Isabelle’s son went missing a year ago, and she hasn’t slept since. She longs for answers, though an incident from her childhood makes her scared of what her role may or may not have been in the disappearance.

Willingham‘s debut last year was one of my favorite reads of the entire year. Needless to say, I was psyched to get into her follow-up, and it did not disappoint!

This thriller is told in a dual timeline, which I really enjoyed. Overall, it is a slow-burn, but its pacing is never too slow. It was incredibly hard to stop reading, and I was tempted to stay up super late just to finish it!

I think the twists in this were pretty solid, and I really liked that we get the resolution of two mysteries: one from the past and one from the present.

I definitely think fans of domestic thrillers and evocative settings will love this one! Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for giving me this arc. All opinions are my own!

**Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press/Minotaur, and Stacy Willingham for an ARC of this book!**

Picture a flat pond in a murky bayou. Calm, still, and deep. It might seem like nothing could disturb that sort of tranquility...but with an effortless toss of ONE tiny pebble...the whole pond becomes a moving, rippling being, ever-changing and ever-surprising.

In All The Dangerous Things, Stacy Willingham tosses in that pebble to keep the expertly crafted plot of this STUNNING thriller rippling, changing, and SURPRISING the reader from page one until its breathtaking end!

Isabelle Drake has been an insomniac in the truest sense of the word for a LONG time...since the disappearance of her beautiful baby son, Mason, a year and a half ago. Aside from the occasional drift or 'microsleep,' she's been battling her bleary eyed grief and dedicated herself to trying to bring Mason home. With no evident disruption to the room the night of the disappearance, a dead battery on the baby monitor, and no leads, the case has all but stalled entirely. Isabelle's husband Ben has moved out and she feels utterly alone...until after attending a True Crime convention, a podcaster named Waylon makes her acquaintance...and asks for The Interview.

Hesitant at first, Isabelle eventually acquiesces to this request, figuring that as a True Crime devotee, Waylon has just as much incentive to help solve the case and bring Mason back. But when his questions become a bit TOO intrusive and hard-hitting, Isabelle realizes he may know something big about her past...something dark, deep...and dangerous. Can Isabelle trust Waylon's intentions AND trust him with her darkest secrets? But more disturbing still...can she even trust herself?

Willingham's debut, A Flicker in The Dark,was STUNNING, hands down. I figured it would be hard for her sophomore novel to even live up to her own high standards, much less surpass them.

But words cannot describe how THRILLED I was to be wrong!

What her first novel may have lacked in terms of the final 'whodunit' surprise (which was probably the only weak thing about it!)....this one delivered, over and over again. This is the sort of plotting that thriller lovers CRAVE, where you know the author sat down and worked through exactly what was going to happen and when, where multiple story lines are essentially running without your knowledge, and where you are specifically led to focus on one angle of the story so intently that others creep right up on you to thrill, chill, and disrupt EVERYTHING you thought you know...RIGHT at the perfect moment! I had so many jaw-dropping moments and times where I couldn't do anything but stare at the ceiling in disbelief after a big reveal...trust me when I say, they will STOP you in your tracks!

I read this coming off of a rewatch of Sharp Objects (based on the Flynn novel) and the southern, spooky small town vibe co-mingled perfectly with the scene set by Willingham in this book. There was an air of foreboding throughout and frankly, this is yet another book that would play beautifully on screen. Atmosphere abounds, and Willingham's ability to take the reader right to her chosen locale is always on point. In her first book, there were several references to the 'Flicker' and in this one, several made towards the water, sort of as a running theme that helped drive this home (and don't get me started on the PERFECT cover!)

Willingham also manages to get her characters JUST right...flawed, complex, interesting, and yet accessible. Unlike another thriller I read about insomnia earlier this year that shall remain nameless, Isabelle's insomnia and how she dealt with it were handled in a REALISTIC way, which only added fuel to the fire. On the surface, this could be characterized as a 'Is she an unreliable narrator or not?' type of story, and on some level it is...but I promise, this read is SO much more than that.

Even though this is only her second book, Willingham's future is SO bright and my only quibble is that I now will have to wait for her next book to arrive! It may be early, but I'm thrilled to add this to my list of 2023 favorite reads and that Willingham continues to not only stun and surprise, but much like that rippling pond in the moonlight...she simply DAZZLES.

5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As I'm not a mother (of non-pet children), novels centered on the dynamics of motherhood have never appealed to me (eek). I read "The Push" earlier this year and couldn't get into it. Honestly, I don't think I would've read this if it wasn't for Willingham doing an author event at my local bookstore next month. But I did, and I surprisingly enjoyed it.

