate. The main character Chloe is flawed and frustrating, but I still wanted her best. I don't want to give away too many plot points. I enjoyed the narration of the audiobook to bring these characters and stories alive. I'm impressed this was a debut novel, and I look forward to her books to come.

Thank you, Macmillan Audio and Minotaur Books, for gifting me this book to review honestly.

A Flicker in the Dark. A serial killers child. Again. Can Stacy Williams do it any differently? It turns out she could. However, different isn't always better.

There have been a lot of books about grown up kids of serial killer stories. They are often pretty messed up and for some reason the families of the victims act as if a little kid is somehow responsible for the actions of their dad.

So this book does a few things differently. Chloe knows the victims, both of some of the previous crimes and the copycats happening now. Because there are always copycats. Usually on the 20th anniversary. Chloes is the problem here. She is pretty dumb. She has what I saw amongst my fellow psych students. That shadow of a person who may be doing this because they are pretty messed up.

The culprit here was very obvious for most of the book, as were the red herrings. At one point Chloe says something like, "It's as if the answers have been right in front of me the whole time." Yeah. Yeah, they were.

Twists and turns, and the word *flicker* aplenty. Seriously, if I were playing a drinking game and took a shot every time the word flicker appears I'd have been as disoriented as Dr. Chloe Davis after several stolen pills.
Chloe Davis was twelve years old when her father was arrested after six teenage girls went missing from their small Louisiana town. Fast forward twenty years and she is now a successful psychologist, engaged to be married, and living a seemingly perfect life, but her past is coming back to haunt her and it's coming in hot! When a teen girl comes up missing Chloe begins to question the connection, everyone in her life, and most of all herself. If you're looking for something that will keep you guessing until the very last page, look no further!!
This book is definitely a slow burn, but I was nonetheless sucked in so deep and had so many theories that my mind stayed spinning the entire time. In fact it is still spinning!! As a huge movie lover I feel like I can often imagine a book coming to life on the big screen as I am reading, but this is one that I feel like truly deserves it! I am in awe of the fact that this is a debut novel and look forward to anything Stacy Willingham writes in the future. Four solid stars. Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

This book was pretty hyped up and I HAD to have it. I actually now have three versions (ARC, BOTM, and audio). I can’t say I loved it, but I enjoyed parts of it.

There were a few twists I didn’t see coming, but overall I found this one to be pretty predictable. There was a lot of repetitiveness and too many unrealistic moments - too many been there/read that. Some parts that just didn’t make sense to me. I’m still wondering what “D, A…” is supposed to be before she was cut off. Also - can you get a doctorate before a masters?

I will point out how I liked the flashbacks to her past. Her descriptions of fear and her relationships with her parents before, during, and after the arrest. I listened to most of this on audio and enjoyed the narrator. I do believe this author has potential, and look forward to seeing what she writes in the future.

I felt like this was a predictable thriller. I called it from the beginning but needed to finish to make sure I was right… and I was. I will also never understand regular people inserting themselves into crime investigations like they are better equipped to solve it than the police. And I’m tired of the unreliable female narrator. Chloe’s pill problem was basically ignored and I did not enjoy that. I will say listening to it it felt fast paced ( I read it in a day) so that was a plus, but otherwise I think there are better thrillers out there.

So this book was shockingly excellent. This is the authors debut, and I’m happy to say that she totally knocked it out of the park! I always worry with debut thrillers that there will be plot holes or things that just don’t fully add up; but this book really pulled every twist and turn together and really weaved everything into a fast paced and interesting story.

I did get an Advanced copy of the audiobook; and the narrator did a stunning job. I don’t want to give any of the plot away so all I will say is that I’m so glad this book was the kick off to my 2022 reading year!

I always gravitate towards novels written about the places I know and this being set in Louisiana made me reach for it. I understand why the author chose Louisiana to set her novel (psychologists can prescribe drugs here) but that’s about all the research that was done. So many incorrect statements (steamed crawfish?!!!) within the first few pages of the book that I knew this was going to be a struggle.

The problem with reading so many thrillers is that you start looking for the twist immediately. Unfortunately, I figured this one out pretty quickly. The beginning was interesting but then the downward spiral of the main character, Chloe Davis, moves so slowly that I had a hard time staying engaged with this book. The whole pill-popping, self-medicating psychologist is overdone. I wanted something different. This was not the book for me.

This book is the perfect amount of both creepy and storyline. I really enjoyed listening to it and would get caught up in it. It also wasn’t what I was expecting at first either. Great job!

In the book A Flicker in the Dark, author Stacy Willingham writes about Chloe Davis, a psychologist in Baton Rouge who is preparing for her wedding. But when a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another one, she begins to relive the nightmare of her childhood. When Chloe was twelve, six girls went missing and her father was arrested and confessed to the crimes. But did he really do it? Is there a copycat? Or has the real killer resurfaced?
This was a great psychological story that keeps you guessing. The audio-book narration was very well done. I would highly recommend this book. I received a copy of this audio-book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.