All the dangerous things definitely took me on a ride. The non linear timeline kept things interesting throughout. The narration was fantastic. At one point while listening I made a comment like “wow this story is too predictable” but it turned out to not be even close to what I was expecting. I just appreciate really good writing and this was a good example of that. Definitely a thriller- especially once it reaches it climax. And I appreciated the epilogue and the authors note at the end. I like no loose ends and this story gave me the closure I needed. Very good and exciting read. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Stacy Willingham for an ARC of this book and the opportunity to review it with my personal opinion. I’ll definitely read another book from Stacy in the future!

This book is getting a lot of buzz, which is maybe why my expectations were high and ended up being a little disappointed. The story was engaging and I was curious how it would be resolved, but ultimately, it feels a little unoriginal and I fear, a bit forgettable. That being said, I wanted a few hours of absorbing entertainment and that's what I got.

Another amazing slow burn from this up-and-coming author! If you enjoyed her debut novel, this book is for you!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC!

What is it with this author and the word Flicker? Y'all if you read this author's first book, "A Flicker In The Dark" she cannot escape the word. How is that for an opening line of a review?? I can move on but can you Stacy, can you write a book without the F word?

All the Dangerous Things involves a mother's worst nightmare, Isabella's child is adbducted from her home while she and her husband are fast asleep. As expected her life and marriage start to fall apart. She is approached by a true crime blogger, to tell her story.
Like any good Thriller there are multiple time lines going on, the present, Isabella's childhood and the past (basically her relationship with Ben, her (ex?)husband.Willingham I thought did a great job of balancing the multiple timelines and of course leaving you with a cliff hanger at then end of each "section", so like any obsessive reader you just have to read one more chapter.....
I found myself really enjoying the book although at times I was able to predict the "twist" that were coming my way. I think what dropped the star and a half for me was the ending. I felt like there was all this build up and suspense only to be a very "tidy" ending. If you know my preferences there were some parts of the ending I loved spoiler: <spoiler>.Cheating husband gets blamed for everything and the murderer gets away with everything!..</spoiler> But there were other aspects that I was quite disappointed with. First the motive behind the crime was very weak and almost felt like Willingham wrote herself into a corner. It also felt very rushed, like she got to a point and writers block kicked in and her publisher was like , "Girl your lights are gonna be flickering if you don't get us this manuscript". Also the whole book you feel this intense mother child bond between Isabella and her kidnapped son, but the ending felt cold to me. The book wrapped up with everything working out a little to perfect I guess....not a spoiler by the way.
I will read Willingham again for sure, I feel like she has great stories, she just needs to finish stronger.
Willingham would also benefit from reducing the amount of similes/comparisons she uses (His eyes were like bowls of whipped cream, her hair was like melted caramels...)She can be a bit...much, at times.

Anyway, good enough for me to recommend and give it a 1/2 star higher than her first book!

Thank you Net Galley for this advanced copy read. I was not influenced in anyway for this honest review.
What is it with this author and the word Flicker? Y'all if you read this author's first book, "A Flicker In The Dark" she cannot escape the word. How is that for an opening line of a review?? I can move on but can you Stacy, can you write a book without the F word?

All the Dangerous Things involves a mother's worst nightmare, Isabella's child is adbducted from her home while she and her husband are fast asleep. As expected her life and marriage start to fall apart. She is approached by a true crime blogger, to tell her story.
Like any good Thriller there are multiple time lines going on, the present, Isabella's childhood and the past (basically her relationship with Ben, her (ex?)husband.Willingham I thought did a great job of balancing the multiple timelines and of course leaving you with a cliff hanger at then end of each "section", so like any obsessive reader you just have to read one more chapter.....
I found myself really enjoying the book although at times I was able to predict the "twist" that were coming my way. I think what dropped the star and a half for me was the ending. I felt like there was all this build up and suspense only to be a very "tidy" ending. If you know my preferences there were some parts of the ending I loved spoiler: <spoiler>.Cheating husband gets blamed for everything and the murderer gets away with everything!..</spoiler> But there were other aspects that I was quite disappointed with. First the motive behind the crime was very weak and almost felt like Willingham wrote herself into a corner. It also felt very rushed, like she got to a point and writers block kicked in and her publisher was like , "Girl your lights are gonna be flickering if you don't get us this manuscript". Also the whole book you feel this intense mother child bond between Isabella and her kidnapped son, but the ending felt cold to me. The book wrapped up with everything working out a little to perfect I guess....not a spoiler by the way.
I will read Willingham again for sure, I feel like she has great stories, she just needs to finish stronger.
Willingham would also benefit from reducing the amount of similes/comparisons she uses (His eyes were like bowls of whipped cream, her hair was like melted caramels...)She can be a bit...much, at times.

