ReView: A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

“There was one monster, in particular, I learned to fear above all the rest.”

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham is a stellar, surprising and intelligent thriller that I could not put down. 

Chloe Davis is a psychologist in Louisiana with a successful practice and a fiance, planning her dream wedding. Chloe’s baggage, though, follows her everywhere she goes, and it’s of the heaviest kind; her father is an infamous serial killer, who 20 years ago, killed several teenage girls and has since been serving time in prison. This fact colors every experience she has going forward, and just when she’s feeling like she might finally be coming to terms with her past and that she’s deserving of all the good things happening, a teenage girl goes missing.

This book really clicked with me. Not only is it an excellent and addictive thriller, but I appreciated how authentically it dealt with the way we carry trauma. Trauma affects everything we do (the way we think, act, trust) and it is conveyed in such an authentic and sincere way. Even though we haven’t lived in Chloe’s shoes, we can feel the weight she always carries with her. 

There is a natural flow and intelligence to the way Willingham writes Chloe’s perspective that establishes our interest right away. While we have an unreliable narrator, it feels fresh in A Flicker in the Dark with Chloe telling her story. It’s not easy to center a novel around only one character, who is a bit messy and has questionable judgment, but the way in which Chloe is written (and her backstory) ultimately help this choice pay off in the end. 

I was genuinely surprised by the twists and turns that transpired, having to go back in the book and realize just how expertly they’d be calculated.  Gorgeous debut.