When Chloe was twelve years old, her father was arrested for the murder of six teenage girls. With a full confession and evidence to support he committed the crimes, Chloe’s father was sentenced to prison and Chloe was left to pick up the broken pieces of her former life.

Twenty years later, Chloe has relocated to Baton Rouge and owns a small but thriving private practice where, as a psychologist, she tries to help others. She is happily engaged and just a month away from her wedding. But then, history begins to seemingly repeat itself when teenage girls start to go missing. Chloe attempts to brush off the fact that the murders seem to be copycats of the ones her father committed, but she finds herself being pulled in to the case. Aided by a young reporter, Chloe attempts to find out the truth, no matter the cost.

I had wanted to read A Flicker in the Dark for a long time as it seemingly took the book community by storm when it was released and overall it met most of my expectations. The setting of Louisiana was perfect as the reader could feel the humidity the state is known for rise with the tension of the novel. The plot was well crafted and held my interest from the start. The twist at the end was also done well and left me a little surprised.

So why is it not a five star read? This was mainly due to some of the cliches Ms. Willingham intertwined with the story, the biggest being Chloe’s drug dependency. This goes for all thriller books. Can we stop having our protagonists hooked on some sort of drug? I understand that this is an issue a lot of people in the world face and it can help cast doubt on what the character is thinking or seeing but it has become so overdone that it has become more of a negative to the story than a positive. Additionally, the cliche of the police not believing Chloe and questioning her story is also something I have seen time and again.

A Flicker in the Dark is a good read but be aware of thriller cliches throughout the story. If that doesn’t bother you, than this might be just be the book for you.

4 out of 5 stars