This book captured my attention from the beginning . We learn about Isabel from the present tense and try to walk through what happened to her baby Mason. Along the way, the author does a great job of showing us Isabel from childhood .
What happened to Mason ?
A very riveting audiobook ! The narrator is excellent !!

(3.5⭐️) Thank you @minotaur and @macmillan.audio for the #gifted copies.

My absolute worst nightmare… my son going missing. It’s the not knowing. It’s also the heartbreak that he might think I’m not trying to find him.

I’m anxious as it is. I overthink absolutely everything. So if one day, my son vanished with no clues, I’d find myself on the very edge.

And that is what Willingham does best in this story. Her execution of Isabelle Drake portrays every mother’s potential: Teetering on the edge of sanity. Not sleeping. An inability to participate in normal life. Constantly demanding updates from police. Taking things into her own hands. Doubting what’s true.

While I thought the character portrayal was spot on, I had expected a story about a missing baby to feel intense and thrilling. For me, it didn’t. It’s possible that if I’d gone in expecting a mystery, I would have been more engaged. I also found the writing to be a bit too over the top and flowery, which, for me, didn’t quite fit the overall premise.

But, that unreliable narration will definitely keep you guessing. And the end was satisfying.

Karissa Vacker narrates the audiobook. She’s quickly become one of my favorites to depict women in thrillers, and her narration kept me hanging on. I’d recommend the audiobook for this one.

A story that starts off heading in one direction but ends up having more twists than you can guess. This story really gave me goosebumps. This story shows the lengths a mother will go through to find her missing child. I did not expect it to end how it did. I had my suspicions as I was listening but in the end I didn’t expect the outcome. An amazing novel, that talks about real life events, real emotions and things can happen in real life. As I was listening I could picture everything that was happening like it was a movie. I liked how the author showed all sides of the characters. Also, how some things may appear one way to everyone looking in but are very different than they appear. If you’re looking for a great novel to read then go pick up this book ASAP! You will not want to put it down!

4.5 stars. The story was great; I never knew where it was going. I loved the audiobook narrator, as well. Thanks to Net Galley for the arc of this audiobook.

Thank you Netgalley for the audiobook for my honest review! Thank you also to Stacy Willingham for a great book! It is full of suspense all the way through and it definitely kept me guessing. I was wrong on both counts, despite the author's subtle dropping of hints throughout the novel. I really enjoyed it and I look forward to more by this author! As for the audiobook itself, not my favorite narrator, but also not terrible by any means.

🔊Song Pairing: Never Let This Go - Paramore (a go to band when needing a thriller/suspense pairing)

💭What I thought would happen:

I barely remember anything about Flicker. I know I enjoyed it well enough but in no way wowed me so while I was curious I wasn’t desperate to push this one to the front.

📖What actually happens:

Isabelle is in the worst place of her life. Her boy has been missing for a year, her husband left her and no one believes her baby is still alive. After attending a true crime festival as a speaker, she meets Waylon, a podcaster who helps to uncover new clues in regards to her sons case leading her one step closer to the truth.

🗯Thoughts:

I don’t know about you…but I am OOOOOVER the whole unreliable woman MC in thrillers. It in my opinion just seems like lazy writing and is being used more often. Have people run out of suspenseful ideas?! That being said…I liked how this book portrayed the narrator as unreliable in a neurological sense, and not a substance abuse/coping mechanism *looking at you Sager*

I did enjoy how this book played out. I’d say the first 40% had me like meh minimally intrigued to full blown like okaaaay were we going here. I did want to know. I think this story will stick with me longer. I can see others enjoying this one very much.

All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham is a contemporary psychological thriller and her sophomore book. I listened to the audiobook, which clocks in at ten hours and is narrated by Karissa Vacker. We jump back and forth between two time periods in this book: present day and the main character's childhood.

Isabelle Drake is a desperate mother with a troubled past. A year ago, her young son Mason was taken from his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were sleeping soundly. Unfortunately there are no official leads in the case. With a year's worth of sleep deprivation, she literally cannot rest until her son is found.

I definitely inhaled this book. I'm generally a fan of thrillers were you're not sure if the narrator is reliable or not. Speaking of narration, Karissa Vacker performs wonderfully. The author does a great job with ~*~vibes~*~ and atmosphere. I particularly liked her descriptions of the setting, especially around marshes.

Though the pacing might seem a bit slow for a thriller, I wanted to keep listening to find out what was going to happen next. I ended up finishing the book in three sittings. I had quite a few theories, and only a handful of them ended up correct. There was one particular twist I really didn't see coming.

