✨✨✨½
Flicker in the Dark
Stacy Willingham
Minotaur Books
368 pages
“I’m feeling almost nostalgic for last week, yearning for that moment– standing in my hallway, back against the door– when the line between good and bad was so clearly defined.”
A serial killer and an unreliable narrator. The makings of a good debut.
As a teenager, Chloe shared a house with a monster. Not the kind that hides under your bed. The kind that walks around in plain sight acting completely normal even after killing someone the night before. For the last twenty years, her father has been in prison, and she’s lived with the trauma from that summer. And just as Chloe finally starts to relax into the downright normalcy of a new house and an upcoming wedding, a copycat killer emerges.
Willingham held my attention as I quickly digested this story. The premise was completely unique to me… following a serial killer’s daughter as she watches copycat killings. Getting that deep dive into her confused psyche, laced with terror and drugs.
While I truly enjoyed the premise, I did find the story to be completely predictable and slightly implausible. The way Willingham presents the information made me even more skeptical than I generally am in thrillers. I found myself scrutinizing *every* single detail. I believe I would’ve figured this one out even so, but with the heavy-handed delivery, I figured it out much, much quicker. The storyline would’ve benefited greatly from a more subtle approach.
Even knowing how the story would end, I still enjoyed the journey. This is a solid debut, and I’m interested to see what Willingham does next.
Thank you Stacy Willingham, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this book.
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