A Flicker in the Dark

A Flicker in the Dark is a gripping psychological thriller that explores the long shadow of trauma and the terrifying possibility that evil might run in the family. Psychologist Chloe Davis has spent twenty years trying to outrun her past: when she was twelve, her father was revealed to be a serial killer who murdered six teenage girls in their small Louisiana town. Now, as Chloe prepares for her wedding and builds her career in Baton Rouge, teenage girls begin disappearing again in eerily similar circumstances. The timing forces Chloe to confront her deepest fears about her own memories, her family's secrets, and whether she truly knows the people closest to her. Willingham crafts a taut narrative that masterfully balances past and present, gradually revealing how childhood trauma shapes adult relationships and perceptions of reality. The novel delves into themes of inherited guilt, the unreliability of memory, and the ways we construct narratives to make sense of incomprehensible horror. As Chloe's carefully controlled life begins to unravel, readers are pulled into her increasingly paranoid perspective, questioning along with her whether the new crimes are coincidence or something far more sinister. This debut thriller will appeal to fans of Gillian Flynn and Ruth Ware, offering atmospheric Southern Gothic undertones, complex family dynamics, and enough red herrings to keep readers guessing until the final pages. The combination of a damaged but determined protagonist, a chilling premise rooted in a daughter's worst nightmare, and skillfully mounting suspense makes this an compulsively readable page-turner that examines how the past never truly stays buried.