A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham
| A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham | |
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| Category: Thrillers | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: An edgy debut thriller from an author who is going to be worth watching. Recommended. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 368 | Date: February 2022 |
| Publisher: Harper Collins | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-0008454449 | |
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It's May 2019 and Dr Chloe Davis, a medical psychologist, is completing a session with a new patient. Lacey is suffering mentally but Chloe has hopes of getting her through the trauma. You see, Chloe knows what it's like to have a traumatic childhood. Her father is Richard Davis, the man who murdered six girls some twenty years ago. Their bodies have never been found but Chloe found some jewellery belonging to the girls - trophies taken from their bodies - tucked away in a cupboard at home and she and her mother handed it to the police. Dick Davis is in the Louisiana State Penitentiary and Chloie has had nothing to do with him for the last twenty years. Her mother is in a care home.
She and her brother Cooper had intended that they would look after their mother, who is immobile and mute after a failed suicide attempt, but somehow their busy lives meant that it somehow never happened. Chloe's hoping that she finally has her life sorted out - in July she's going to marry Daniel Briggs, who's in pharma sales. Unsurprisingly, she's always found it difficult to sustain a romantic relationship but Daniel almost won't let her fail. When we first meet him he's organised a surprise party at Chloe's home to celebrate their engagement. Even her brother Cooper's there. He's not entirely happy about the engagement: he doesn't feel that Chloe knows Daniel well enough to make the judgement as it's only a year since they started seeing each other. Cooper recognised the complexities of forming relationships for both of them.
Then the murders start again and somehow, they seem to be connected with Chloe. It's not Chloe's father - he's safely in prison - so who is the copycat? Who can Chloe trust? Then there's the New York Times journalist, Aaron Jansen, who's determined to publish a story about the Davis family for the twentieth anniversary of the death of the girls.
I had a misfortune with this book. A few pages in I thought about how it would work out - it's a habit I have and it's not always a good one This time, I was spot-on right. I read, hoping that I was wrong and, to be fair, there were numerous times when I was convinced that I'd got it wrong. The plot twists until you're dizzy and you need to be in the wide-awake club to keep up with all that's happening. The characterisation is brilliant: everyone is that believable mix of good, bad and indifferent. You have a lingering suspicion that they could be evil, fighting with a doubt that they really could be that bad. It keeps you on the edge of your seat!
Did guessing the outcome of the book spoil it for me? Surprisingly, it didn't: it simply left me delighted to be proved right. Stacy Willingham captured the effect of childhood trauma with its mix of complete withdrawal and ill-considered romantic relationships, which you hope will make you feel like everyone else, if only for a short time. The writing is good enough to compensate for the suspicion that you know how it's going to work out. The icing on the cake is that this is a debut and Willingham is definitely going to be an author to watch. You can see what's coming next here.
I'd like to thank the publishers for letting Bookbag have a review copy.
If you've enjoyed A Flicker in the Dark you might also enjoy The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf.
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