Really enjoyed listening to #aFkickerintheDark. It was a great mystery/thriller from #StacyWillingham. The story definitely has me right up until the end. I will definitely listen/read about her book from her. #KarissaVacker did a wonderful job at narrating this story. Thank you #MacmillianAudio and netgalley for giving me the chance to listen and I will be definitely telling my friends and family about this story.

I listened to A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham pretty much in one day. I started it late one night and then picked it up again and it kept me moving through workouts, through laundry, through cleaning up all of my Christmas decorations. It was a book that kept me engaged and finding excuses to keep listening. For me I call that a win for a book. I will pick up more from this debut author in the future!

I do see some aspects of this book that are going to be picked apart, some for good reason. I think this one is going to be a very divisive book on where people stand. There will be plenty of reviews on both sides of the fence with this one.

The general synopsis is when our troubled main character, Chloe, was young girls started going missing in town. Her father has been in jail since, having admitted to the murders. Now, 20 years later girls are starting to disappear again and Chloe, along with the help of a reporter, starts seeing the connections. She is determined to find the copycat killer so she can move on once again from this nightmare.

I felt throughout this book several times that I had it figured out. I felt I knew exactly how it would play out and then suddenly something would make me second guess myself. I won't say if I was correct in my initial guesses because with thrillers even that sometimes can influence me when reading and guessing along.

4.5/5

For fans of Sharp Objects, A Flicker in the Dark should be your next thriller! Dr. Chloe Davis gets thrust back to the past when two young women in Baton Rouge are found missing. This occurs around the twentieth anniversary of Chloe's father's arrest for abducting and murdering six female teens in her hometown. Only problem is these abductions do not seem random. Could there be a relationship between the current abductions and those of her father's? Is there a copy-cat serial killer?

This book had a lot of twists and turns. I never really knew what was happening until the end, and even then the answer was much more complicated that what I had anticipated (in a good way). A Flicker in the Dark was a good mix of suspense, character development, and plot. I really enjoyed the audio version of this book. Karissa Vacker's voice portrayed Chloe perfectly and you could feel the emotion of the character through the plot. Great thriller that kept me guessing! Excited for this to be made into a movie!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio Production, Minotaur Books and NetGalley for granting me a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

Are you scared of the dark? Maybe don’t read this one by yourself at night/early morning like I did 😳🔦

🌌 REVIEW: A FLICKER IN THE DARK 🌌

By Stacy Willingham

📖 SUMMARY: Chloe Davis has grown up in the shadow of her father, a serial killer who murdered 6 girls in their hometown and was sent to prison when she was 12. Seemingly well-adjusted, all things considered, Chloe is now in her thirties, has her own private practice, and is engaged to a wonderful man. But when teenage girls start going missing again, Chloe wonders if her dad’s darkness really disappeared when he was locked up 20 years ago.

💭 THOUGHTS: This thriller was so enthralling! I listened on audio and enjoyed the narration. I found myself suspicious of everyone, just like Chloe was. While there are no supernatural “scary” elements to the story, I was a bit spooked at parts! I predicted the twist pretty early on, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the ride and seeing how Willingham brought it all together. I’d definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys a binge-worthy thriller!

Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillan for the early audio copy. This one came out yesterday, January 11th!

✨ RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🥰 YOU’LL ENJOY IF: you’re a fan of true crime podcasts about cold case murders 🔪

Nothing could be worse than finding out there’s a serial killer in your family. Chloe clearly hasn’t dealt well with that fact over the years but honestly, she’s not doing too bad considering. From the beginning I had my suspicions about certain characters, which caused me to watch them a little closer. Even though I had somewhat predicted the twist ending, I still thought it was very well done. Normally I would have been internally screaming at the main character to go to the cops with stuff, however, we got to watch what happened when she did voice her theories. The narrator of the audiobook did an amazing job bringing Chloe to life. You could hear her anxiety and when she was scared. For me, this was a 4/5.

