It's every parent's nightmare. Your child is missing - taken from the crib while sleeping. It has been almost a year exactly and Isabelle cannot sleep until her son, Mason, is in her arms again. I mean the literally - she can not sleep. She may drift off for a bit here and there, but there is no rest for this grief-stricken young mother, Her marriage has not survived. Her husband, Ben has moved out and wants to move on, go forward in life. Isabelle will never move forward until she knows where her son is. She will talk to anyone who will listen to her, even at true crime conventions, which many find abhorrent. The faces where she once found support and sympathy, now see her as the crazy lady who attacked the supermarket clerk who was always friendly to her toddler son. When approached by a true crime podcaster who once solved a missing person case, she guardedly told him her story, only to keep Mason's name out there. Yet she was fearful of his finding out too much about her. There is more tormenting Isabelle than sleep deprivation and her missing child. She has been anguished by suspicious death of her younger sister, Margaret, when they were just children.. As a child Isabelle was a sleepwalker who often had night terrors. she would awake, recalling nothing, but having a terrified Margaret cowering from her, But this is not something that Isabelle wants brought to the light.

Which is worse - the nightmares of your sleep or the nightmares of endless days?

I loved Stacy Willingham's first novel, A Flicker in the Dark, All the Dangerous Things is a superb follow up. Stacy Willingham is on my must read list with Tana French, Dervla McTiernan and Ruth Ware.

My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

STACY WILLINGHAM IS BACK and damn was that a fun ride. I absolutely loved A Flicker In The Dark and couldn't believe it was a debut novel., but All The Dangerous Things might just be a tad bit better! Stacy knows how to write a dark and twisted thriller with really relatable characters.

It has been a year since Isabelle Drake's son Mason goes missing & it's been a year since she has truly slept. Isabelle's character, though I'm not a mother, seems to be a very realistic portrayal of motherhood and what the weight of it all means. Something that Stacy touches on in her author's note at the end (don't read that first, it'll spoil the book). Like A Flicker In The Dark, the narrator and MC Isabelle is unreliable and has you questioning absolutely everything until the very last page. The alternating timelines of Isabelle's life really help to develop her character and others throughout the book. The writing was beautiful, and made this book enjoyable to read.

Read if you like
- unreliable narrator
- true crime podcasts
- domestic thrillers
- twist & turns with a shocking ending

FINAL THOUGHTS: All The Dangerous Things left my crime junkie heart satisfied. Stacy Willingham has instantly become an autobuy author. I binged this book in 2 days & found myself thinking about it when I put it down (a sign of a truly great book). Stacy is a fellow Charleston girl and I was able to meet her in person recently-- she is super sweet! Can't wait to read more work of hers! Keep the thrillers coming!

After only giving three stars to Stacy Willingham's previous work, "A Flicker in the Dark," I am so glad I gave her another chance because "All the Dangerous Things" knocked it out of the park. It is everything I want in a psychological thriller-lots of twists and turns, an unreliable narrator, murder, kidnapping, shady neighbors...the list goes on. The plot is multilayered and everyone is a suspect! I absolutely devoured this book and was completely riveted by each new development in the plot-all the way to the satisfying ending. I'm not a parent, but I could identify with Izzy's pain when her son went missing and found her drive to leave no stone unturned in order to find him very realistic. This is a must read for thriller fans and will definitely be one of the best new thrillers of 2023. I eagerly away Ms. Willingham's next offering!

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the privilege of reading an advanced digital copy of this unsettling book in exchange for my honest review.

I was so excited to be granted an arc for Stacy Willingham's latest novel after hearing so much praise for it so it always pains me to be the dissenting opinion in the crowd. 😞

Isabelle Drake is exhausted and hasn't slept in nearly a year since her toddler son, Mason, was taken during the night. The detectives have no leads so Isabelle spends her time doing research and conducting her own interviews even though the detective has warned her not too. Her obsession with finding Mason is also the reason her marriage to Ben deteriorated.

Though she hasn't slept since her son disappeared that wasn't always the case. Before his disappearance she not only was a heavy sleeper but also suffered from sleepwalking, often doing things and going places she has no recollection of. The possibility that she herself could have harmed Mason is always in her mind though she would never, ever voice that concern.

