Book Review: “All the Dangerous Things” by Stacy Willingham
If you cannot trust yourself, who else can you trust?
Title: All the Dangerous Things. First Published: 2023. Genre: Thriller, Mystery. Publisher: Minotaur Books. Pages: 326.
Stacy Willingham made her name in the thriller world a couple of years ago with the debut hit “A Flicker in the Dark,” a story about a girl whose father was arrested as a serial killer. The book was popular, but it didn’t mean relaxation for Stacy.
Soon after the release of the first book, she wrote another one — another thriller, another success. “All the Dangerous Things” is everything you imagine when you think about a book that keeps you awake and scared at the same time. The blood runs cold when you read it, but also, your pupils dilate with every twist.
The opening of the novel is strong and sets a tense tone right away: the main character, Isabelle Drake, hasn’t slept in almost a year. She zones out sometimes for a minute or two, or a bit more, but she is never fully asleep, just as she is never fully awake. This is because a year ago, her little son disappeared from his own bed in the middle of the night.
This year has been a torture for Isabelle. The police seem to have no clue where to start digging. Her husband moved out because he was too overwhelmed with the whole situation. People in the little town, where she lives, are divided into two groups: one sympathizes with her, but there is nothing they can do to help; the other suspects that Isabelle did something unspeakable to her own son.
Well, Isabelle is sure — her son was taken away. She knows she wouldn’t hurt someone she loves. Not again. This is how the story unfolds. Early on the author shows that her character has a dark secret rooted in her childhood. But she grew up and her big problem that caused the trouble seemed to disappear. But did it really? And if it did, could it make its big return and target another person dear to Isabelle? All these questions are piled up in her head and no one can really help her find answers.
“It’s not a story,” I had said. “It’s my life.”
But aren’t all of our lives just stories we tell ourselves? Stories we try to craft so perfectly and cast out into the world? Stories that become so vivid, so real, that eventually we start to believe them, too?
The topic of trusting one’s own self or questioning one’s sanity in “All the Dangerous Things” is closely intertwined with the topic of trusting everyone around you. Isabelle starts to look closely at people she knows and notices things that are odd, out of order, suspicious. Even her own past, her relationship with her husband, coworkers, parents seem different when she looks at them through the glass of grief and suspicion. Who knew that these two things could go hand in hand?
“All the Dangerous Things” is a perfect thriller that will suck you into its world and make you build and check your own theories because you won’t be able to stay impartial. Stacy Willingham throws in all the facts; she doesn’t lie, but it doesn’t make the story simple or predictable. She manages to keep tension set from the beginning to the very end, making the reader doubt, guess, and change their mind, but never feel disappointed, even in the closing chapter.
