Full of figurative language that absolutely drips with atmosphere and emotion, Stacy Willingham creates an engrossing, tension-filled mystery in her new psychological suspense thriller, All The Dangerous Things. Told through two timelines that are exquisitely woven together throughout, Willingham tells the story of Isabelle Drake, a mother who is living through an unfathomable nightmare as it is now the one-year anniversary of the disappearance of her young son, literally taken without a trace. As tragic as her circumstances are, for Isabelle this is compounded by hazy memories of her childhood where she fears some of her answers may be hiding – and they may be devastating.
Isabelle’s desperate need to find her child, and complete refusal to accept the unsolved, cold case labels she hears from detectives has ended her marriage, is taking a serious and significant toll on her health, and may even be destroying her sanity, but she has continued to do everything in her power to keep the search going. She speaks at true crime conventions, she has her own suspect list and details of all of her neighbours, and frequently checks in with the assigned detective. But so far this has all been to no avail.
Interspersed throughout the current situation that Isabelle is dealing with, the reader sees glimpses from her childhood in Beaufort, South Carolina. These passages have such an incredible sense of atmosphere as the stifling stillness of the marsh creates a tension all its own. There is a feeling of dread and danger long before the details of the past are revealed to the reader, and it truly sets these sections apart. Even readers who do not traditionally like “dual time-line” stories will find themselves engaged with these glimpses into the character’s past, as solutions and answers dangle just out of reach.
While All the Dangerous Things is full of everything that is current and “now,” true crime conventions, podcasts, and social media taunts, but these are all used with great benefit in this story, never as clichés or buzzwords. Every detail is intricately plotted and brings the reader full circle, turning pages faster and faster. Fans of her debut novel, A Flicker in the Dark, will find everything they loved about Willingham’s writing back again in All The Dangerous Things.
All the Dangerous Things is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of January 10th 2023.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
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.