If you like thrillers where you are constantly coming up with theories, there is a copycat killer, or the protagonist is a psychologist who clearly needs therapy, this is the one for you.

I received a copy of this audiobook free from Netgalley and Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest review.

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham is an outstanding debut!!! Mystery, thriller, true crime, crime drama, family drama, and psychological thriller are all "genres" I would use to describe this book - it is a wild ride that will keep you hooked and guessing and paranoid from the first page! It read like a perfectly creepy episode of Criminal Minds. Having been a little disappointed with thrillers lately, this was a really great read to remind me why I love thrillers so much. Enjoy!

Huge thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the ARC of this amazing book in exchange for an honest review.

I don't pull punches when it comes to books and I'm always 100% honest when I review and rate a book. So when I say this book is one of the best books I've read in 2022 you can fully believe that it is the truth. For a debut novel, this piece of fiction blew me away. Stacy Willingham did a fantastic job and as a Louisiana girl, I fully appreciate the fact she used actual facts and stuck true to Louisiana instead of just making stuff up to fit the book. I really liked Chloe because she was a strong but relatable and realistic character. I enjoyed that the chapters went from the present time to Chloe's childhood because I felt like it gave a better look into everything that was happening because I feel like a strictly present POV would have only given a small portion of the story. I also enjoyed that we got a portion of her brother's story as well. The ending and final twist were so good and I thought I knew what was going to happen but I was wrong. This is a must-read for anyone that likes thrillers and serial killers.

Happy Pub Day to A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham!

Thank you so much to @macmillianaudio for the advance listening copy of A Flicker in the Dark in advance of publication.

When Chloe Davis was a pre-teen, six teenagers in her small town in Louisiana go missing over one summer. Her father admits to the crimes and is put in jail serving six consecutive life sentences. It's now twenty years later and Chloe has become a psychologist and is getting ready for her wedding in a month. All of a sudden, girls start going missing again, and the more Chloe looks into it, she finds similarities and connections to that summer years ago.

I can't believe this is a debut novel! The story was fast paced, with some twists I wasn't expecting. I did predict one of the twists around the halfway mark, but I didn't mind because there was enough else going on.

I listened to the audio book of this book, and have to recommend it this way. I'm relatively new to listening to audio books but I've found that books written in first person perspective are perfects on audio, like this one. It really felt like I was inside Chloe's head as the story progressed. This book was narrated by Karissa Vacker and I'll be looking out for other titles by her.

3,5 stars rounded to 4

Solid, enjoyable, twisty 3.5 stars.

When I just started the book I described it to a friend as “reminiscent of the non-Gone Girl Gillian Flynn books” (which is a compliment- they’re both better than Gone Girl!). I stand by that assessment now that I’m finished. This book has a really dark element to it without being horrifically gory.

The ending is 50/50 with predictability and 70/30 believable; I got most of it, but not all of it, and I was only marginally annoyed but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment.

Thank you Macmillan audio & Netgalley for the arc!

Fantastic! I Loved this thriller! Gripping. Unputdownable. Although I guessed the "whodunnit" I appreciated the layered number of mysteries and the characters who burrowed in and made me care. I did not guess every twist, which was a bonus, but the biggest one I knew from the beginning. That said, the tension was non-stop and there was just enough sensory detail to keep you imagining the scenes and never did I get bored. The plot was not that original but the pacing was great and I always wonder about families of serial killers. They are victims of the crimes as well so their method of coping is always an endless curiosity. The author honed in on the exact details that made me want to know more and not care if my guess was right.

I highly recommend this book and really loved the audiobook narration by Karissa Vacker who so perfectly gave the story even more life.

I listened to the audiobook version of this book, and the narrator did a great job. This is a Psychological Thriller that will keep you guessing. I cannot believe this is a debut book because it was so good. I was pulled it to this story right for the beginning, and I did not want to put it down. This book kept me guessing, and it kept having me changing mine mind on who did it. The main character of this book was not lovable, but she made me root for her by the end. The ending of this book was so great, but I also loved the beginning of this book. If you love a book with a ton of suspense and keeps you on your toes then this is the book for you.

