Title: A FLICKER IN THE DARK
Author: Stacy Willingham
ISBN: 9780008454487
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 373
Source: Private Copy
When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, Chloe’s father had been arrested as a serial killer and promptly put in prison. Chloe and the rest of her family were left to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath.
Now 20 years later, Chloe is a psychologist in private practice in Baton Rouge and getting ready for her wedding. She finally has a fragile grasp on the happiness she’s worked so hard to get. Sometimes, though, she feels as out of control of her own life as the troubled teens who are her patients. And then a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another, and that terrifying summer comes crashing back. Is she paranoid, and seeing parallels that aren’t really there, or for the second time in her life, is she about to unmask a killer?
Official Summary
16 September 2025
I am sad to admit that this book has been waiting on my TBR shelf for almost a year. I have been eager to read some of this author’s work since seeing other bloggers post about her book on social media. It has taken me forever, but since finally reading this book, I have already read another one, and I have copies of her other two books moved closer to the top of my TBR pile.
Stacy Willingham is quickly become one of my go-to authors for dark, atmospheric psychological thrillers. From the very first chapter, I was pulled into Chloe Davis’s world—a woman still haunted by the shadows of her past, constantly teetering between control and chaos.
The premise alone is chilling: at twelve years old, Chloe’s life was shattered when her father was arrested for murdering six teenage girls in their small Louisiana town. Now, twenty years later, she’s a psychologist, seemingly rebuilding her life, engaged, and trying to maintain a sense of normalcy. But when local girls start disappearing again, the fragile balance she’s worked so hard to achieve begins to crumble.
What I loved most about this book is how Willingham plays with the line between paranoia and reality. Chloe is such a layered and unreliable narrator, and I constantly found myself questioning whether what she was experiencing was real or a product of her trauma. The tension builds beautifully—there’s this slow, creeping dread that grows with every chapter, and just when I thought I had figured it all out, Willingham threw in twists that had me second-guessing everything.
That being said, there were moments where I felt the pacing dipped slightly in the middle, and a few elements were a bit predictable if you’ve read a lot of thrillers. But even knowing that, I still found myself racing through the pages because I needed to know the truth. The ending was clever, satisfying, and gave me the kind of “aha” moment I crave in psychological thrillers.
If you enjoy dark, atmospheric mysteries with complex characters, buried family secrets, and an undercurrent of danger lurking beneath every interaction, this one is worth picking up. A Flicker in the Dark is haunting, twisty, and unsettling in the best way—a strong debut that solidifies Stacy Willingham as an author to watch.
Also by Stacy Willingham
FORGET ME NOT
Twenty-two years ago, Claire Campbell’s older sister, Natalie, disappeared shortly after her eighteenth birthday. Days later, her blood was found in a car, a man was arrested, and the case was swiftly closed. In the decades since, Claire has attempted to forget her traumatic past by moving to the city and climbing the ranks as an investigative journalist… until an unexpected call from her father forces her to come back home and face it all anew.
With the entire summer now looming ahead—a summer spent with nothing to do in her childhood home, with her estranged mother—Claire decides on a whim to accept a seasonal job at Galloway Farm, a muscadine vineyard in coastal South Carolina less than an hour away from where she grew up. At first glance, Galloway is an idyllic escape for Claire. A scenic retreat full of slow-paced nostalgia, as well as a place where her sister seemed truly happy in that last summer before she vanished, it feels like the perfect plan to pass the time. However, as soon as Claire starts to settle in, she stumbles across an old diary written by one of the vineyard’s owners, and what at first seems like a story of young rebellion and love turns into something much more sinister as it begins to describe details of various unsolved crimes. As the days stretch on, Claire finds herself becoming more and more secluded as she starts to obsess over the diary’s contents… as well as the lingering feeling that her own sister’s disappearance may be somehow tied to it all.
Galloway was supposed to be a place to help her move forward, but instead, Claire quickly finds herself immersed in her own dark and dangerous past.
About the Author
Author bio from the author’s site
Stacy Willingham is the New York Times, USA Today and internationally bestselling author of psychological suspense. Her books include A Flicker in the Dark, All the Dangerous Things, Only If You’re Lucky, and Forget Me Not.
Her debut, A Flicker in the Dark, has sold over one million copies in North America alone. It was the winner of Strand Magazine’s Best Debut Award and a finalist for the Book of the Month’s Book of the Year award, Goodreads Choice Best Debut award, Goodreads Choice Best Mystery & Thriller award, and ITW’s Best First Novel award. Her work has been translated into more than thirty languages.
Before turning to fiction, Stacy was a copywriter and brand strategist for various marketing agencies. She earned her B.A. in magazine journalism from the University of Georgia and M.F.A. in writing from the Savannah College of Art and Design.
She lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with her husband, daughter and dog.
I saw this book on social media and have been dying to read it. Sadly, this one has been waiting on my TBR shelf for almost a year – yes, I am aware that my TBR shelf may be a little full. After reading this book, I cannot wait to read more from this author. The good news is that her other books are also waiting on my TBR shelf, so more reviews will follow. (With any luck, within the next year.) Until next time…. Happy Reading!