I'm definitely going to check out Willingham's debut book, A Flicker in the Dark.

CW: child abduction, post-partum depression, child death, mental illness, suicide, infidelity

I received a copy of this book to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

All the Dangerous Things is a slow burn psychological thriller. The pacing is a bit slow at first, but I found the plot to be engaging with well timed reveals, and gaslighting and an unreliable narrator successfully sowed the seeds of doubt in me. I really enjoyed Karissa Vacker’s narration and felt she successfully created a palpable tension throughout the story. While I found most of the story predictable, I didn’t see the big reveal twist coming and the ending was satisfying. A fast and entertaining read. Fans of B.A. Paris and Greer Hendricks will enjoy this one.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advance audio copy of this story that is now available. It is my pleaser to leave an honest review.

I really enjoyed this story. The narration for the audiobook was great. There were a few plots points where I felt like I had to suspend disbelief a bit but it was still enjoyable. The best part of the book on my opinion was the author’s use of imagery.

A mother, sleep-deprived and desperate, teams up with a podcaster to find her missing son. The audiobook was well narrated and the story heartbreaking. Highly recommend.

I love thrillers with twists and turns, and I'd like to think I can figure most of them out. This one had me so sure I knew what was happening over and over, but then pulled the rug out from under me. When it was finally revealed, my jaw was on the floor.

The narration was incredible - the way she read the chapters from the point of view of a child in a child-like voice that helped to distinguish the difference between past and present, but it was not an annoying, false-sounding child-like voice made the story so much better.

As an only-sometimes-reader of mystery, I often find that my justification for reading the genre is finding the answer (the who dun it?/what exactly happened here?) and when it happens, it really bums me out. I just love a twist that leaves me speechless, wondering how I could’ve missed what seems so obvious at the end of the book when all is uncovered. What I have found in Stacy Willingham’s writing is that I can’t guess the ending. There are too many options and too many factors that make me second-guess myself. The feeling is so satisfying, and All the Dangerous Things fulfills that, through fast-paced discoveries and multiple characters in question. I would log this one under psychological thriller (not jump-scare, but still suspenseful at times).

I recommend checking TW/CWs before reading, as this book features a dark plot that includes a missing child that was taken in the middle of the night, mental health, childhood neglect, postpartum depression, and related issues.

A solid thriller. Dark, mysterious and even sort of creepy with an ending I did not see coming (and I almost always figure it out). I listened to the audiobook, and I was engaged in the story the entire time. There are plenty of twists to keep you guessing, and the alternating timelines keep it interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley, Minotaur Books, and MacMillan Audio for the ALC of this novel in exchange for my honest review. And thanks to Book of the Month for the early copy.

Pub. Date: Jan. 10, 2023

FORMAT: 📖 + 🎧

THE GOOD: It was creepy at times. I liked the epilogue and it was the ending I was hoping for. I liked that I had both an ALC and a physical copy so that I could read wherever I was.

THE BAD: So much of this book rubbed me the wrong way. It was painfully slow. The "twists" were predictable and very underwhelming. I hated the implications that women are crazy and can't be trusted and I hated the way Isabelle's mother was written.

My copy also could have used another round of editing because there were quite a few errors. After being disappointed by A FLICKER IN THE DARK and this book, I think this author and I are done.

OK Willingham hit it out of the park with this one!

I read A Flicker In The Dark last year and was totally underwhelmed. I know I’m in the minority and when I read it before pub date and before any of the hype, I knew that would be the case. Therefore, to say I was hesitant to pick up All The Dangerous Things is an understatement. But boy, am I glad I did!!

This book kept me on the edge of my seat. The pacing was awesome, I had no idea what to believe or who to trust, and even though I guessed part of the mystery, I was way way off base for other parts so that was spectacular.

I have a 19 month old son and man oh man did some of the abduction parts hit me hard. I was honestly sobbing at times!

I did the audio for this novel and it completely enraptured me. The narrators were great and it was so was so well executed I sometimes felt like I was watching a film, not listening to an audiobook!

It’s safe to say Willingham has redeemed herself for me and I will without question be picking up her next novel.