This novel starts with Isabelle making a keynote speech at a true crime convention, discussing the unsolved disappearance of her 18-month-old baby. It's been one year of no leads. No information. No hope. So, Isabelle is doing the only thing she can: keeping her son's story alive.

Similar to "A Flicker in the Dark," Isabelle is an unreliable narrator in the form of sleep deviation. Since her baby disappeared while she was peacefully sleeping, Isabelle is no longer able to sleep at all. This results in a lot of questioning, self-doubt, and paranoia.

If you like mysteries where there are a lot of internal musings and reflections but very little "action," you'll enjoy this. This book isn't "dramatic" as much as it is a slow and creepy reflection of the harmful expectations and pressures placed on women. It's a bit slow but Willingham writes complex characters that keep you engaged.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and Stacy Willingham for the complimentary advance readers’ edition of ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS for an honest review.

ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS follows Isabelle Drake. The book begins with Isabelle making a speech at a true crime convention, talking about her horrifying experience finding her son missing from his crib a year ago. Since that time she’s been lost in grief over her son Mason and the breakup of her marriage as a result. It has also ben a year since she last slept, adding insomnia to her history of sleep disturbances.

On the way home from her appearance, Isabelle is approached by a man asking her to appear on his true-crime podcast. She’s put off at first, but in time realizes that it is another possible avenue to answers and she agrees. More and more questions come to light, playing on Isabelle’s brittle nerves after a year without her son and without sleep. Still, she is determined to find answers.

This plot immediately intrigued me as I love a book which includes a podcast element. This book does take a slightly different approach from what I initially expected, but I liked the way the podcast to the created momentum behind the solving of the mystery and added additional mystery to the mix as well.

Isabelle’s insomnia adds a bit of an unreliable narrator element, but I didn’t feel like this was overdone. The insomnia creates an extra layer of tension which is very understandable (I don’t function well no no sleep so I can’t imagine a year of nonstop insomnia), but I never felt like Isabelle was losing touch with reality. She’s moreso questioning herself and her memories which felt very natural.

The author managed to keep me engaged throughout the book, making guesses and revisions to my theories. In the end she managed a few surprises along the way that I didn’t expect.

ALL THE DANGEROUS THINGS is out on 1/10/23!

All the Dangerous Things is a slow-burn thriller with an unreliable narrator.

Since her son was snatched from his crib a year ago, Isabelle Drake has not had a full night’s rest. Since then, she’s separated from her husband and has been giving talks at true-crime panels to keep his case alive. She’s heard that sometimes criminals can’t resist the temptation to stay away, so she scours the lists of attendees in the hopes that something will jump out at her.

On a flight back home after her latest talk at a panel, Isabelle meets a true-crime podcaster, who convinces her to let him interview her for a special episode. The more time she spends with this podcaster, the more she thinks he believes she had something to do with her son’s disappearance.

Through a haze of sleep deprivation and guilt, Isabelle begins to second guess herself and also unearths memories she has buried since her childhood.

This thriller is a tad of a slow burn with dual timelines from Isabelle’s pov. It took a while before it gained my interest, but once it did, it hooked me.

There were several good twists, some of which were a complete surprise.

It has lots of discussions on motherhood.

I skipped the author’s debut, but I may have to go back and give that a read.

Thank you to Minotaur Books for providing me with an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

https://booksandwheels.com

After reading A Flicker in the Dark, I knew that Stacy Willingham was going to be one of my go-to must read authors, and now, with her sophomore novel, All the Dangerous Things, my opinion is validated. Not only is the plot perfectly paced, with enough twists and turns to make a reader dizzy (in the best kind of way), but the characters are solid and relatable. It's hard to write about a missing child. Not only can it be a sensitive, triggering topic, but it's been done. It's hard to keep it unique, but Stacy Willingham kept me guessing all way through. All the stars!

I devoured this book. I was hooked in right from the start. I thought I knew where the book was going, but I had no idea. there were the perfect amount of twists. The the pace of the book was great. It wasn’t slow or too fast, and I didn’t want to put the book down. while the storyline wasn’t completely unique. I was still engaged and wanted to see how the story was going to unfold and I love the ending! I would definitely recommend this book.

✨ BOOK REVIEW ✨

All the Dangerous Things by @stacyvwillingham

Omgsh this book! I loved it even more than I loved Flicker!! It was so well done and I’m just so thankful for @stacyvwillingham & @minotaur_books for allowing me to be an early reader!!