At a recent conference where she discusses the case with the public in the hope of gathering any and all new information she meets Waylon, a true crime podcaster, who offers her his services. At first she's appalled and wants nothing to do with him but after taking time to think about it more she believes he may be able to help so the two work together to try to find Mason. Will they succeed? You'll have to read this to find out.

This book is slow and laborious. Willingham has a tendency to use more words than are necessary to say the most basic of things so it takes forever for her to just get to the point. A lot of people like that style of writing, and sometimes I do too, but for whatever reason it just didn't work for me here. I like my thrillers a little more thrilling.

As awful as it will be to say I didn't care about Isabelle. In fact, I disliked her quite a bit so with her being the sole narrator this book was doomed from the start.

We have a back and forth timeline with Isabelle now and Isabelle as a girl growing up with her parents and little sister, Margaret. It's alluded to that something tragic happened in the past so we have that mystery along with the current missing child mystery and neither really captured my attention. There was no spark, no sense of urgency to find out what happened in either of the timelines. I was truly reading just to be finished with the book.

Can I also just say how unbelievable it is to me that in both the past and the present the detectives knowingly turn a blind eye to the truth with a "You've been through a lot so I don't want to make things worse" type of attitudes?!?! I'm sorry to say but that doesn't happen in the real world.

Many readers found the twists to be mind blowing but I didn't think anything all that surprising was revealed. I knew who the bad person was very early on though I admit I didn't know exactly how it all went down it and when I found out I just shrugged my shoulders ready to move on. 2 stars! 🤷‍♀️

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my complimentary copy.

This book is well written and well constructed with exactly enough twists and turns and three dimensional, believable characters. So often, I complain that a book tries to "do too much"-- too many plot lines. This one, though, has the right amount that all work together.

I couldn't put this one down! It's part mystery (Izzy is trying to figure out what happened to her son a year ago) and part psychological (parenthood, relationships, mental health). If you are finding Ruth Ware or Lisa Jewell a little cliched, try this book out.

I thoroughly enjoyed Willingham's debut novel, but I daresay that her sophomore novel was even better. The twists and plot detail in ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS were so well done! I really enjoyed the way she weaved main character Isabelle's troubled past with the disappearance of her young son in the present. The tension in the story was palpable and readers feel for the main character, even if there is some feeling that she may be at fault. Loved it, and will definitely be recommending this one to friends!

364 days. That’s the last time Isabelle had a full night of sleep. That was also the night her infant son Mason was taken from their family home in Savannah. Ever since then, Isabelle’s singular focus has been on finding her son, speaking at public events and researching anyone who may have had contact with them before his disappearance. Her marriage has unraveled, with her ex-husband Ben desperate to move on with his life, giving up on the search. When the investigation begins to stall, Isabelle meets a podcaster who wants to help tell her story, but who also makes her question her own memories of that night, as well as her past. She’s always had problems with sleeping, from sleepwalking to insomnia, and now she begins to wonder if there’s something her mind is trying to keep her from remembering. What really happened that night after all?

I could not put this book down! The descriptions are beautifully written, and I was drawn in completely. I felt like I was back in Savannah - I’ve visited before and absolutely loved the history and architecture of the city, along with the beauty of the parks and Spanish moss. Stacy Willingham transported me back there, in the midst of humid nights and eerie shadows. There is a general creepy feeling throughout the entire novel, like the chill you get when you feel like someone is watching or when you think you see something in the dark. I felt as sleep-deprived as Isabelle did in the story. I questioned everyone and everything throughout the story, but finally started to figure out a few elements towards the end. The twists and reveals were perfect in timing, and I was engaged throughout the entire book.

Overall, this was a quick and fantastic thriller to read! I absolutely loved it! This is the first book I’ve read by Stacy Willingham, and it will definitely not be my last. Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this advanced copy.

I loved A Flicker In The Dark when I read it last year so I was very excited to get an ARC of this one from netgalley. Stacy has definitely become an auto-buy author for me with her thrillers. I have really enjoyed both of them now & she is not an author you want to miss out on.