Thank you to Libro.fm, Minotaur Books, MacMillan Audio, and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

Does literature reflect or shape society?
🎇
Political critique (think 1984), is a reflection, but because political systems are created by humans, human nature repeats itself, so do governmental models. Hence, we see novels such as 1984 (perpetually) prophetic.
🎇
Why am I speaking of this novel in a review of All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham?
🎇
The unreliable narrator.
🎇
She, and it is almost always a "she," is designed not to be trusted. In this case, she is grieving mother Isabelle Drake, whose young son Mason disappears in the night. This isn't the first time Isabelle lost a young loved one under the cover of the gloaming. Sleep no more has become her curse - and how does one trust a person with those bona-fides and the fog of the sleep deprived? That's not all: Her mother is mentally unstable, so there could be a hereditary component.
🎇
Add to that, she's a homewrecker who justifies her immoral choices.
🎇
Is this a person to be believed?
🎇
And why is this today's ubiquitous archetype?
🎇
Let's return to the initial question. Literature is often a lens through which we interpret the world, and in this case, who IS a reliable narrator? We've lost trust in institutions that undergird society. We walk on a footbridge whose planks break if we misstep. We've lost trust in ourselves. We suffer from imposter syndrome as role models are performative constructions. Can we trust our judgments and should we?
🎇
Yes, these are deep questions born of a solidly crafted and palatable read, or in my case, a listen. Narrator Karissa Vacker deserved a Grammy. She voices characters of all ages and genders with a cadence and timbre, unequaled.
🎇
The plot is a double helix - two narratives interplay (like Willingham's debut A Flicker in the Dark), while there are moments that feel as if we are being overserved, the continuous drip of rising action makes this a page-turner, which is an odd description for an audiobook. I was invested from the first page and followed the breadcrumbs to the last word.
🎇
I recommend this as a diverting read. But maybe don't trust me.
🎇
I don't always trust myself.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC and audiobook.


Description from NetGalley:
One year ago, Isabelle Drake's life changed forever: her toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep in the next room. With little evidence and few leads for the police to chase, the case quickly went cold. However, Isabelle cannot rest until Mason is returned to her—literally.


Except for the occasional catnap or small blackout where she loses track of time, she hasn’t slept in a year.


Isabelle's entire existence now revolves around finding him, but she knows she can’t go on this way forever. In hopes of jarring loose a new witness or buried 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.

I enjoyed Stacy Willingham’s first book, A Flicker in the Dark. So, I was excited to read All the Dangerous Things. The story focuses around a missing toddler, which made part of this hard for me to listen/read as I have a toddler. However, Stacy did not disappoint. The narrator did a great job with the book. This book has a dual timeline, but I was definitely more interested in the modern timeline. I felt for Isabelle as she works with people and continues to look for her son a year after his disappearance.


Overall: 4/5

Y'all, I'm SHOOK! A wild ride at break neck speed from beginning to end. 5 stars and awe for Stacy Willingham yet again! Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an AudioARC in exchange for an honest review.

Isabel hasn't slept soundly in a year...ever since her infant son was taken from his crib in the middle of the night. To keep the case alive she has done multiple TV interviews as well as travelled to crime conventions in hopes someone will come forward. When she stumbles upon an opportunity to work with a true crime podcaster whom has helped close cold cases, she begins to dive deeper into the events surrounding Mason's disappearance. Will sleep deprivation skew her memory of events, or will she find ghosts of her past were hidden away for a reason?

Stacy Willingham has done it yet again! A Flicker in the Dark was one of my top reads of 2022 and All the Dangerous Things is right on par to be one of my top reads for 2023. It will take an act of God for it to be dethroned and I'll be recommending this to everyone I can. Thriller lovers will devour this, mystery lovers will be chomping at the bit to find out whodunnit, and readers looking to get back into reading will find themselves hooked.

Five stars and a heavy recommendation for All the Dangerous Places. Recommended for readers who enjoyed A Flicker in the Dark and other thrilling mysteries. Recommended for ages 15+ as the twists and turns contain some adult themes. Start 2023 off with a 🤯head blowing bang🤯 and enjoy all the twists and mysteries this has to offer!

Isabelle is a young mother suffering through the unthinkable: her child has vanished from his crib. A year later she still can't sleep and her current trauma is making her remember another event from her childhood that might be related. As her insomnia drives her to question everything she thinks she knows, all Isabelle wants are answers. This novel starts off slow and it took me some time to feel connected to the main character, but as the mystery unveils, I found it impossible to put the book down. Answers lead to more questions and the ending came to a satisfying conclusion. Outside of the mystery, it's also an interesting look at women's roles in society and the undue burden motherhood can bring.

The narration was excellent. Pacing felt just right and the voices for characters matched up nicely.

I really like this author's writing style. I was hooked right from the beginning and was fully engaged in the characters and the mystery. I did see a few of the plot twists/motivations of a few characters coming, but the suspense and intrigue was still there. A really enjoyable read. The narrator of this book did a really good job telling this story. I half listened and half read this book and really enjoyed the audiobook the best.