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

This book is just so tense! Thanks to NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

The story focuses on Chloe Davis, the daughter of a man convicted for the abduction and killing of teenage girls in their small town in Louisiana. Twenty years have passed since the murders and Chloe has built a life as a psychologist dealing in trauma in Baton Rouge. Armed with her first-hand experience of traumatic events (and a slight prescription-drug dependency), she is trying to move on with her life and plan her wedding. When teenage girls start to go missing, it seems that Chloe’s past may be catching up with her…

I found Chloe an intriguing – if slightly infuriating – narrator, which is (I think) just as the writer intended. In many ways, she is the product of her experiences but her drug-dependence and age at the time of the original murders (she was 12) gives her an unreliable edge. This is a book in which memory is important, but also cannot be relied upon in the present day. Chloe also makes unpredictable and impulsive decisions – again, an understandable part of the character given her past.

The Louisiana setting for this book was an appealing one. This is somewhere with murky forested areas and danger lurking in the waters. Somewhere the heat is oppressive and predatory alligators watch from the sidelines – although they prove to be a whole lot less dangerous than the predatory men.

This is a dark book – one about the abduction of teenagers, abuse, brutal murders and not being able to trust the people closest to you. In many ways, it is a tough read but it is also compelling – the secrets are many and their discovery opens the plot out way beyond its initial promise. There are also some really terrifying and chilling moments as Chloe discovers things too late and finds herself in danger – I had my heart in my mouth for most of the second half of the book!

I’d recommend this to anyone who likes their crime fiction with a dark heart and chilling twists. There is never a dull moment in Chloe’s story and so much of it was genuinely surprising. I’d definitely look for more books by this writer.

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Header photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash