A Flicker in the Dark

Thrillers are a genre of fiction that produce heightened emotions of suspense, surprise, and anticipation within readers. Thrillers are meant to excite their audience. Thriller writers use red herrings, plot twists, unreliable narrators, and cliffhangers to enhance this anticipation and engage readers. Crime thrillers often center around a crime that requires solving and incorporates characters in the roles of villain and detective. As the detective figure attempts to solve the crime, the writer intrigues the reader before concluding the novel with a resolution of the central crime plot. The protagonists featured in thrillers often face grave danger. Each of these elements combines to create an entertaining story.

Stacy Willingham’s A Flicker in the Dark exemplifies the characteristics of a crime thriller. The plot centers around the murders of multiple young women both in the past and in the present. Set in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the novel explores one woman’s journey to uncover the truth of these murders and find personal resolution. As the protagonist of the novel, Chloe Davis encounters danger as she dives deeper into her investigation. Willingham incorporates cliffhangers at the end of almost every chapter to maintain the suspense of the novel and to provide sustained tension. Willingham often waits to introduce a surprising piece of information in the final lines of a chapter, leaving the reader anxious to learn more in the subsequent chapters.

As the first-person narrator, Chloe supplies readers with a biased account of the novel’s events. Her use of alcohol and drugs renders Chloe an unreliable narrator. Through this choice, Willingham presents the question of Chloe’s innocence and reliability; this lack of trust in Chloe reinforces the tension within the novel. The reader follows Chloe on her journey through her past. She shifts the focus of her investigation to multiple characters who serve as red herrings. Convinced of Bert Rhodes’s guilt as the father of one of the girls who was murdered, Chloe inadvertently lures Bert into her home. When this decision leads to disastrous consequences, Chloe shifts her focus to her own fiancé, Daniel Briggs. Adding to the narrative’s suspense, Chloe works with a local detective who questions her mental health. As readers attempt to decipher what is reality and what is fantasy, Chloe continues to grow bolder as the tension builds. Willingham leaves readers wondering if Daniel is innocent as the evidence against him mounts. The author increases the apprehension of the resolution slowly through her use of numerous short chapters that travel between the past and the present. The climax of the novel occurs in the final few chapters of the novel as Chloe confronts her suspicions head-on at the site of her father’s crime. Willingham incorporates the use of multiple plot twists as she unveils Aaron Jansen’s fake identity and the guilt of Chloe’s own brother. Overall, Willingham fulfills the characteristics of a crime thriller and offers readers an work of fiction that leaves readers questioning until the very end.