A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham
Genre: Thriller
Format: Print, Hardcover
Pages: 357
Start Date: March 26th, 2023
End Date: March 31st, 20223
My Ratings
Overall: ★★★★
Character Development: ★★★
Ending: ★★
Suspense Level: 🔪🔪
Pace: Medium
Recommend: Yes
Triggers: Drug Abuse, Self Harm
Summary In My Words
The 20th anniversary of a crime Chole's father committed when she was a child is coming close. Chloe has to deal with that upcoming milestone while balancing a full work schedule & planning a wedding. When girls start going missing again, just like they did when she was younger she can't help but have flashbacks deform her childhood & memories about her experience. Can she help authorities figure out what is going on when she barely can keep it together herself?
My Thoughts - Contains Spoilers, Continue at Your Own Risk
I'm going to jump straight out of the gate & let you know this book was PREDICTABLE. Now this could be for two reasons - 1. I am THAT good at predicting thrillers endings OR 2. It's just an overdone topic. I'll let you be the judge of that, you let me know in the comments.
With that said, I really enjoyed this book. I was in a slum for the first half, no fault of the book - I'm just a tired mama of two, but the second half picked up for me & I felt the need to read any moment I was able so I could confirm my suspicions. Which as I stated before were correct . . . This is your last chance to exit before I completely ruin it for you. Are you gone? Okay - cool. THE BROTHER? Come on, I could smell that one a million miles away. I won't lie, when the drugs Chole was taking entered the chat I for sure thought to myself "she could be drugging herself & becoming a murdeous rage queen". If that doesn't tell you how little I know about prescription medicines & how they work, I don't know what can.
Hannah read this book before I did, so I'm going to try & answer her conversation questions:
How would you react as Dick Davis finding the box in your son's floor boards? Do you think you could keep something like that from your significant other, even if it was just for a short period of time? NO! Absolutely not, if my son (or daughter) were a murderer & I found out about it. I'd be the first marching their butt down to the station to turn them in myself. Do the crime, you do the time - sorry bud.
Do you think that Chloe's inhibited sense of reality contributed to her off the handle, "fly by the seat of her pants" theories and behavior? I think that Chloe needed professional help processing her traumatic experiences, but was in denial. But I actually wouldn't call it too uncommon for people to prematurely overreact to situations, it's our way of protecting ourselves subconsciously.
How do you feel about Chloe's ease in trusting Aaron Jensen? The author writes her character as hesitant and closed off, yet she seems to open up to him fairly quickly. Do you think that was contributed to any kind of subconscious familiarity she may have had towards him? I don't know that she trusted him per say, but having someone other than her brother to talk to was probably a relief. Circling back to her need for help, for someone to listen & "understand" her history.
As the reader, did you ever feel like you couldn't trust Chloe or her perception of things? Her relationships? Her surroundings? Her perception of herself? This is a good question. I briefly thought she could have been the actual murderer, how easily it was for her to lose hours at a time in a daze made me think she could have a personality disorder or something (idk, I'm not an expert on that stuff, HA!)
I'm Curious
Did you find this book predictable or were you surprised by the ending?
Were you at all suspicious of the fiancé? I felt like that would have been too easy, but I guess it's a fair twist to try & trick the reader.
How is her self medicating not ever noticed by her fiancé? If he sells that stuff for a living, you'd almost assume that he'd notice the signs.
The sister running away at 13 & starting over? Do you think that's possible? They must have had help to execute this plan. Wouldn't it have made more sense to turn her father in to the police, saving his mother from his wrath along with himself & his sister?
Why do you think her brother tried to frame her fiancé? Do you think his reasoning for killing those girls had something to do with keeping his sister close?
Next Book: As Good As Dead by Holly Jackson
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