Stacy Willingham’s page-turning thriller All the Dangerous Things follows a sleep-deprived mother desperate to find her missing child.
In All the Dangerous Things, a mother with a troubled past, Isabelle Drake, is searching for answers after her young son was taken from his room in the night. One year after his disappearance, Isabelle is distraught, volatile, and not sleeping.
Tense and twisty, All the Dangerous Things is psychological suspense at its finest.
In a desperate attempt to unearth answers in her son’s cold case, Isabelle agrees to be interviewed by a true crime podcaster. Unsettling memories from her troubled past begin to surface, and coupled with her persistent insomnia, she starts to question her recollections of her son’s disappearance.
All the Dangerous Things alternates between the past and present, letting dual mysteries unfold. I found myself equally interested in—and surprised by—both storylines.
Beyond the twisty mysteries of this story, it’s about the expectations and realities of motherhood. The dual storylines work together to provide a richer look into the psychological trials of motherhood, examining both Isabelle’s experience and her mother’s, too.
The storytelling is fantastic, and Willingham draws the reader into the worlds she creates. I found myself surprised at nearly every turn, and I couldn’t read it fast enough.