This book had me hooked fairly quickly. There were some moments where it dragged a little for me, in the beginning and again in the middle but I still found myself enjoying the read throughout. You have so many unreliable characters in this book that you are constantly trying to figure out who exactly did what & I love a thriller like that. I also liked that the MC wasn’t your common drunk/drugged unreliable MC but had something else going on. I did end up figuring out a couple of the twists but was surprised but one or two as well. Figuring it out didn’t ever make me not like the book. I think Stacy does a great job giving you twist after twist that you have to be surprised at some point. As a mother this book did make me terribly sad. I had a hard time reading it at times because of my Mama heart aching but I loved the redemption that came at the ending. I also appreciated the author's note so much as a Mom. You could tell Stacy cared and did her research on this book & as a reader who is a Mother I appreciated that.
A good thrilling read that kept me turning the pages. Definitely one I will be recommending!

There are many triggers in this read so I do highly recommend looking those up before diving in.

Thank you to netgalley & St. Martin’s Press for the E-ARC copy of this.

I loved it! I am super skeptical of the woman with insomnia troupe- but it worked in this book. A mother is obsessed with finding out what happened to her missing son, and she feared she had something to do with it. Great plot and pacing, and very satisfying ending. Well done!

Fabulous! Slow burn and twisty just the way I like it. Unreliable characters galore and a perfect story to go along with it.

Yet another fantastic novel by Stacy Willingham. This is a story of the loss of a child and the pressures placed on mothers by society (and often themselves). Told in alternating time lines, this story is a quick read because of the writing style. It is layerd and full of women who are facing challenges as a result of circumstances outside of their control. The way the chapters are written keep the reader turning the pages quickly and I had a difficult time putting this novel down. I look forward to the next book by Willingham.

I really loved “All the Dangerous Things.” As a parent, losing a child is one of my biggest fears. I could relate to Isabelle and her relentless quest to find her son.

The author does a great job of developing the characters and leading the readers to various suspicions. Some of my predictions were close, but otherwise were very wrong and the book had some genuine curve balls for me.

I zoomed through this book in less than 2 days. It was one of those that I absolutely didn’t want to put down. Loved it!

I've read a lot (a lot!) of thrillers in my life, so finding one that takes me by surprise doesn't happen often. I felt like I knew how this one was going to go (approximately 10 different times, but who's counting?! 🤣🤣), and I still ended up shocked by how it played out. I really enjoyed the storyline, although I can see how it would be triggering to people. I don't think any of the characters were especially likeable, even the main character, Izzy, who is searching for her lost son. But, to me, that added to the mystery of the story. Once I picked this one up, I couldn't put it down. It is easily in the top 3 thrillers I've read this year!

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book to review. All opinions are my own.

This book comes out on January 10, 2023.

My thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book.

It’s been 364 days since Isabelle Drake has slept. Because it’s been 364 days since she’s held her son.

One year later and the police are no closer to finding Mason who was taken from his bed without a trace. To keep his case alive, Isabelle taps into the true crime fan community. But her relentlessness has fractured her marriage and Isabelle is barely surviving.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It wasn’t a pulse-pounding thriller, but I was highly impressed with the author’s writing as the voice of a mother of a missing child, as she herself has not experienced motherhood. She conveyed her flawed characters well, and there were unexpected turns throughout the plot that kept me engaged. Willingham is an author I will look forward to more from and this book is perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell.

All the Dangerous Things is a solid follow up to A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham. This is likely to be a hit with fans of her work and those who liked Stay Awake and who enjoy Jennifer Hillier and Mary Kubica's thrillers. I received a copy of this from St. Martin's Minotaur imprint on NetGalley. My thoughts below I hope reveal a complex approach to reviewing this particular thriller and recent themes in domestic thrillers.

1. If you like claustrophobic, uneasiness, and themes on either a truly unreliable narrator or a lot of gaslighting of this narrator and the increasingly popular true crime podcast theme... this is a big win for you.
I say this as these themes are working less and less for me so some of reaction to this plot was perhaps exhaustion of these themes and preferring a book with less internal dialogue with just the MC. For me the book was slow paced and repetitive, for others this is indeed part of the writing style and meant to convey the effect of insomnia, anxiety, and distrust the MC was experiencing so it can truly work for others and other reviews highlight this. So go in knowing what the tropes are and make a decision for yourself as a reader.