Anyway, good enough for me to recommend and give it a 1/2 star higher than her first book!

Thank you Net Galley for this advanced copy read. I was not influenced in anyway for this honest review.

NOTES: The authors note at the end was great! I highly suggest listening to it! It provides great insight to why she wrote this book.

I really enjoyed this book by Stacy Willingham. The narration was great as well. This book on the surface looks to be a story of a mother trying to survive and cope after the disappearance of her son, but it is so much more! This story covers the traumas that can be associated with motherhood, neglectful relationships while delivering twists that keep you guessing the answer to the same question you had at the beginning: What happened to Mason?

I liked Stacy Willingham's previous reads, but All the Dangerous Things I absolutely loved!

This is a thriller that people will be talking about for years to come. It has all the components of keeping the reader on the edge of their seat while building a story that will have the reader guessing about what is going to happen next.

I loved the characters, the dark, gritty story, and the writing will leave you gasping for breath with the suspense that it builds.

Stacy Willingham is a masterful new voice that I can't wait to read more from in the future.

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.

My friends, Stacy Willingham has done it again! This is one of the best books I’ve had the privilege of reading (or in this case, listening to) this year!! Same as Willingham’s debut (A Flicker in the Dark), All the Dangerous Things is a mash up of past and present with a rollercoaster of events that you cannot predict.

We follow the POV of a mother who’s son has been kidnapped. Not only that, years ago her sister had died as well. Willingham weaves a story that makes the narrator so unreliable that we start to doubt all our thoughts about the mother and contemplate the thought that maybe she was behind it all…who knows, maybe she was…you’ll have to read it to find out 🙃

This is perfect for all my thriller lovers, especially those who loved Willingham’s debuts or Riley Sager’s Home Before Dark.

I was skeptical going into this one. I didn’t initially request it because I did not really like A Flicker In the Dark. But the synopsis had me intrigued and BOTM picked it up so I went for it. I must say I was pleasantly surprised! I really enjoyed this one. I didn’t find it too predictable. I did not guess the twists at all!

As a mother I felt many of the same things that Isabel did. While she was relatable in her feelings on motherhood, I found her very unlikable. Which is why it was a 4 instead of 5 for me. Maybe that was the point? I didn’t mind that she was unreliable. It was definitely necessary to keep the reader guessing and she was unreliable for a very understandable reason. But I just didn’t find much I liked about her as a character.

Overall, I would recommend for fans of The Push and other mother/child type thrillers.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced audio book in exchange for an honest review.

4.0 stars

Isabelle Drake's son Mason was taken out of his crib a year ago. Isabelle has barely slept in the year since he went missing. She is solely focused on finding out what happened to him. The story also goes back to Isabelle's childhood and a family tragedy.

Well done story with enjoyable narration by Karis Vacker.

A parents worst nightmare is losing a child. That's just the beginning premise in this riveting psychological mystery. Willingham takes things to another level, throwing in mental health issues, sleepwalking, a mysterious childhood and more. And as far as the sleepwalking goes, that was a pretty creepy theme in this book and I'm surprised it isn't used in more novels.

