25 Feb A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham
Can Chloe escape the shadow of her father’s crimes?
*****
This was a superb psychological thriller noir that had me on the edge of the seat right from the very first page.
Daughter of a serial killer of young girls, Chloe Davis has rebuilt her life and is now a successful medical psychologist, engaged to be married to the charming Daniel.
But just weeks before her wedding, teenage girls start to disappear again, in a series of abductions eerily reminiscent of her father’s crimes.
But he is locked up in prison. Who is the copycat? Why is he involving Chloe in his monstrous acts? And can she convince the authorities of what she suspects before he kills again?
This story is so well written. Chloe is wholly convincing as the survivor of childhood trauma, and her relationship with her parents, brother and teenage friend – the first of her father’s victims – is sensitively portrayed in a narrative that takes us back to a past as vivid as the present.
It all helps to heighten the tension, danger and fear that Chloe feels both as a young girl and an adult woman.
At the same time, Chloe is a complex character – a professional success, yet afraid of the dark, prey to her memories and not always rational in her reactions to what is happening around her.
This adds an extra dimension to the story that the reader feels they can’t always fully trust her narrative – especially when she admits she is hiding secrets too.
Themes of survivor guilt, trust and reconciliation all underpin the story, adding extra layers of depth to a plot that is truly engrossing as Chloe gradually loses her grip on everything she once held true in life.
Unable to trust anyone around her – often with good reason – and fearing that she is to blame for her father’s crimes and the current killing spree, she still finds the determination to atone for her perceived failings, even if no-one around will believe or help her.
A well-crafted and beautifully paced story that will have you second-guessing your own ideas with the turn of each page. I loved it.
A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham is and available in hardback and ebook
Thanks to #NetGally and publishers HQ for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
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