First I should note the subject matter of this one was worrisome to me as a mom of three young kids and I knew that going into it thanks to some lovely reviews!

ATDT follows Isabelle, mom of toddler, Mason, who is kidnapped from his crib, and Isabelle will stop at nothing to figure out what happened. It flashes back & forth from her life as a child and her own traumatic upbringing and also present day to the one year anniversary of Mason disappearing. This is a classic, twisty, thriller where you truly do not know who to trust and it was UNPUTDOWNABLE.

You may think midway through that you know how this one will end but the author delivers on a twist you won’t see coming!

After loving “A Flicker in the Dark” and now this one, Stacy has def become an auto-buy author for me! I think her books are extremely well-written, easy to devour in one or two sittings, all while being fresh & unique. Can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

Also, as a mom, I really appreciated the author’s note. You could tell a lot of time and consideration went into telling the story exactly how she wanted it to come across.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ an easy 5 stars from me!

Thank you, first, for the advanced copy! I was so excited to get an advanced copy of this book. It was at the top of my list this fall/winter! This book hooked me immediately and kept me engaged the entire time. I felt like everyone was a suspect.

I love that we got two storylines that we follow from Isabelle’s childhood past and present day and there are couple small twists throughout the book before the major twist at the end. I did guess one of the small twists early on in the book, but I was surprised by the ending even though it was a little far fetched. I also really appreciated the author’s note at the end of the book explaining her research!

Readers will love this book if they enjoy:
•true crime
•missing-person mysteries
•troubled pasts
•unreliable narrators
•psychological thrillers

I would definitely recommend picking this one up for thriller lovers!

This was SO good! The writing was excellent and it was a fabulous follow-up to Willingham’s debut book Flicker in the Dark(2022).

It’s so easy to blame the mother. We meet Izzy as she’s approaching the one year anniversary of her baby son Mason’s disappearance. She is but a zombie walking through life, sleepless and alone. They say losing a child often breaks a couple, and in the case of Izzy and Ben, it was true. He didn’t even stick around for 6 months. They’re civil but he wants her to move on with her life because he certainly has.

Izzy is busy making the rounds on the true crime circuit. She finds their motives and ethics questionable, but they’re the only ones who haven’t given up on finding Mason. She ends up meeting a podcaster named Waylon who lost a sister and she finds that she can relate to him, as he isn’t one of the true crime junkies in it for the morbid fascination and proximity to tragedy without the consequences.

She agrees to tell her story on his show because it’s easier than continuing to jet across the country telling it over and over to crowds. At the same time, Izzy is remembering things from her childhood. She’s always had an iffy relationship with sleep, which can alter your perception. She can’t always trust herself because she used to sleepwalk. Did Mason need protecting from someone else.. or his own mother?

This was absolutely shocking and mind-blowing! This is going to be a new favorite author of mine because she keeps putting out hits and they’re just my style. Well-meaning but occasionally unreliable female leads. Creepy settings. The marsh gave this a slight atmospheric edge.

I have nothing negative to say or critique. Karissa Vacker narrated the audiobook and she kills it every single time! Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the chance to read, listen, and review. This is sure to be an early hit of 2023!

4.5 stars! I really liked A Flicker In The Dark so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this author’s second book. If you enjoy psychological thrillers, add this one to the top of your list for 2023! I was engaged with the twisty plot from start to finish and I already can’t wait to see what Stacy writes next. Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

This was outstanding!!! This is exactly the twisty psychological thriller I've been craving! 🙌🏼 Jaw-dropping, mind-blowing, suspenseful, unputdownable! Stellar from start to finish!

Following the disappearance of her baby boy, Isabelle Drake travels the country presenting her story to True Crime junkies. Some think she does it for the notoriety, others think she does it for the money. But Isabelle has her own reasons as to why she puts herself through this over and over again...

Isabelle can't rest until her little Mason is found, So with the help of a Podcast host, she begins looking at the case in a new way, including digging into some details of her own past.... even though she's deathly afraid of what she might find. 😳

This is one of my top thrillers of 2022!!! 🙌🏼 Very highly recommend!

Thank you Netgalley, SMP, & Minotaur Books for my gifted eARC in exchange for my honest review!!! This was so freaking good and I'm so glad I had a chance to read it early!! ☺️

Wow! A mother’s worst fear, Isabelle’s son was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night and Isabelle hasn’t sleep since - it’s been a year. Then her husband leaves her. Isabelle is desperate for answers and teams up with Waylon who has a true crime podcast to undercover the truth. Isabelle is wracked with fears from her past carrying into her present. Everyone in this story has a secret - Isabelle, her parents, Ben, Waylon - literally everyone. I gave this book a five star rating because I was truly and unbelievably satisfied with this story beginning to end. I will be watching this author for more to come.

