Review: A Flicker in the Dark - Stacy Willingham

Review: A Flicker in the Dark - Stacy Willingham - January 2022

Sometimes the best reads come from the most unexpected places. This psychological thriller had been lingering on my want-to-read list for ages, taunting me from my digital shelves. Then serendipity struck at a recent bookstagrammer event here in Tauranga – you know how these events go, where one person's unhauled treasure becomes another's page-turning obsession. A fellow book lover was clearing out her collection, and there it was, practically calling my name from her pile of discards.

What a find it turned out to be! From the moment I cracked open the spine, I was transported into a world that immediately reminded me of The Prodigal – that brilliant TV series that keeps you guessing until the very last scene. Stacy Willingham has crafted something equally compelling here.

We're introduced to Chloe Davies, now a practicing psychologist carrying the weight of an unthinkable legacy. Twenty years ago, when she was just twelve, her father was arrested as a serial killer – imagine growing up with that shadow following you everywhere. Fast-forward to the present, and as the twentieth anniversary of his arrest approaches, young women start disappearing again. The pattern feels sickeningly familiar, especially when one of the victims turns out to be Lacey, Chloe's newest patient.

The layers of complexity don't stop there. Chloe's fiancé Daniel has his own connection to the original crimes – his sister Sophie was among the suspected victims. With her father still locked away, the question becomes increasingly urgent: who is orchestrating this deadly echo of the past? And more chillingly, could it be someone in Chloe's inner circle?

What I loved most about this book was how Stacy Willingham slowly peels back the psychological layers, showing us not just the mystery but the lasting trauma that shapes every character's choices. Chloe's profession as a psychologist adds another dimension – she's simultaneously trying to heal others while grappling with her own fractured past. The author doesn't shy away from exploring how the sins of our parents can haunt us, even when we desperately try to forge our own paths.

I'll be honest – when that final twist hit, I had to put the book down and just stare at the wall for a moment. Stacy Willingham completely blindsided me, and I consider myself pretty good at spotting plot twists coming. The revelation recontextualizes everything you think you know, forcing you to mentally flip back through the pages and see the clues that were hiding in plain sight.

The pacing is relentless without feeling rushed, and the atmosphere Stacy Willingham creates is deliciously unsettling. She has a talent for making the ordinary feel sinister – suburban neighborhoods, therapy sessions, family dinners all take on an edge of menace that kept me reading well past my bedtime.

If you're a fan of psychological thrillers that dig deep into family trauma and feature unreliable narrators who make you question everything, this is definitely your jam. Readers who devoured Jeneva Rose's Home is Where the Bodies Are or got hooked on L.L. Hunter's The Summervale series will find themselves right at home with Stacy Willingham's twisted storytelling.

A Flicker in the Dark proves that sometimes the best books find you when you least expect them – whether from a bookstagrammer's discard pile or anywhere else. This one's staying firmly planted on my keeper shelf, and I'll definitely be seeking out more from Stacy Willingham. Another successful check-off for the Clear Your TBR Challenge, and proof that physical books discovered in the wild still have that special magic.

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3UxeQjq