About the Book-A Flicker in the Dark
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?
In a debut novel that has already been optioned for a limited series by actress Emma Stone and sold to a dozen countries around the world, Stacy Willingham has created an unforgettable character in a spellbinding thriller that will appeal equally to fans of Gillian Flynn and Karin Slaughter.
“There are so many subtle ways we women subconsciously protect ourselves throughout the day; protect ourselves from shadows, from unseen predators. From cautionary tales and urban legends. So subtle, in fact, that we hardly even realize we’re doing them.”
Read on for our review of A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham
Our Review of A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham
A flicker in the dark is a slow burn thriller. It definitely takes a bit of time to get to the interesting parts. The only trouble is that you need to have the patience to stick with the book till that point. I am not a big fan of the central character as quite a few actions and thought process of the character is questionable but then that is not a criteria to judge this book. Would it be too boastful of me to say that I had predicted the murderer quite early in the book?. Interestingly the book does try to take you for a spin by making the suspicion fall on almost every character that appears in the book.
As I said, the major trouble with the book is that it just keeps cooking and cooking stuff up for quite a bit long that it starts to hamper your appetite. Plus the inner monologues and thought process of the central character does interrupts the plot developments for quite a while.
Having said all this, A flicker in the dark is not a bad book at all. For thriller fanatics, the final revelation of the book might not be that surprising as you could see the track forming miles away. But there is a spark to the book that does keep your curiosity alive. A lot of the book is just monologues and thinking and over thinking from the central character which in turn contributes to the lag in the pace. The treatment being slow is what I majorly had an issue with the book.
Conclusion
If you love a slow paced thriller, then this book will definitely appeal to you. For me though the slow pace was what killed the vibe. Also for me the plot did have a predictability to it which further diffused the excitement for me. In conclusion I would say that the plot is good but the pace and narration technique of the book is a bit too slow, linear and robotic and that is why I couldn’t fully immerse but even so I will still that it is worth trying if you love a little psychological thriller that might take a bit of time to bloom.
Squirrel Rating