2. This book was a bit too internal if that makes sense. I am a reader who likes dialogue, not just inner thoughts and processing of one character. That again is me as a reader, not a criticism per se of the book but again, a style note for readers to consider.

this book does justice to the noted themes and I truly feel the mood and intentional unease and sense of uncertainty were well narrated and well written. So this is a 4 star review because the book achieved its goals and the narration really did capture the tone and style of the book. I feel it only fair to give a review about the production and book in terms of intended audience and what the book is about, not just what meghan's preferences are right now.

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The ending though... I just wish we could stop with the themes of babies for people like me who took a long time to become parents, who pursued the gift of adoption, and didn't make parents like us inadvertent victims in a messy domestic thriller. It was painful to read that part of the story and think of all the loss and hurt that couple faced. That is the story to be told. I am here for it when someone writers a thriller that doesn't make infertility or adoption a problematic and stigmatizing theme or plot twist.

I really enjoyed this book! Willingham's debut was really good and I think I liked this one even better. I love how Willingham took a topic we don't talk about much - mental health, especially postpartum mental health - and wove it into the story. Nothing in the story is what it seemed at first and it kept me guessing until the end.

This is a story about logical consequences.

I really didn’t love this protagonist. I felt like she made inane decisions with no thought given to the logical outcomes- the phrase “play stupid games, get stupid prizes” kept flashing through my brain. And yet! The end really stuck the landing. It went from 3 to 4. Endings can really make a difference!

Thank you so much @netgalley @macmillan.audio & @minotaur_books for the e & audio copies!

4.5 stars to this fast-paced psychological thriller that will have you twisting yourself up in knots! (Yes, there are that many twists and no, you won't see them coming!)
One year ago, Isabelle Drake's young son, Mason, was kidnapped from his crib while she and her husband slept in the room next door. With no leads, the case quickly goes cold. Isabelle, however, refuses to accept that she will never see Mason again & goes on a campaign of true-crime cons, just to keep Mason's case fresh. She cannot rest until Mason is found, literally, CAN NOT REST. Except for the occasional micro-sleeps, Isabelle cannot sleep.
Isabelle's whole life becomes about finding Mason, but she knows she can’t continue on like this. In the hope of finding a new witness or clue, she agrees to be interviewed by a true-crime podcaster—but his interest in Isabelle's past makes her nervous. His incessant questioning paired with her severe insomnia has brought up uncomfortable memories from her own childhood, making Isabelle start to doubt her recollection of the night of Mason’s disappearance, as well as second-guess who she can trust... including herself. But she is determined to figure out the truth no matter where it leads. These twists are crazy good! Stacy Willingham is my new auto-request author!

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an e-arc of this novel.*

A domestic thriller about a missing child and a sleep-deprived mother obsessed with discovering the truth behind his disappearance.

More than anything, Willingham captures what it’s like to live with insomnia. From the bloodshot eyes and dark undereye bags to the lapses in judgment and fuzzy-headedness, MC Isabelle's story unfolds in a dual past-present timeline. Can you trust the voice of a sleep-deprived narrator?

Unreliable narrators aren’t my cup, but the plot hooked me. And it wasn’t the missing child or broken marriage that interested me (present timeline). It was the mystery of Isabelle’s youth that gripped me!

Willingham captures the intimacy between sisters effortlessly. Some beautiful, standout moments happen between Isabelle and her younger sister Margaret. I wanted more of this!

Other random thoughts: :
The husband, Ben, sucked. Bad.
The reveal felt abrupt.
No more mention of podcasts in books, please. That moment is over.

All the Dangerous Things is a page-turner with lots of mystery, twists, and aha moments. Thank you, @stacyvwillingham & @minotaur_books, for my gifted review copy!

This story touches upon child abduction, postpartum depression, motherhood, and other mental health themes.

This book was just ok to me. Very, very slow throughout and really only picked up at the end. I enjoy the twists, but really did not care about the characters. There was no development with the relationships. I felt no attachment.