Monica’s Musings: A Flicker in the Dark

A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham

“It made me realize that monsters don’t hide in the woods; they aren’t shadows in the trees or invisible things lurking in darkened corners. No, the real monsters move in plain sight.”

― Stacy Willingham, A Flicker in the Dark

Summary: 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 the 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 worked so hard to get.

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 are not really there, or for the second time in her life, is she about to unmask a killer?

My Thoughts: I have never had so many guesses for how a book would end. It was fun to keep up with because I kept switching my prediction on who was guilty. The story is solid and structured in an interesting way, integrating Chloe’s past memories seamlessly into the current narrative, where she is either lost in thought, dreaming, or having flashbacks, rather than using the format of the past/present chapters.

I really liked all the characters. They were interesting, and each had something to hide. That helped add extra twists and turns. They all had a purpose, whether to confuse us or reveal more about Chloe’s past, traits, and fears.