The story unfolds methodically, alternating perspectives between Isabelle's childhood and her present life, one year after her son Mason goes missing. The reader also learns more about Isabelle's more recent past, before and leading up to Mason's disappearance, through various memories and nanny cam videos. All of these threads come together to keep readers on their toes, guessing at just what the heck is going on and ultimately who is to blame for the abduction. It really was a tough book to put down and I think this will be a big hit with readers.

I listened to the audiobook and Karissa Vacker is a fabulous narrator that I've listened to numerous times before. She is easy to understand, words flowing out smoothly, and she gives each character their own personality and voice.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing the audiobook. All opinions are my own.

After reading and LOVING a flicker in the dark by Stacy Willingham I was so excited to see an email offering an early copy of this audiobook. All the Dangerous Things lived up to my expectations and more. The story of a kidnapped toddler, a mom who can no longer sleep, a hidden past of both mom and dad, and an over-curious podcaster, left me binge-listening to this book from start to finish. I generally really dislike the unreliable woman trope, but this was just enough to keep you guessing without eye-rolling. Highly recommend if you liked A Flicker in the Dark, or Night Swim. Thanks so much for the early copy, it was one of the best audios I've listened to this year!

Loved the narrator, which even sped up to 1.75x was still very enjoyable to listen to. She changed her voice nicely for characters and had just enough drama to keep it interesting without being over the top. Would gladly listen to this narrator again.

This isn’t just a well written thriller, it’s a commentary on motherhood. Being a mother is NOT easy. It involves so much sacrifice and often times a loss of identity. For some women, it is also accompanied with serious mental health battles. It’s so important to listen to and support the mother’s in our lives. If not, there can be tragic consequences.

As we follow Isabella’s story of the search for her child who was taken from his crib at 18 months old, we gain insight into the struggles she endured as a mother. She hasn’t slept in a year since his disappearance and is beginning to question everything, and everyone is beginning to look like a suspect. But the biggest question she is wrestling with is; is something wrong with her? Is there something terrible that she’s guilty of? What did she do?

This was an excellent psychological thriller.

Isabelle's young son disappeared one night while her and her husband were sleeping, and a year on, no evidence of her child or who took him, has been found..
Her husband Ben has moved on, leaving her and finding a new girlfriend. But Isabelle cannot just forget Mason, and spends all of her time trying to discover what happened to him. She attends true crime conventions and speaks to any groups that will listen - trying to keep the case alive and hoping to find someone who knows what happened. She hasn't slept properly since he disappeared - living in a sleep deprived state, suspect anyone from the neighborhood who she doesn't recognize.

She agrees to be interviewed by Waylon, a true crime podcaster, and begrudgingly starts working with him. She suspects he believes she was involved in her son's disappearance, as most people believe.

Told from Isabelle's point of view, we alternate between the current timeline, and when she was a child, when something terrible happened to her sister. Not knowing the details, Isabelle suspects that she was involved in her sister's death as she has suffered as a sleepwalker all of her life. Did she do something to her sister? Did she do something to Mason while sleepwalking?

This book gripped me from the beginning, and I found it truly scary at times as Isabelle realizes just what is possible when someone sleepwalks. I did not expect the big twist in the story.

The narrator, Karissa Walker, did an excellent job with this book. The voices of the main characters were distinct, and she captured the spirit and ambiance of the plot.

Isabelle’s life changed one year ago when her toddler son was kidnapped from his nursery. Since then, she’s barely slept, has been speaking at true crime conferences, and has separated from her husband. The police have no leads, so Isabelle has been investigating from her home, spending almost every hour of her day dedicated to finding her son. After a conference, she’s approached by a podcaster who wants to tell her story in hopes of finding new clues. Reluctantly agreeing, his questions begin to make her question what actually happened that night and cause her to start second guessing who can be trusted.

This was a well written work of suspense. The author created an immersive story and setting by including fantastic descriptions of things, especially Isabelle’s emotions. Though there were some instances where the author used several similes in a row as well as many adjectives in a row rather unnecessarily. I honestly found the twists to be quite surprising – every time I was convinced I knew what had happened I was proven wrong. There were a few plot holes that weren’t major but did detract a bit from my enjoyment of the work.