I was gifted an ARC on this book from
NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

✨𝐑 𝐄 𝐕 𝐈 𝐄 𝐖✨

𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐦

I was so excited to receive this advanced copy after loving “A Flicker in the Dark” last year! @stacyvwillingham definitely did not disappoint on her second novel 🙌🏼📖

👍🏼: This story hooked me immediately, but I do especially enjoy a missing child mystery & true crime story 😅 I empathized with Isabelle, the main character & mother, as she searches to figure out what happened to her son. However, I was super intrigued by her dark past & enjoyed not knowing if she was somehow responsible. There were several great surprises throughout the story & I definitely did not predict the ending!

👎🏼: The story did slow down a little for me in the middle & I was slightly annoyed that no one believed Isabelle about a variety of findings & suspicions that she had. But again, I didn’t know if I believed her either so 😂🤷🏼‍♀️

Thanks to @minotaur_books @stmartinspress for the gifted copy! I definitely recommend picking this one up if you’re a fan of a good mystery. It will be out 1/10/23 📚

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

All The Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham

Mrs. Willingham returns with another good thriller after writing A Flicker In The Dark which was a debut for her. In this domestic thriller we look at the life of Isabelle Drake who's son Mason goes missing in the middle of the night. Isabelle is sleep deprived and a year has past since her son disappeared. She is doing everything she can to find out what happen to her son. Isabelle also has her own past to reconcile with the death of her sister and Isabelle in her sleep deprived mind begins to think she had something to do with that and just maybe she did something to her son.

This book was well written and loved how the story unfolds with the cast of characters. Her husband Ben through this tragedy has had enough and leaves his wife Isabelle. Ben has his own patterns of behavior in the women he dates his new girlfriend looks similar to Isabelle. Ben is not a likable character at all his behavior is questionable in choices he makes.

Isabelle goes to a true crime event to keep the story of her son alive. The book slowly pulls you in with the details of Isabelle current and past life as well as her ex husband Ben. I like how Mrs. Willingham details the plot to pull you in it slowly builds up to give you a twisted ending. If this is your type of domestic thriller then All the dangerous things should be on your read list.

This is one of my new favorite authors I enjoyed A Flicker in the Dark and she back up her writing in All The Dangerous Things. This is a five star read for me. I cannot wait to see what will be next from this author. I will be ready and willing to read whatever she puts out in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press Minotaur Books for a free copy of All The Dangerous Things for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

One of my favorite parts about Willingham’s books is that she keeps me guessing! I loved Flicker in the Dark and All the Dangerous Things completely lived up to my expectations! It’s hard to give a review because I don’t want to give anything away! It’s a great book to go in knowing less than knowing more.
Toward the middle I felt like it dragged a little bit and I would have liked some little reveals then but the end made up for that. I read the last 70% in one day!
Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an eARC of this wonderfully thrilling book in exchange for my honest review!

Love, love, love this!! I am a sucker for thrillers and I was so thrilled to see another from Stacy Willingham after I read A Flicker in the Dark. This is a page turner and sure to be a hit. I know I will be seeing it recommended on BookTok very soon!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC.

WOAH- this felt so much more intense than AFITD! I LOVED IT. I couldn't put it down and wanted to see how it ended!!

Another winner from Stacy Willingham! An incredibly, well thought out psychological thriller that I found difficult to put down. The descriptive, almost lyrical writing style lured me into Isabelle’s insomniac nightmare. I had a love/hate with Isabelle and some of her choices, but then no one is perfect and I like flawed characters, they add flavor to stories. I sat back and let the story play out, Willingham taunted me with potential antagonists and delivered a surprise ending that was ultimately satisfying.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books & NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this digital ARC

One year ago, Isabelle Drake’s life changed forever when her toddler son was taken from his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep in the next room. Little evidence and few leads have put a damper on the police and the case has gone cold but Isabelle can’t rest, literally, until her son is returned. Except for the occasional catnap or small blackout, Isabelle hasn’t slept in a year! Her life now revolves around finding her son but something from her last keeps freeing up making her question herself and what is happening.
I can’t say too much about the plot without giving anything away so I will just say that I enjoyed this book. My attention was held throughout and I was surprised by some of the stuff in the end. I would recommend this book to friends when it comes out. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for an ARC copy of this book.