CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: 4/5 WRITING STYLE: 4/5 STORYLINE: 4.5/5 RELEVANCE: 4/5 MYSTERY/SUSPENSE: 5/5 ROMANCE: 3/5 PLOT TWIST: 4.5/5 Genre- Crime/Psychological Thriller
“The two of us together were childhood trauma wrapped in a bow and placed delicately on the doorsteps of every doctor in Louisiana. Everybody knew who we were; everybody knew what was wrong with us. Everybody knew, but nobody could fix it. So I decided to fix it myself.”
– Stacy Willingham, A Flicker in the Dark
Some people get disgusted at the sight of blood, they get afraid at the sight of people running for their lives, living a life full of lies. But for me, the thriller has always been my comfort genre.
I picked up Stacy Willingham’s The Flicker in the Dark during my final exams because I was exhausted and wanted an escape from the monotony that had crept in, and oh boy! this book didn’t disappoint.
Summary of The Flicker in the Dark
It’s a brilliantly written journey of a woman, Chloe. Through her horrendous past to her picture-perfect present, and to what unknown fate wields for her.
What she went through as a child, could be the worst fear of ordinary people, but her family had to deal with it and move forward with deadly secrets wrapped in their hearts, leaving their relationship scarred for life.
Girls/women have to deal with hundreds of fears from the time they are children to the time they grow up. To them, every new place comes with an uncertainty of safety and even their life.
“Home” is the place where one finds comfort, where one feels safe, knowing there are your parents, your brother or sister, to protect you from everything bad out there, lurking to grasp you from the neck and shove the life out of your chest.
For what?
For being yourself. For being free despite their presence.
“What if the outstretched arms you collapse into on your porch steps are the same arms you should be running from? The same arms that grabbed those girls, squeezed their necks, and buried their bodies before washing their own hands clean?”
After 20 years, Chloe is a psychologist in private practice in Baton Rouge. Finally, she has found a man whom she can count on and is getting married.
But the ghosts of her past start resurfacing when her teenage patient goes missing, who was last seen in her clinic.
Every second she spent building a safe world around herself comes crashing down, making it unthinkable for her to go on with living the life she has every right to live.
What happened years ago?
What secret will unfold now? who is this new killer?
Can Chloe trust any man around her?
To know the answers, you’ve got to read A Flicker in the Dark.
“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.”
My Review
Though there are lots of thrillers on the market every month, only a few make it to the actual game. This book is definitely one of them. It was unputdownable from the first page till the last.
The narration was fast-paced and the atmosphere was always on point according to the scenes. There were only a few main characters but the side characters were given the needed space and every aspect of them was with different shades. You can feel layer by layer, the unfurling of the mysteries, as you’ll read further.
Full of mysteries, paradoxes, and a whole lot of twists and turns make this book an unpredictable, enthralling, and haunting read. It plays with the rationale of human sentiments, psychology, and how much darkness a human mind can carry.
Altogether it’s a book you can’t miss out on.
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