The work did start off relatively slow, taking awhile for the plot to really take off. However, the author incorporated meaningful details and tidbits relating to Isabelle’s past and present, which created an excellent atmosphere and added tension to the buildup of the plot. I enjoyed the creation of Isabelle as an unreliable narrator, and the way her childhood was incorporated into that.

Overall, I enjoyed this suspenseful mystery and definitely recommend it to those who don’t mind a slower plot. My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this work, which will be published in January 2023. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I chose this book because I loved a previous book by this author and was bit disappointed. A woman, who suffers from sleepwalking, worries that she may have caused harm to people in her life. When her infant son goes missing, the mystery behind his disappearance haunts her. The way the characters build and you learn of their connections keeps you glued to the story. Probably one of my favorite thrillers of the year. I listened to the audiobook for this review but also purchased the physical book because I loved it so much. A completely different concept than I have read before and riveting to me as a parent of a former sleepwalker. Truly a captivating story and I highly recommend this one.

I loved a Flicker in the Dark, so it's no surprise to me that I loved this one too. Isabelle is obsessed with finding out what happened to her son Mason after he was taken from his crib while she was sleeping. Her marriage is already over. The police are tired of dealing with her. So she turns to a true crime podcaster in the hopes of finally getting answers. This book features two timelines, the first with the investigation into Mason's kidnapping, and also an earlier setting in Isabelle's childhood when she was involved in another earlier mystery.

I normally don't like domestic thrillers so I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It managed to avoid most of the common tropes that these books use. I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook.

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

Isabelle’s son was kidnapped a year ago and is still fighting to find answers as to who and why her son went missing. Wow! This was a great thriller! It is a slow burn but that ending..CHEFS KISS! Highly suggest reading with the audiobook it was so good. The narrator does a great job intensifying the feeling of suspense. Well done.

Thank you to NetGalley for the allowing me to review the audiobook for All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham narrated by Karissa Vacker.

I LOVE AN UNRELIABLE NARRATOR! You guys. This book was incredible. I actually loved it all. Isabelle Drake is doing everything she can to try to find her child who was taken from her one year ago. The story leads you down so many roads to who could have done it and the end result actually shocked me to my core.

Using her inability to sleep and having there be blackout moments just made her reliability so much more doubted in my mind. It made the plot flow along so nicely and kept me intrigued throughout the whole book. This was such a tense “who-dunit” that I couldn’t help but sit on the edge of my seat (or bed) as I was reading through this book.

I will be recommending this book until people read it because I actually loved it and it takes a LOT for me to give a thriller book five stars (primarily because I’m so picky and hate when I figure out who did the thing before the book actually confirms it for me). But seriously, if you’re looking for a new thriller book to read in 2023, you will definitely want to read this one!

⚠️TW: murder, death, child death, alcoholism, car accident, child abuse, animal death, suicide

Kept me guessing until the very end. Some great twists you don’t see coming. Even when you think you know who did it, you’re only half right. As someone who can almost always guess the end game, this was a great read that kept me intrigued.

This one is hard for me to review / rate. The writing was excellent, the characters were well-developed, the plot progressed in an understandable and sensible fashion. But I just found myself feeling more and more uncomfortable with the direction the story seemed to be taking while reading this. Maybe that's the point, though? It definitely touches on some important issues that are often not discussed (postpartum depression / psychosis). It didn't end up where I thought it was going, and I actually found myself (surprisingly) a bit disappointed in the actual outcome - like maybe a different outcome could have made a stronger point / forced readers to think even more about some hard realities. But ultimately, I enjoyed the book and Willingham's writing style. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 because of the quality of the writing and the fact that I didn't want to put this down once I started - it definitely hooked me! I actually alternated between reading the e-copy and listening to the audiobook and the transition was seamless - this is always a huge plus for me because I do this a lot and I like to be able to go back and forth. How I recognize a good narrator is if I hear that voice in my head when I'm reading the e-book - and that was the case here. It was the right voice for the story / characters.