I immediately made sure this book was on order for our public library because it is AMAZING! The twists and turns, the secrets, and lies. This book was full of everything needed to make a perfect suspense thriller where I had to force myself NOT to cheat and skip to the end to find out "who did it." The audiobook version was also excellent in creating the perfect suspense throughout the story. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC of the novel and I can't wait to let all of our library patrons who love thrillers/mysteries know that this is a MUST READ!

A Flicker in the dark is the debut novel from Stacy Willingham.

“When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing from her small Louisiana town. Her father was arrested as the killer and Chloe and her family are left to deal with the aftermath. 20 years later, Chloe is a psychologist in Baton Rouge and a couple of teenage girls go missing. It’s happening again and Chloe thinks she knows the killer…”

This is an excellent debut from Willingham. Chloe has been through unimaginable trauma and has seemingly picked up the pieces. (Other than the self-prescribed medications) There are lots of clues and plenty of red herrings. You’ll probably guess the killer but it’s a wild ride to get there. Still don’t understand why fictional characters don’t check IDs 🤷🏼‍♂️ Wild ending with a twist 😮 Nice audiobook performance from
Karissa Vacker. Great debut from Willingham.

The narrator for this book was excellent! She made the MC feel so real and did a great job of using a different variety of voices for each of the various characters. She made me want to keep listening and kept me engaged.

I was about to write this one off because I found it predictable but NOPE, I was dead wrong! This novel had a true crime feel to it and I flew through it. Throw in the twists and it’s a solid 4.5! I really enjoyed this novel and I think any thriller reader will feel that same. Excellent, and a debut?! Wow!

Twenty years ago Chloe’s life changed in a way no one could imagine. She learned what a monster truly is after 6 teenage girls go missing from her community. As if they isn’t scary enough, it is her father who is put away for the disappearances. Now, twenty years later she is still coming to terms with it and trying to piece her life together. In a way, she has. She’s a successful psychologist and engaged to a wonderful man who truly knows her. Things seem to be going alright, until girls start to go missing in her new town. And they are eerily similar to the earlier disappearances… or is she just paranoid? Could it all be connected?






*potential spoilers do not read on if you haven’t read *





My only issues where with there being too many paths of deterrence. Once the plot was resolved, the story with Lena’s dad felt irrelevant and like it didn’t add anything. And I’m not sure it is totally clear why “Aaron” was pretending to be a reporter and trying to get close? Unless it was for Cooper to keep tabs? Whatever the case, it’s unfortunate he died if he wasn’t behind the additional murders. I also would have liked a resolution scene between Chloe and Shannon after Riley is found. Still such an excellent debut!!

Wow this is the author's debut! Very well done! Very impressive! Will be looking forward to other releases.

I want to thank Macmillan Audio, Stacy Willingham and Netgalley for this Advanced Audio book.

Great plot, great twists, suspenseful ..... definetly recommend this one. Just when you think you figured it out, it'll send you in another direction.

#netgalley #stacywillingham #goodreads #macmillanaudio #thriller #aflickerinthedark

This psychological thriller definitely made it to the top of my TBR list. Thanks to Netgalley my dream came true!

This twist of event was an attention grabber for it is the POV of the serial killer’s daughter from the aftermath of him being convicted for his heinous crimes. There’s trauma and deception and i devoured everything!

The narrator did a good job with the narration of the story and left me wanting more. The main character, Chloe, is somewhat of a person who is just broken. You feel sorry and yet you don’t. she knowingly knows what she has to do since she is a psychologist yet she disregards her advice when it comes to her won problems. Mainly that is why I took away a star. It’s kinda cliche in how she is feeling and how this character is being portrayed from the events from her childhood.

Overall, this still was good book! I couldn’t stop listening to it and with so many twists and turn I think I can easily say I was having doubts on the main character’s mentality. This is a 4 out of 5 stars. Will be looking forward to any future books from Willingham!

