Book Review of ‘A Flicker in the Dark’ by Stacy Willingham

Summary

She thought the murders had stopped. She was wrong.

Chloe Davis’ father is a serial killer. He was convicted and jailed when she was twelve but the bodies of the girls were never found, seemingly lost in the surrounding Louisiana swamps. The case became notorious and Chloe’s family was destroyed.

His crimes stalk her like a shadow. Now Chloe has rebuilt her life. She’s a respected psychologist in Baton Rouge and has a loving fiancé. But she just can’t shake a tick-tick-tick of paranoia that, at any moment, it might all come crashing down.

As does something darker. It is the anniversary of her father’s crimes, and Chloe is about to see her worst fears come true – a girl she knows goes missing.

The nightmare has started again.

My Review

This has lots of the tropes of a good modern thriller: an unreliable narrator, a dark past, a psychologist, a journalist and some carefully placed red herrings. I felt that the characterisation in this novel was strong and that Chloe and Daniel were particularly well-presented and believable. I enjoyed the Louisiana backdrop, and the plot was twisty and progressed at a good speed.

Although it wasn’t perhaps the most original plot, it was well-written, suspenseful and kept me turning pages late into the night. I look forward to reading more from Stacy Willingham in the future.

Thank you to HarperCollins UK, Stacy Willingham and NetGalley UK for this ARC in return for my honest review.