Thank you Libro.fm / Macmillan, #partner for the ALC of All the Dangerous Things in exchange for my honest review. I purchased a print copy for my own collection.
Publisher: Minotaur Books / Macmillan Audio
Published: January 10, 2023
Summary:
Following up her instant New York Times bestseller, A Flicker in the Dark, Stacy Willingham delivers a totally gripping thriller about a desperate mother with a troubled past in All the Dangerous Things.
One year ago, Isabelle Drake’s life changed forever: her toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep in the next room. With little evidence and few leads for the police to chase, the case quickly went cold. However, Isabelle cannot rest until Mason is returned to her—literally.
Except for the occasional catnap or small blackout where she loses track of time, she hasn’t slept in a year.
Isabelle’s entire existence now revolves around finding him, but she knows she can’t go on this way forever. In hopes of jarring loose a new witness or buried clue, she agrees to be interviewed by a true-crime podcaster—but his interest in Isabelle’s past makes her nervous. His incessant questioning paired with her severe insomnia has brought up uncomfortable memories from her own childhood, making Isabelle start to doubt her recollection of the night of Mason’s disappearance, as well as second-guess who she can trust… including herself. But she is determined to figure out the truth no matter where it leads.
My thoughts:
This is Stacy Willingham’s second book and while I have not yet read her debut novel, A Flicker in the Dark, after loving this one, you better believe that I will be making it a priority to do so. This was a December option for Book of the Month , which I snagged, and then ended up listening to it because I was able to grab an early listening copy and boy oh boy, either way you take this one in, I think you will be pleased!
What I loved about this book is that the author takes some familiar tropes – the unreliable narrator, insomnia, and a missing kid – tropes we’ve all read about many times and completely turns them upside down. This isn’t a story you’ve read before and I so appreciate that. I happen to like all three of these tropes. I like them individually and I was excited to see how Willingham was going to work her magic combining them and does she ever do that! Not only does she have you completely invested in the story right from the beginning, but she makes our unreliable narrator one you cannot help but root for by the end of the book.
There are so many little twists and turns this one took and I’m not even going to get into that because I really think you need to go into this one as blind as possible to really enjoy it. It’s one of those books that makes you wonder who you can trust and has you second guessing everyone and everything you are told.
I absolutely loved this one and while we wait to see what this very talented author creates for us next, I at least have her debut novel to still read!
Audio thoughts:
This is narrated by the very talented Karissa Vacker and she does an amazing job bringing this story to life. The way she is able to switch not only from the female and male voices, but also making a distinction between the older and younger female characters is nothing short of perfection. I’m so glad I decided to listen to this book…it was a great audio production!