When Chloe was twelve, her father was convicted of murdering six local girls. Now, 20 years later, after teenage girls start to go missing again, concerns of a copycat killer begin to swirl.

I have really been hungry for a great thriller and from the reviews, I thought this was going to satisfy my craving. I feel like this may be an unpopular opinion but this ended up just being ok for me.

Her childhood trauma and serial killer father made Chloe someone that I really wanted to cheer for. My issue with Chloe was that she just was not likable. For someone who didn't trust anyone or anything, she made very peculiar choices. Her horrible decision-making, her inability to trust her gut and her pill-popping did nothing for her credibility as a psychologist or as a narrator.

I actually liked the first half of the book but after that, everything started to go down hill for me. I felt that the twists were too forced, the police procedures were too unethical and the red herrings were too obvious.

Sooooo if you think you have everything figured out after the first chapter, then you probably do. I was so disappointed to get to the end of the story only to find out that I had been right from the very beginning.

Having said that, if you are a bad book detective, give this one a whirl because you will probably like it.

Twenty years ago, six girls went missing. Chloe Davis’s father was arrested, plead guilty to their murders, and labeled a serial killer. As the 20th-anniversary approaches, girls start missing again. The similarities between the girls missing now and those who went missing twenty years ago are eerily similar. Suddenly, Chloe’s past trauma is front and center as she tries to uncover the new killer.

I love dual reads! The physical book allows my imagination to run wild, and the audiobook gives emotion and feelings to the characters. Here, I like the audiobook a tad better than the physical book. Karissa Vacker (the narrator) perfectly conveys Chloe, flawlessly executing Chloe’s anxiety and self-doubt. The sense of unease flickers (sorry, had to do it😂) as Chloe self-medicates with prescription drugs and alcohol to deal with her past trauma, resulting in blurred lines between imaginary and reality.

Stacey Willingham pens a dual timeline not typical of thrillers. Most thrillers offer a simple present/past chapter layout. Here, she unravels the past within the present story. The past is told mainly through flashbacks, recalling memories, lost in thoughts moments, and dreams. She is, again, blurring the lines for this unreliable character.

I think this is a terrific debut! Could some elements be better? Yes. I think the pacing could be tightened, and the ending tied up more. Seasoned thriller readers will predict most plot twists but will want to know the why and how. I anticipate that non-thriller readers will love this book. Overall, a great debut novel. I thoroughly enjoyed her writing style and can’t wait to read more from this new thriller writer.

I liked this twisty thriller and enjoyed my time with it. It was well written and plotted and definitely gripping.
Chloe, the unreliable narrator MC, is the daughter of a convicted serial killer. Her small town life was forever changed by the deaths during her youth as the deeds impacted not just the families oft he victims but also her life tremendously. Now, girls are dying again. A copycat seems to be trying to get her attention.
I had a few issues with the book. The MC is a psychiatrist with quite questionable ethics and a boatload of personal problems that would make running a successful private practice close to impossible. Plus maybe just annoying to me she seemed to thrive in the „poor Chloe role“ not really in charge of her own life but constantly reflecting on things being done to her and people’s behavior towards her.
But this was a very enjoyable story. The book grew addicting. Secrets started spilling out, and they didn’t stop. It has been picked up and will be an HBOMax miniseries and I am as always excited to see what they’ll change to bring it tot he screen.
I loved the narration for this audio and felt it added to the atmosphere created !

I received this as an audio galley to listen to for free in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for giving me access.

For a debut novel, Stacy Willingham has knocked it out of the park! There are very few mystery/thriller novels that I am at a complete loss as to who the killer is.....and this one is one of them. From the very beginning I speculated as to who the killer could be but Willingham spun a story so intertwined I doubted myself and all the the characters. Turns out I wasn't wrong but my speculation was a stretch and I sure enjoyed the ride to the end.

This was a wonderful mesh of past and present with something much more sinister hiding in the dark. I cannot recommend this enough and look forward to the TV series that may be in the works!